Henry VIII’s six wives have lain too long in the shadow of his own awe nspiring personality. In this timely re-issue of his famous book, Paul Rival, with Gallic elegance and wit, brings the queens to the centre of the stage. These six unfortunate women cannot fail to capture the reader’s sympathy as they use all their feminine wiles to ward off Henry’s black rages and capricious moods. Sometimes they fail, as Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard did, with tragic results; their worst mistake was in ever marrying the ogre. Henry was never a man to mice words; when he first set eyes on his dumpy German bride, Anne of Cleves, he broke out into a cold sweat, and bellowed, She’s frightful I have been deceived. Only once with little, plain Jane Seymour did he ever show true affection to his spouse.

Paul Rival has woven a colourful and entertaining Tudor tapestry around Henry’s six wives; here recreated is his court in all its splendour and cruelty . The villains of the piece are the slippery politicians like Cromwell and Crammer who play the courtly game of intrigue for the highest stakes, their own heads. As for the queens, one can only pity their plight.