The Anne Boleyn Collection - The Real Truth about the Tudors

I am so grateful this book exists. It is a wonderful resource for Anne Boleyn fans, and especially authors that want to write about her (like me) and want sources at their fingertips. Let me tell you, Claire researches like crazy. She's a woman after my own hart (ha! Get it? My Henry VIII historical fiction is called Hart Coursing! No? Okay, it seemed funny before I typed it). Since I also have an Anne Boleyn obsession, I can appreciate all of her hard work and Claire has simplified my life considerably!I agree with Claire 100% on who Anne was, and even her assessment of all the queens with the exception of Catherine of Aragon. I also disagree with her on who Henry VIII was, but then that's to be expected since I have such a differing opinion on him from probably the rest of the world. But that's okay; it's still fun to read what other people think of him.This book was a great compilation of obvious intense hours of study and scrutiny by Claire. I respect her immensely. I do wish the book would have been formatted a little differently. There are times it reads like it was simply a compilation from her blog. For example, when she goes through the 2 missing Boleyn brothers, she updates on the following chapters, instead of going back and just fixing the first chapter so the reader doesn't have to wade through her going back and saying, "Wait a minute. Here's the most updated information. Ignore what I said before." Ugh! That's the beauty of self-publishing. The author can go back and fix stuff like that, rather than just tacking on an addendum. I would have even preferred she just put it in an author's note at the end. As it stands, it kind of came across as unprofessional, and that was a shame. It jerked me around as the reader and kind of irritated me. I felt like that was uncalled for. The good thing is though this book was so compelling it didn't stop me from reading the rest--that's a testament to how ridiculously great this book is!I won't go into the amount of typos and mechanical writing errors I found, because there were more than I would've liked, but I don't want it to detract from my review. This is an amazing book, and the errors aside, it is well worth buying and owning. I will say, however, if it was edited and the errors removed (especially the punctuation, but then I'm a perfectionist about that stuff), along with some of the repetitive chapters and updates like on the missing Boleyn brothers, I would easily give this book a 5 star rating, rather than 4.Her website, [...], is excellent. Her information is terrific, and I think her view of Anne Boleyn is spot on. If you don't believe me, look at her research and her valid points. She proved very well what I already knew to be true. It was thrilling to find a book that agreed with me on who that fascinating Boleyn woman was.A very satisfying read. Money very well spent, and my mental faculties were very well stirred and stroked with incredible information.I wouldn't mind reading something else by her on the other wives, with the exception of Catherine of Aragon, and plan to read her other book: The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdownp.s. If I had the guts, I'd contact Claire myself and tell her I kept track of every typo, missed word, inserted words that shouldn't be there, and each mistake with punctuation, because the editor in me can't leave that stuff be. I tend to edit on my iPod as I read. If I hadn't been such a nutball doing that, I probably would've finished this book in half the time; in 3 days instead of 6. Oh well. It's the writer/editor in me. I can't leave the red pen out of it. It's a sickness I've developed! But then you probably already knew that based on all of my book reviews. I do try to be honest though.

Claire Ridgway, the fairy godmother of Anne Boleyn websites, has published a well-researched and informative look into the world of Anne Boleyn, a figure that continues to inspire discussion and debate five hundred or so years after her death. New and old fans alike will find something to read about in here. First off, I would highly recommend this book to anybody who had read about Anne in historical fiction novels and was interested in finding, "The Real Truth about Anne Boleyn," (to quote the tagline from Claire's website, [...]!) One thing I like about this book in particular is that Claire never says that her version of Anne is the right one and thus every other Anne Boleyn presented in books and nonfiction works is WRONG. While she does debunk myths about Anne in popular culture, her book invites you to draw your own conclusions on this fascinating Tudor queen. (I hope that made sense!) Another great thing about this book is that other Tudor figures are not maligned to make Anne look better. Jane Seymour is not presented as a scheming bitch who would've danced happily on Anne's grave. Catherine of Aragon is not defined as the "Dull Housewife." Each figure that has to be examined in the book is examined as a fully fleshed human being, flaws and all. Claire recognizes that these were real honest-to-goodness PEOPLE, not characters in a soapy drama. Finally, I would like to say that I really enjoy Claire's writing style. Her prose is easy to read, yet never loses the scholarly attention to detail that is necessary when examining historical figures. It is obvious that Claire loves writing about Anne Boleyn and the Tudor period in general, and I admire her dedication to getting the real truth about Anne out there, without bringing down other people in the process. Her book and website are great stepping stones for giving a new and strong voice to a woman maligned and misunderstood by history. I could write even more endless oodles of praise for this book, but I have no wish to waste your time when you could be reading Claire's book! Go, buy now! You won't regret it. :D

