I can't say I was particularly impressed. For one, the illustrations aren't particularly pertinent to Anne Boleyn, and second, I didn't feel as if i'd learned much more from this book than from others by more experienced historians. Don't get me wrong, it was ok, it relayed the facts well enough and it's always pleasant to see a writer not take the easy route of believing the worst of Anne Boleyn, but other than that, knowing the history myself, I didn't feel as if I'd learned much from it. I actually think a lot of parts would be confusing to someone not knowing much of the history of Henry's second queen, as the structure was a bit messy.
Overall it's a decent read but I'm not sure it deserves to be considered an illustrated life of Anne Boleyn. The black and white illustrations are indeed there, but a little all over the place and rarely bring anything to the narrative of the book.

This was fine for what it was - an account of Anne Boleyn's life interspersed with some art. I guess I just expected more from the words "an illustrated life." I was hoping for something I hadn't already read or seen before, but it was mainly just a light telling of her life with art I've already seen.

Again, this was fine. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't anything new or different.

I had to read this because I've been reading just about everything published on Anne Boleyn since I was a teenager. I found this book slightly puzzling until I looked up the author. He is an art historian with a concentration on Tudor images. That explains the somewhat shallow look at the historical content, it's text to support the collection of images. I don't know enough about most of them to know whether it's all public domain stuff, but the number of images "after Holbein" were slightly distressing as the originals are so much better as portraits! There are a few quite interesting items among them, including the Black Book of the Garter which you can better see on the author's blog because it has clear detail images in color. I'm not sure whether the published book will have any color in the images.

The book is not badly written at all. And Hui is cautious about the "Anne must have felt' stuff that is so common in modern historical writing - he says things like, "Given her subsequent bold attitude, Anne must have found this event..." It's marginally less annoying. He comes down on the side of Anne's birth date being 1507, and I'm not convinced by the reasons he gives - just because someone who knew her later said X or Y doesn't make it true, personal recollections are the most unreliable possible source of history. I would defer to someone like Eric Ives on such a topic. I did find his reliance on the Calendar of State Papers/Spanish somewhat disturbing, it's like relying on transcripts of Fox News to write a history of the Biden administration. This is the first time I've seen an assertion that Jane Seymour was actively dissing the Boleyn family and Henry's marriage as her relationship with Henry developed - just because it's in Chapuys' letters doesn't make it true, and it seems like an inordinately risky thing to do given Jane was being promoted by her family as meek and unpolitical, and people were being executed for less.

In sum, I would not recommend this as an introduction to Anne Boleyn, it's rather shallow and mechanical as history. But I'd recommend looking at the author's blog!

A great literary stroll through the life of Anne Boleyn, supplemented with the odd gorgeous illustration. I’ve always been interested in this headstrong character in history so this book was perfect for me to indulge in my interest.

My only caveat though is with this being an ‘illustrated life’ I though there would be more illustrations. There would be several pages without a single illustration and instead reams of writing in its place, which I honestly don’t mind because the information was fascinating, but I expected more pictures to be within the book. And all were black and white which added to the historical feel of it but a few colour ones may have enhanced also. But not to detract away from the illustrations that were concluded as they were great. Of notable castles, people, coins etc.. and some of the greatly famous portraits by Holbein.

It was a greatly interesting read that took us from the early days of Anne Boleyn, to her pursuit of power and then to her subsequent fall. There was so much information within the book conveyed in such a succinct way, it was well done and much enjoyed.

I can never resist reading books about this fascinating, much-beloved Queen! Roland Hui provides an excellent introduction to her life, filled with illustrations. It is thoroughly researched, and sympathetic to Anne. I especially liked the emphasis on how religious Anne was, and the behaviour that she expected from her ladies-in-waiting. Hui describes her clever, creative and temperamental character, and her relationship with the King beautifully. The book also contains interesting details about her relationship with her daughter, the future Gloriana.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

First of all, thank you NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book!!
I love historical fiction based on reality. When I discovered this book on netgalley I was very thrilled and soon enough got approved!! This book provided all the information we needed about Anne Boleyn and how she met her tragic death. Sometimes I struggled, because english is not my first language. But I can say that I was not disappointed by this book and enjoyed it very much. The writing style was enjoyable and overall a book I'd recommend everyone to read.

Very interesting illustrations, paintings and drawings in this.I was particularly fascinated by the Holbeins and I thought the story of Anne's life was well sourced and told My only real issue with this was that it seemed a bit dated and newer information on her is out there and widely circulating on the internet today.

I loved it! If you, like me, are a fan of history, this book is for you, Anne Boleyn's story is incredible, I never imagined that the life of a queen would be surrounded not only by wealth, but also by pressure, lies, infidelity, hatred, revenge and a horrible ending.

