I will read pretty much anything fiction or non fiction about Anne Boleyn, she just fascinates me. This is a non-fiction biography taking a much different view on Anne. ( )

This was a really good book. The author shows Anne Boleyn as a highly intelligent, educated, and devout woman, and that the persona of "the conniving whore" was spread by Anne's enemies.

A casual understanding of the history of Henry VIII and his wives made it seem to me that Henry's request for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was just done, that he didn't have to fight for it, and that his marriage to Anne Boleyn happened right away. In fact, he waited seven years to marry Anne, and there was still controversy over it. He didn't wait very long to marry Jane Seymour, though. Bastard. ( )

This was an extremely biased view of the life of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn. The author states that her purpose with the book is to basically rehabilitate Anne in the eyes of history. She wants to put to rest certain myths and legends that have followed Anne through time. While I applaud the effort, Joanna Denny goes to great lengths to make Anne appear saintly and any others opposing her as villains. Catherine of Aragon is presented as a scheming woman who had set her sights on England's throne long before her marriage to Henry VIII, and she is basically castigated for wanting to hold onto her position. Jane Seymour, Anne's successor, is also given harsh treatment. Meanwhile, Anne is held up as the religious and moral standard of the day, who did everything she did in order that she might bring about Protestantism in England.

And Joanna Denny doesn't stop the scurrilous stories with Anne's detractors. She also presents other fictions as facts. Among these she maintains that Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, was murdered by Catherine de Medici, Queen of France, with a pair of poisoned gloves. In fact, a postmortem carried out at the time confirmed that the Queen of Navarre had died of natural causes.

I definitely don't believe that Anne Boleyn deserved the treatment that her husband and history gave to her. But I definitely don't believe that we have a true portrait of the woman contained in this book. Look elsewhere if you want the facts, not pure hagiography. ( )

I have read a great deal about both Elizabeth I and her mother, the infamous Anne Boleyn. Most books focus on how evil and manipulative that Anne Boleyn was. However, many of these books pull information from somewhat biased sources.

This book presents Anne not as this evil woman who changed all of England for her whim, but as a victim. Joanna Denny does a good job of presenting her view but her view is also somewhat biased.

Reading this book does provide the reader with a new view into who Anne Boleyn was. It allows the reader the ability to see her in a new light and make a better decision on who she was and what she stood for.

I definitely recommend this for anyone who wants to get more insight into Ms. Boleyn. ( )

Anne Boleyn is one of the most famous Queens of England. Typically in literature she is described as the manipulative schemer who lured Henry VIII from his devoted wife Katharine of Aragon and later met her death on (probably trumped up) charges of Adultery, Incest and Treason.

In this book, Denny presents a different view of Anne, as a victim of Henry's cold blooded-ness. She asserts that Henry relentlessly pursued Anne, who resisted because of his marriage to Katharine. Anne finally succumbed to Henry's advances and was then cast aside when it no longer suited him to be married to her.

The book is written in a very 'readable' way. I often find non-fiction to be somewhat dry; however this book flowed easily and held my interest throughout.

It has obviously been very well researched, and Denny is clearly a Boleyn enthusiast, with a lot of passion for her subject. However, this is a double edged sword. While I firmly believe that it is important for any biographer to really care about their subject, Denny's own view means that this book is extremely biased. Katharine of Aragon is described as a vicious, manipulative and unreasonable woman, who lied to fulfill her ambition to become Queen of England. Anne is painted almost as a saint, who could do no wrong and was blameless in every respect.

Joanna Denny wrote this book to bring balance to the general view of Anne; however, she has not created balance but has merely tipped the scales all the way to the other side. She claims that the critics of Anne are biased - and this may well be true - but unfortunately, Denny shows herself to be equally as biased. The women in Anne's world are portrayed as evil and two faced, with the exception of Elizabeth I, Anne's daughter.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Anne or the Tudor period, but I do not think that this book is 'the truth' about Anne Boleyn, as the author claims. ( )