Hey so I really got into learning about the Tudor period last year, unfortunately the books I've been reading were all by Alison Weir, who I just found out is not a very good source to get info from. At least I got her books for 50 cents at a yard sale. What book would you reccomend???
hello! i haven’t actually read that much tudor non fiction myself yet (i keep meaning to but have never gotten around to actually doing it), but here’s some stuff i read/started reading/have been recommended by others:
1. The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen by Susan Bordo
While this isn’t a biography on Anne Boleyn’s life or even a history book, it’s imo a very compelling read about the portrayal of Anne and her legacy in the media, and the positions people took on her over the years. It includes some interviews, too, with actresses who portrayed Anne, like Genevieve Bujold and Natalie Dormer. If you’re not particularly interested in Anne specifically this may not be for you and it doesn’t really include much information on her life, but it’s a very interesting book.
2. The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives
I believe it’s considered to be one of the best biographies on Anne; I’ve only read the a bit myself and that was a while ago, but from my memory it was pretty good and well researched. I know a lot of Tudor fans on here recommend this book as a starter for research on Anne.
3. Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives
Once again I’ve read very little of this myself, but I liked what I did read. It’s the same author as the previous book; I haven’t seen it recommended as much as Anne’s book, maybe because people aren’t as interested in her, but I think I was still recommended this book by another Tudor fan before I got it so I think it should be interesting.
4. Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII’s Fifth Queen by Josephine Wilkinson
Like the last two cases I haven’t read much of this (rip… uni hell) but I can say I was nervous about getting a book on Catherine Howard, so I asked around for recs and people have said this is pretty good and the start that I did read seemed promising so I haven’t been disappointed yet.
5. Mary Tudor: The First Queen by Linda Porter
This was recommended to me as a good book on Mary I; unlike the other I haven’t gotten at all to starting it yet but I’ve seen a lot of Mary fans enjoy it, so if you like her too you may like this book as well.
Besides that, I’ve also read Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s True Love by Elizabeth Norton, but I wasn’t hugely impressed by it, since there isn’t much info on Jane out there most of the book (and it was fairly short anyway) is speculative - granted, it does emphasize when it speculates, but I don’t think I gained much information from it so I’m hesistant to really recommend it lol, but I thought i should mention it since I did read it. Also by Elizabeth Norton there is The Lives on Tudor Women, which I think I’ve heard some controversial opinions on and I haven’t read it myself yet either so I wouldn’t recommend it but I’m mentioning it just in case.
Anybody else who knows good Tudor books to recommend, or give more insights to the ones I mentioned is reading this, please do feel free to add on!! :3
