The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives

Life & Death of Anne Boleyn: The Most Happy by Eric Ives
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since I first read The Six Wives of Henry VIII I have long held a fascination and admiration of Anne Boleyn. She represented everything I aspired to be and she still does.

I've had this book for awhile, but I've just gotten around to reading it now after several other readings of the Tudor era. Some of the things I had read before, but this volume managed to make the facts we know about Anne Boleyn jump off the page. I liked how Ives divided the book up by education, marriage, religion, and so on. I was expecting something different but this format was very helpful.

Even though I know how Anne's story ends, I couldn't but anticipate the ending to her story. I like the epilogue where it mentions is Anne vindicated by her daughter, Elizabeth's, accession? It's a personal feeling of mine but I always felt she was.

The only compliant I have about the book is the portrayal of Henry during Anne's fall. I don't know it just seems to make him seem more innocent or something. I don't think it was what the author was implying but by saying that Cromwell was more responsible for Anne's downfall is tricky. I think for it to have come to end the way it did even if Cromwell was the master mind behind Henry had to agree with it. I don't know that's just my personal feelings on the matter.


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