What surprised me the most was the theme of the heir son, the pressure from the queens because they could not give birth to a son and Henry VIII pointing them out as guilty for it and using this as a pretext for her multiple infidelities.

✨ The information is very well researched, clear and concise.
✨ You enter the life of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII in a very intimate way.
✨ The illustrations make you feel reading as if you were there, you know the places and people of royalty very close.
✨ You discover details of the story that you did not imagine.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars, I would definitely read more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pen & Sword, and Roland Hui for the approval to read an advanced copy of this book.

It is well-written and well-researched. I admired Hui's thoughtfulness to include little debates over what is usually presented as blatant facts in other historical works about Anne Boleyn. Was she born in 1501 or was it actually 1507? Did she have an elusive extra digit on her hand? Hui gave reasonings as to why historians give their answers to these questions.

The use of images throughout the pages of the book versus clumping them all together in the middle, as other historical books tend to do, gave this version of Anne Boleyn's life a fresher perspective. We get to see places she visited and people she enteracted with as those moments happen.

This is a book to be read and reread. I am looking forward to its release so I can add it to my collection of books on Tudor history.

I've heard/read about Anne Boleyn's story a thousand times but it never gets old. It is basically a cautionary tale of what happens when men have too much privilege. 🙄🙄 To be fair though, there's also something powerful in making a man alter the foundation an entire kingdom just for you. 😏😏

Anyway, as far as the book goes, I found it to be very informative. There was so much I didn't know about Anne Boleyn and I was glad to learn more about her. Moreover, I particularly liked this book because the illustrations were beautiful. I don't read history books often, so I wasn't really familiar with any of them but they did make reading a lot more interesting and less monotonous.

The book more than lives up to its sub-title - nearly every single page features a portrait, painting, drawing, medal, coin, or some other illustration of the life and world of Anne Boleyn.

And the text itself is full and immersive, getting into primary quotes as often as possible, getting as close as possible to the real Anne and giving the reader full coverage of every aspect of her life. A good biography for either those just getting into Tudor history or already a fan.

I enjoyed this account of Anne Boleyn’s rise and fall. The illustrations really helped with picturing how the characters, artefacts and buildings looked like. Nice touch. I liked that.

My main complaint is that I felt that the writing was occasionally a bit disjointed, causing me to go back the last few pages to see what I had missed for the story to progress like that.

Anne Boleyn seems to be portrayed a bit more negatively here, perhaps due to the use of writings of people who did not favour her.

Overall, an enjoyable read. Obviously very well researched with lots of resources listed at the end. There are also notes aplenty for the really interested.

4 stars.

Absolutely loved this book! The author did a great deal of research on Anne, including her early life. It flowed so nicely, it did not feel like nonfiction. The photos and illustrations really made it pop!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for the uncorrected proof of this book.

Synopsis: The book explores the rise and fall of England's most infamous Queen Consort. Anne Boleyn's story has captivated popular imagination for centuries, but rarely is her story accompanied by multiple visual representations. Hui explores her life while integrating images of her friends, family, rivals, personal objects, and royal palaces.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this book. It was a well-written and researched work examining Anne's life. I particularly enjoyed the visual aspects of this book as they showed people and things in Anne's story that I had never seen visually represented before. Unfortunately, some of the images did not load because this was an uncorrected proof, but I was able to read all of the picture captions and can see how each image was selected to highlight an important aspect of Anne's story.

I found Chapter 11 and the epilogue were my favourite parts of this book. In these two sections, Hui highlighted a few aspects of Anne's story that are not always well-detailed. Particularly who was present at her wedding ceremony, how Elizabeth honoured her memory during her reign, and how Anne was honoured in Elizabeth's funeral procession.

As I was reading this book I will admit that there were times when I was not entirely sure that Hui was a fan of Anne's. Obviously, this was based on the biases I brought to the book and I make no excuse for Anne's behaviour towards Katherine and Mary. However, during the Great Matter sections of Anne's story, it felt that she blended into the background while Katherine and Mary took precedence. There is a balancing act when doing a biography on Anne as she had many virtues and many faults, particularly related to her predecessor and step-daughter, but there were quite a few chapters where I finished reading and felt as if Anne had not made an appearance at all.

This is a great book for any Tudor history lover and I highly recommend it to those looking for another interesting read of Anne's story.

Anne Boleyn. The second of Henry VIII’s six wives. She is often the subject of debate - what year was she born? Was she the elder or younger daughter? Was she guilty or innocent? When new books, or documentaries, about Anne are released, I cannot help myself. This was the very reason that I just had to read Roland Hui’s new book entitled Anne Boleyn, An Illustrated Life of Henry VIII’s Queen. A huge thank you to NetGalley and Pen and Sword Books for an advanced copy of this book.

