Henry: Virtuous Prince
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Review
‘This book is Starkey’s masterpiece.’ Sunday Times
‘Brilliant. Every page has an intimate fascination. An accessible and entertaining book.’ Hilary Mantel, Guardian
‘Demonstrates Starkey’s scholarship and authorial panache.’ Daily Mail
'Writing with a mixture of tabloid verve and original scholarship, peppering every page with pungent wit and yet never skimping on the detail…the best political history of the reign of Henry VIII so far…an outstanding overture.' John Guy, Sunday Times
‘If you like Henry VIII, this is what you'll like.’ Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph (Books of the Year)
‘Starkey gives us an unexpectedly fresh-faced Henry VIII in his breezy biography.’ Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph (Books of the Year)
‘It is brilliant, beady-eyed history, and every page of it has an intimate fascination…Starkey has eschewed the easy wisdom of hindsight…his strength is that he questions everything…he seeks fresh evidence…his writing is uncluttered and conversational, and he cuts through the back-story…with grace, clarity and wit…accessible and entertaining.’ Guardian
Review
'Starkey has the mind of an historian but the eye of a court painter.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you know little about the War of the Roses and the emergence of the Tudors then this is a good place to start. Starkey writes here in an easy, conversational style as he takes us through the historical background and the reign of Henry VII.
However, if you have anything more than a passing acquaintance with the Tudors, this book adds hardly anything to the picture. The childhood and adolescence of Henry VIII which is promised by the book only happens at a fairly distant and undetailed way. Henry's marriage to Catherine gets little more than a brief chapter, and his male friendships not that much more.
One sexual liaison is referred to, Wolsey is introduced - and then the book ends.
I found Starkey's 'speak to the camera' style rather coy and irritating - he has a continual verbal tick where he ends a paragraph with a statement ("it looked like becoming a Howard family preserve"), leaves us hanging for a beat, then kicks off the next paragraph with a refutation of what he's just said ("Or it would have done if it had not been for Henry"). His alternative is to ask a question to which we all know the answer e.g. "But would he love her [Catherine of Aragon] always?" This tended, in my eyes, to give the narrative a rather amateur tone as the author tips us the nod and wink, and we all have a little snigger.
So if you're looking for a popular history which doesn't concern itself with scholarly arguments or too much detail, then this will probably suit admirably. But if you want something either more sophisticated in terms of history writing, or with precise detail, then this might well be a disappointment. Consider it a TV documentary in book form, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it consists.
However, if you have anything more than a passing acquaintance with the Tudors, this book adds hardly anything to the picture. The childhood and adolescence of Henry VIII which is promised by the book only happens at a fairly distant and undetailed way. Henry's marriage to Catherine gets little more than a brief chapter, and his male friendships not that much more.
One sexual liaison is referred to, Wolsey is introduced - and then the book ends.
I found Starkey's 'speak to the camera' style rather coy and irritating - he has a continual verbal tick where he ends a paragraph with a statement ("it looked like becoming a Howard family preserve"), leaves us hanging for a beat, then kicks off the next paragraph with a refutation of what he's just said ("Or it would have done if it had not been for Henry"). His alternative is to ask a question to which we all know the answer e.g. "But would he love her [Catherine of Aragon] always?" This tended, in my eyes, to give the narrative a rather amateur tone as the author tips us the nod and wink, and we all have a little snigger.
So if you're looking for a popular history which doesn't concern itself with scholarly arguments or too much detail, then this will probably suit admirably. But if you want something either more sophisticated in terms of history writing, or with precise detail, then this might well be a disappointment. Consider it a TV documentary in book form, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it consists.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have the utmost respect for David Starkey. I really enjoy his TV shows and have read other of his books. I purchased this in hardback and was immediately shocked and felt slightly conned at the lack of text on each page. The font is set well in and is bigger than you would find than in a Weir or Gregory offering. I read this book on the back of a number of other Henry books namely 'The Six Wives of Henry viii' by Weir and also Frasers same offering. In my opinion Starkeys work does not come anywhere near the standard offered by these two. I honestly believe Mr Starkeys name alone got this book printed. Whislt it is informative, it is too short and it lacks alot of the depth I picked up from other similar works. Such a shame....
