Book Review: The life and death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives

I am in such a perplexity, that my mind is clearly amazed; for I never had better opinion in woman, than I had in her - Thomas Cranmer, writing to the King in 1536 after Anne Boleyn's arrest.

Anne Boleyn - over four hundred and sixty-eight years after her death - is it really possible to gain a sense of the woman who woke the lion within Henry VIII, the lion that More so rightly feared - the same lion that one day ripped Anne Boleyn's own life to shreds? Can we get behind the mask Anne Boleyn represented to the world? Seen in her own times in so many guises: a goggled eyed whore, a witch, the "scandal of Christendom," a woman of 'stout heart, ' a sainted martyr, like all of us, Anne Boleyn demonstrates the true complexity of the human spirit.

Years ago, I read Eric Ives "The life and death of Anne Boleyn. Regarding it then as the best and most complete biography of Anne Boleyn ever written, the book remains on my bookshelf, as one of my most treasured Tudor reference books.

When I heard of the release of Professor Ives' major work, I assumed it a re-release of the original; I couldn't imagine how Ives could improve on his pivotal, thorough study on the life of Anne Boleyn. Wrong on both counts. Ives revisits his great biography, first published in 1986, and makes it anew by using additional, fascinating material and further study, demonstrating once again what an excellent biography is all about. Although this is more than just an excellent and satisfying biography; written with an obvious passion for his subject, Ives' study on Anne Boleyn's life is superb.

In my mind, a good biography not only introduces the reader to its subject but seeks to go beyond simply providing a cardboard cut out; a good biography opens the door and makes the reader engage with the subject. We come away from the work left with an image and voice - the very humanness of its theme.

As a historical fiction author focusing on the Tudor period, I particularly yearn for insights to assist me develop fully rounded characters set soundly in the context of their own times. I want to know what did they liked to wear, favourite colours, particular dislikes, what made them cry or laugh.