The Autobiography of Henry VIII - With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George <AudioBook>
The Autobiography of Henry VIII - With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George (1988) Unabridged
Read By David Case | 64kbps | MP3 | 41Hrs 23Mins | 1.1Gb
Read By David Case | 64kbps | MP3 | 41Hrs 23Mins | 1.1Gb
Review
I first read this book when it originally was published and absolutely loved it. In fact, I recommended it to everyone I knew. I don't remember how I came upon it, but I was fascinated with the idea of learning more about Henry VIII in an entertaining way such as this.
The length of this book is what makes it so much fun. Often when I find a good book, it's over way too soon. Not so with The Autobiography of Henry VIII. Additionally, I didn't know much about this King except what everyone knows–that he had two of his wives killed and that he was not an empathetic character.
Not true. Being able to see things (albeit, this is fiction) from his point of view made him very empathetic. And, I learned that the people loved this King for much of his reign.
Margaret George's story made this era so interesting for me, that I have since read many more novels and nonfiction books on the subject. Now that I have read much more on the subject, I realize that the author was not entirely accurate and that much of what she used in her novel has been found to be false by many other historians. Still, I heartily recommend The Autobiography of Henry VIII since it's entirely entertaining and such a good introduction to this time period.
Addendum: I wanted to add that, in retrospect, I do think that the author may have been a bit forgiving of King Henry. She gives him the benefit of the doubt at every turn. For example, in this novel, Henry really believes that Ann Boleyn had a sixth finger and seems convinced of her witchery. History has convinced most of us that she may have had a small stub or something, but that it was likely Henry didn't truly believe that she was a witch or that she was unfaithful with her brother or anyone. So, events such as this are treated as if Henry truly believes he alone is the victim. This may be true– we'll never know with certaintly– but it's also a bit unlikely. At different points, he may have had some evil intent.