the six wives of henry viii antonia fraser

If I can become half the historian that she is I will consider myself quite accomplished. I highly respect her methods, her voice, and her manner of presentation. This is my first Antonia Fraser history, and I am so delighted that this is the one I chose. The answer to that is a (mostly) unqualified yes. The stereotypes in question are, in order: 'The Betrayed Wife, The Temptress, The Good Woman, the Ugly Sister, The Bad Girl, and The Mother Figure.' I should note that she does admit that of course there is an element of truth to the stereotypes, but it isn't all as presented. She says that her mission is to rescue the six wives of Henry VIII from the sterotypes that have plagued them for centuries (not to mention the horrid singsong of 'divorced, beheaded died.' etc). While this would be a quality history by any standard, I've decided to judge it by exactly the standard that Antonia Fraser sets for herself right at the beginning of the book. Her most recent book is Must You Go?, celebrating her life with Harold Pinter, who died on Christmas Eve 2008. Antonia Fraser was made DBE in 2011 for her services to literature.

She was awarded the Norton Medlicott Medal by the Historical Association in 2000. She has written five highly praised books which focus on women in history, The Weaker Vessel: Women's Lot in Seventeenth Century Britain (Wolfson Award for History, 1984), The Warrior Queens: Boadecia's Chariot, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Marie Antoinette: The Journey (Franco-British Literary Prize 2001), which was made into a film by Sofia Coppola in 2006 and most recently Love and Louis XIV: The Women in the Life of the Sun King. Antonia Fraser is the author of many widely acclaimed historical works, including the biographies Mary, Queen of Scots (a 40th anniversary edition was published in May 2009), Cromwell: Our Chief of Men, King Charles II and The Gunpowder Plot (CWA Non-Fiction Gold Dagger St Louis Literary Award).

The six wives of henry viii antonia fraser