Not knowing much of the particulars of Henry VIII and his six wives, I found this book to be a delightful introduction to the fall of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. The author does a good job of mixing events of the days leading to the queen's execution with biographies of the players and other background material. The result is a book of interest to both experts as well as beginners like me.

Two observations. First, the author is quite outspoken about what she thinks are the causes and motivations of what happened. Although in the introduction she promised to only mention her opinions, in fact she promotes them quite strongly. Second, it has apparently been proposed that some people involved in the story were gay. The author dismisses these suggestions in a quite perfunctory manner. In discussing the queen's brother, for example, she says, "It is unlikely that a zealous evangelical would have put his life and his mortal soul in peril by committing 'buggery'," thereby ignoring the rash of congressmen and fundamentalist preachers caught straying in recent years and demonstrating the ease some have separating their public persona from their private behavior. ( )

Ridgway carefully sifts the evidence surrounding Anne Boleyn's fall from the King's favor, her trial, and execution. I've read my fair share of Tudor history, but Ridgway still made several points new to me. For instance, although I knew the space of time between accusing Anne of adultery and her execution was short (less than a month!), I never realized that only days before the accusations Henry was still referring to Anne as his queen in writing and pushing for foreign courts to recognize her. And although I knew Cromwell had been instrumental in bringing accusations against Anne, I hadn't realized that they had differed not just over foreign policy and her destruction of his former master Wolsey, but also over the profits from the dissolution of the monarchies. (Cromwell wanted the money for the crown, while Anne argued that it should go toward poor relief.) Plus, I hadn't realized that the tower Anne lived in between being accused and being executed had been torn down in the 18th century. So much for making a pilgrimage to her former rooms!

All in all, a well organized piece of history. ( )

I enjoyed this book and it was informative but didn't like it quite as much as the other. Claire is a great author and I love all of her work. ( )

I love reading about the Tudor times! ( )

This was an interesting book. This book discusses the execution of Anne Boleyn. It discusses events that happened before her execution, the key players in her trial and execution, discusses who might have been behind it all, and many other topics. It is clear that Claire Ridgway is very passionate about what happened to Anne Boleyn and the people relevant to the trial and execution. Ridgway shows this passion by supplying readers with a well researched book. I do have to agree with another reviewer that at points Ridgway's language wasn't exactly professional (i.e. "my opinion" "I think"). I would definitely recommend this book to those interested in learning more about Anne Boleyn. ( )