Ms. Ridgeway is obviously extremely passionate about her subject. This collection of blog posts is informative, certainly; it is meticulously footnoted with sources, and filled with clearly thought-out and well-presented opinion. The author does go out of her way to state frequently where she is stating opinion and does compare it to opinions of other historians and uses facts where facts are available.I was troubled with the enormous overuse of exclamation points to drive home her ideas, but kept reminding myself that this was not a single researched historical book, but instead a collection of blog posts, and blog posts are often not held to the same standard.What also troubled me, and this seriously, was Ms. Ridgeway's apparent and staggering homophobia in her complete inability to accept even the possibility that any of the men involved in the Boleyn scandals/trials may have been gay or bisexual. Is it such a horror to her that she discounts any and all possibility that it may have been? We know men of previous eras were gay just as they are today, only then they were expected to marry and sire children, as well as feared loss of stature and condemnation of the church, so always kept such activities hidden. Yes, we will never know for sure who may have or may have not had same-sex lovers, but a good historian is not going to completely discount the possibility that it could have been, nor so completely condemn the ideas of other historians who are obviously more open-minded (not to mention using language to describe gay sex that is frankly directly out of the Tudor era).All in all, I did enjoy the read, and found a number of excellent pieces of information I hadn't had before, as well as a great bibliography to continue my own Tudor research.

Claire is gifted; her research thorough and her writing fluid and pleasing.A must read when you're interested in Tudor History !

Liked delving into the History

After reading this incredibile book I am sure of two things: I admire Anne even more and I feel Anne is safe within Claire's hands, who surely sticks to the truth no matter what. Thank you, Claire!

Es hat mich schon stutzig gemacht, dass das Buch "The real Truth about the Tudors" heißt. Was ist wahrer als die Wahrheit? Und schon am Anfang geht es gleich in diesem Stil weiter: die Autorin Claire Ridgway hatte einen Traum, bei dem sie als Zuschauer an der Exekution von Anne Boleyn dabei war und dann ist sie aufgewacht und ihr war klar, ihre Mission ist es, den Leuten die Wahrheit über Anne und die Tudors zu erzählen. Dabei sind ihre Lieblingsquellen unter anderem die Fernsehserie "Die Tudors" und das Buch "The other Boleyn girl" von Philippa Gregory. Wobei sie das Buch quasi als "Hassobjekt" sieht und dabei vergisst, dass es wie die Serie in erster Linie der Unterhaltung dienen soll und nicht in Anspruch nimmt, historisch korrekt zu sein. Historisch korrekt ist auch Claire Ridgways Buch in keinem Fall. Natürlich hat man eine Vorliebe für eine historische Persönlichkeit oder zumindest großes Interesse an ihr, wenn man eine Biographie schreiben möchte. Bei diesem Buch, dass in keinem Fall die Bezeichnung Biographie verdient hat, merkt man in jeder Zeile die Begeisterung der Autorin für Anne Boleyn und ihren Wunsch, sie um jeden Preis so gut wie möglich darzustellen. Sie wiederholt ständig irgendwelche Fragen und beantwortet sie so, wie es ihr am besten passt. Auch die anderen Frauen von Henry VIII. stellt sie nach diesem Schema dar. Ihre Quellen sind dabei Diskussionen mit Facebook-Freunden, Wikipedia und ihren eigenen Mutmassungen. Historische Berichte, die nicht in ihr Konzept passen, korrigiert sie. Bei ihr heißt "turning bad history into good history". Das Buch ist eine Zusammenstellung aus Blogs auf ihrer Homepage, daher wohl die ständigen Wiederholungen.Jeder, der sich ernsthaft für die Tudors, Henry VIII und Anne Boleyn interessiert, ist hier sicher an der falschen Adresse. Da kann man genausogut die Serie schauen, die ist interessanter und nimmt für sich nicht in Anspruch, die wirklich wahre Wahrheit zu erzählen.....

The Anne Boleyn Collection - The Real Truth About the Tudors. A very thoughtful and informative book. I enjoyed reading it immensely.