This was a very lucidly written and entertaining history of Henry VIII's six wives. Weir's style is straightforward and factual, but her warm, wry tone come through occasionally in her word choice. This makes for a very conversational story, easy to follow, and engaging. In fact, it's what I had hoped Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France would be like.

Weir tries very hard to be balanced and manages for the most part not to pick sides between Protestant/Catholic/Church of England. The only place I would say she oversteps her authorial bounds are in a few places where she attributes Henry VIII with more benevolent intentions than I believe he merits. In a few cases, she argues, his apparently selfish behavior was actually for the benefit of the crown and the country. I'm not so sure about that. However, Weir keeps herself reined in, and these points come up as interesting opportunities for discussion and critical thought rather than an interruption in the storyline.

She presents each woman as a three-dimensional human in her own right, and takes a very clear-eyed look at the rationale that began (and often, ended) each marriage. She brings political, religious, sociological, geographical, and historical context to this dramatic story, and backs up her assertions with historical documentation.

Overall, this was a very evidence-based but very readable history book. It should be a model for other authors of history. She neither turns it into a romance novel nor a term paper. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, or who would like to know the facts behind the legends.

My only real quibble with the book is with the printing. My copy repeated 30 pages at one point, and then left out 30 pages at a crucial point (one minute Henry was disgruntled at meeting Anne of Cleves face-to-face and the next page he was happily married to Katherine Howard moments before someone noticed she spent a lot of time out of her room at night).