The Queens of Henry VIII

Six Wives

The pre-eminent study of the six wives of Henry VIII by a master historian.

A tribute to Starkey's narrative drive, his puckish wit and sharp discrimination

Relentlessly scholarly...Starkey's is the best study of Henry's wives ever published... A masterly and persuasive narrative which never loses its grip over the story or the reader

High-powered history pithily expressed... This study of Henry VIII's women shows David Starkey at his best

So gripping that one finishes it wishing it were even longer... The punchy style adopted by Starkey is perfectly suited to the story he has to tell

Starkey keeps the narrative alive with a combination of sound chronology, peppery opinion and startling detail... Six Wives provides an intriguing new perspective on this key period in English history

David Starkey is Honorary Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and the author of acclaimed histories including Elizabeth and Monarchy. He was presented with the Norton Medlicott Medal for Services to History by Britain's Historical Association. He is a well-known TV and radio personality. He was made a CBE in 2007.

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived 
 
CATHERINE OF ARAGON: the pious Spanish Catholic who suffered years of miscarriages and failed to produce a male heir... 
ANNE BOLEYN: the pretty, clever, French-educated Protestant whose marriage to Henry changed England forever... 
JANE SEYMOUR: the demure and submissive contrast to Anne Boleyn's radical and vampish style... 
ANNE OF CLEVES: 'the mare of Flanders' whose short marriage to the overweight Henry followed a farcical 'beauty contest'... 
CATHERINE HOWARD: the flirtatious teenager whose adulteries made a fool of the ageing king... CATHERINE PARR: the shrewd, religiously radical bluestocking who outlived him... 
 
In this dazzling study, David Starkey gives us a richly textured picture of daily life at the Tudor Court from the woman's point of view. Above all, he establishes the interaction of the private and the public, and demonstrates how the Queens of Henry VIII were central in determining political policy.

Elizabeth

David Starkey’s magisterial account of Elizabeth I’s reign – a number one bestseller.

'The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth' Evening Standard 
 
A woman in a man's world, Queen Elizabeth I was to become England's most successful ruler. 
 
Confident in her destiny, intensely intelligent, passionately sexual yet (she said) a virgin, Elizabeth's reign was characterised by a self-assurance unusual for the time. Finding her way through the labyrinthine plots that surrounded the court, she had to live by her wits, surrounded by betrayal and suspicion, not knowing who to trust with her desire to be queen, or her desire to be a lover. 
 
David Starkey's portrait of the first female ruler of England is an enlightening account. Filled with lucid and clear scenes with fascinating insight throughout, Elizabeth is a truly masterful retelling of the life of a legendary monarch. 
 
'What a page turner!' Time Out 
'Fresh and lively... Vividly told' Sunday Times

Fresh and lively... Vividly told... He sets before us not only the woman behind the throne but the girl behind the woman

The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth... One of the most zestful pieces of narrative history written...a racy read and first-rate history

What a page turner! A white knuckle ride through history...inspired research, from the clues embedded in the portraits to court ceremonial to the often circumlocutory letters

I found myself compelled by David Starkey's  vivid recreation of the hazardous uncertainty of Elizabeth's early life, her successive exclusions from the centre of power, the studiedly ambiguous answers she offered her interrogators, her inevitable implications in conspiracies and narrow escapes from execution

Combines a relaxed and unfussy style with a thorough knowledge of the period and a sharp eye for detail. Elizabeth's life makes for a compelling story and Starkey tells it well

Dr David Starkey is a historian and broadcaster, and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. In 2000 he presented the acclaimed Channel Four series Elizabeth, and in 1998 he presented David Starkey's Henry VIII, also on Channel Four. He writes regularly for both popular newspapers and learned journal, and is a controversial panellist on Radio 4's The Moral Maze. An expert on constitutional history, he is the author of several other books on the Tudor period. 
 
For further information, and details of forthcoming projects, see www.davidstarkey.com.

A woman in a man's world, confident of her destiny to reign, intensely intelligent, passionately sexual yet (she said) a virgin, Elizabeth was to become England's most successful ruler. Finding her way through the labyrinthine plots that surrounded the court, she had to live by her wits, surrounded by betrayal and suspicion, not knowing who to trust with her desire to be queen, or her desire to be a lover...

David Starkey

For the kings and queens of England, a trumpet fanfare or crash of cymbals could be as vital a weapon as a cannon. Showcasing a monarch’s power, prestige and taste, music has been the lifeblood of many a royal dynasty. 
 
From sacred choral works to soaring symphonies, Music and Monarchy looks at how England’s character was shaped by its music. To David Starkey and Katie Greening, works like Handel’s Water Music and Tallis’s Mass for Four Voices were more than entertainment – they were pieces signalling political intent, 
wealth and ambition. 
 
Starkey and Greening examine England’s most iconic musical works to demonstrate how political power has been a part of musical composition for centuries. Many of our current musical motifs of nationhood, whether it’s the Last Night of the Proms or football terraces erupting in song, have their origins in the way the crown has shaped the national soundtrack. 
 
Published to coincide with a major BBC series, Music and Monarchy is not a book about music. It is a history of England written in music, from our leading royal historian.

David Starkey

Books by David Starkey

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