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I usually do enjoy Starkey's work, but the style and presentation here seems to be "history as written by tabloid journalist".
Short punchy paragraphs, sections and chapters which are occasionally scholarly, but often little more than a string of interesting anectodes which seem to add little to the sum of human knowledge about his subject, He does seem very concerned that the reader is incapable of sustaining concentration over anything more than two or three pages.
Most irritating of all though is the knowing question marks at the end of many sections:
"Would they fight together against the upstart Tudors?"
"Wisdom, love or hunting...Which would it be?"
Did Henry reflect a little wryly that he could not even initiate his coronation on his own authority?"
I found myself waiting for each "section question" and every time seeing the image of Dr Starkey leaning towards the camera, perhaps knowingly tapping the side of his nose and winking while I scream back..."That's not history its pure speculation!"
..and that's probably my problem with the book, its a telly script re-packaged as a book.
Short punchy paragraphs, sections and chapters which are occasionally scholarly, but often little more than a string of interesting anectodes which seem to add little to the sum of human knowledge about his subject, He does seem very concerned that the reader is incapable of sustaining concentration over anything more than two or three pages.
Most irritating of all though is the knowing question marks at the end of many sections:
"Would they fight together against the upstart Tudors?"
"Wisdom, love or hunting...Which would it be?"
Did Henry reflect a little wryly that he could not even initiate his coronation on his own authority?"
I found myself waiting for each "section question" and every time seeing the image of Dr Starkey leaning towards the camera, perhaps knowingly tapping the side of his nose and winking while I scream back..."That's not history its pure speculation!"
..and that's probably my problem with the book, its a telly script re-packaged as a book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
surprisingly light - but enjoyable enough
This is a very easily read book, written almost conversationally. As other reviewers have noted Starkey frequently asks rhetorical questions, particularly at the end of chapters,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by markr
Fantastic Read
I cannot understand why so many didn't seem to understand the importance of this work. It is fascinating to me reading the 'what came before' part of the man we all feel we know so... Read more
Published 2 months ago by AndyH
A refreshing take on Henry VIII
Having not viewed the television series which more or less accompanied this book, my first impressions of this book was that it was a refreshing take on Henry VIII. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Apocalyptic Queen
Deep, provocative and entertaining biography of a misunderstood King
Like many, my studies - and thus knowledge - of Henry VIII were purely academic and centred on the Reformation, Wolsey and those infamous wives, all with little attention being... Read more
Published 13 months ago by C. Dearden
Excellent
Excellent, as always with David Starkey. This is full of detail yet engagingly written to keep the reader interested. Can't wait for the next instalment!
Published 18 months ago by klj
Good as far as it goes
I enjoy reading anything by David Starkey and was eagerly awaiting his biography of Henry VIII. At first I was not disappointed as Starkey got into his stride and shared his... Read more
Published 20 months ago by L Phillips
Stark Choice
David Starkey is a well known English historian of the Tudor Period of government whose views reached a wide public audience through television. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Neutral
A good introduction.
Having never read David Starkey before, was wondering if this would be another dry well padded biography, I was suprised very readable, not too in depth, but gives you an... Read more
Published on 17 April 2010 by T. Summerfield
Very good, but should have been better.
As the first book of Starkey's I've ever read I didn't really have any expectations beforehand, thus my review can claim to be, relatively, unbiased. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by T. Stewart
Very readable biography of the early Henry VIII
Scholarly historical biography can get fairly dry, but this book is very readable. Despite the lack of detailed source materials, there is sufficient information to keep the story... Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2009 by Cary
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