The Children of Henry VIII

The Children of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Alison Weir always tends to add her own input to her books but nowhere is this more obvious than in this one. In a non-fiction book she has added dialogue which to me is already steering it towards the land of fiction. Be very weary of that dialogue - there is no source to confirm it word for word, even if the sentiment behind it may have one.

Other than that, while I can understand the focus on the reigns of Edward and Mary, I think I would have preferred more of an ensemble book, from birth till death kind of thing. Edward being a minor, his reign is more about his regents than about him so it's very hard to get a glimpse of who he was behind all that, which is what I would expect if I were to read a book with his picture on the cover.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a good book to read, well written and such (I am referring to Alison Weir's writing style), but if you are interested in the actual history of the times you should read this with a grain of salt and if you're not interested in the actual history you're better off picking a fiction book. This one is neither here nor there.

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