Anne Boleyn, An Illustrated Life of Henry VIII’s Queen starts by explaining Anne’s parentage and likely year of birth. We learn about the Boleyn children, their religious education and upbringing. We learn about Anne’s early years and influences such as Margaret of Austria and Queen Claude of France. On Anne’s return to England, Hui delves into how she was received at court and Anne’s involvement in the Chateau Vert pageant. Readers are introduced to Henry and Anne’s lengthy courtship, and the issue of the King’s Great Matter. We see Anne rise to great heights, followed by her quick downfall.

This book is well-written and highly accessible. It is short, and provides a good overview of Anne Boleyn’s life while touching on some of the popular misconceptions about her. The incorporation of over a hundred images throughout the text helped to bring Anne’s story to life. Overall, this book is a great introductory text for readers new to Tudor history, or for those looking for an accessible biography of Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn, An Illustrated Life of Henry VIII's Queen provides a concise but interesting overview of the life of this controversial but ever-fascinating figure.

Throughout the text, there are beautiful illustrations, some of which I had never seen. Others will be familiar.

Roland Hui's text is conversational but full of fascinating anecdotes about the culture and influences that shaped Anne. There is an intimacy in this study, perhaps lacking in longer treatments (Eric Ives et cetera).

You won’t find huge new theories to why Anne fell, or revisionism, et cetera. It’s a short but balanced account. Being short, this would be a perfect introduction to Anne Boleyn; however, anyone with interest in Anne Boleyn would enjoy Hui's text, and I do recommend it.

One of the most concise and approachable biographies I'v read about Anne Boleyn. It's very well done, obviously well-researched, and well-organized. I enjoyed the information about her early years with her family and how she arrived in the situation she was in. I can't say I've read such a clear telling of the dynamics in her family when she was a child.

The illustrations were all black and white (an ARC/Kindle flaw?), but dispersed in a way that wasn't obtrusive and added to the text. The facts shared were done so carefully and with necessary details rather than flowery language. I was also taken by the handful of times that Hui stated "historians originally thought xyz, but now we understand it to be this way instead" (paraphrased).

Quite well done and not a history tome. This is a readable biography that can be completed in a short time.

This is a great book for those interested in Anny Boleyn. It is not overly wordy and has some illustrations. Those who are interested in the Tudors and have read various books on them will know most of the information told in this book. But it will serve as a nice refresher for those who find this time in history, Anne Boleyn, or the Tudors interesting.

Anne Boleyn was an interesting woman. She was the most famous of Henry VIII's wives. She was not considered to be beautiful according to the beauty standard for women at that time, but she was reportedly witty, talkative and confident. She was educated at the French court, spoke fluent in French, was intelligent, and cunning. She also failed to give the King a living son.

This book beings with her childhood and ends with her execution.

This book can easily be read in one sitting. My one complaint is that I could not zone in on the illustrations on my kindle. I would have liked to see them in more detail. With illustration in the title, I would have liked more and have them be bigger. But I did read an ARC and the physical book may have bigger illustrations.

Enjoyable read on history of Anne Boleyn. Highly recommend this book.
This biography is well written and well researched. Has many illustrations of many of the structures and people of that period. The author has done a good job of giving the reader a look at Anne Boleyn's personality and the marriage to Henry VIII. Anne was indeed ambitious and could be cruel at times especially to Katherine of Aragon and her daughter Princess Mary. She was also generous to those she cared about.
Anne was not guilty of what she was accused of but Henry VIII wanted a male heir and since she did not give him one he wanted her gone.
I found myself feeling sorry for Anne for I think she actually fell in love with the king. The reader will have to decide for themselves whether she should be vilified or sympathized.

3.5 Stars

I was anticipating color illustrations when I gravitated towards this book. However, they are all black and white reproductions of various paintings, drawings of castles, coins, religious books, etc. However, my small disappointment with this was balanced out by the pleasant, concise writing (192 pages) focusing on the subject. At about the 80% mark the book proper ends and transitions to an epilogue, end notes/sources, and bibliography.

The book begins with a very short history of Anne Boleyn's heritage, then lunges forward to her being sent to the French court at (most likely) the age of 7. It was here that she learned the culture of French fashion, language and courtly ways that made her seem like an exotic creature at the Tudor court. The book of course ends with Anne's execution, but includes an intriguing chapter about what happened in the years after her death. Her legacy lived on through her daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, and although she didn't really talk about it there were clues and instances of remembrance documented that showed Queen Elizabeth's love and respect of Queen Anne, her mother. I did learn a few new kernels of information after decades of reading on this subject, and enjoyed the compact nature of its presentation.

Thank you to the publisher Pen & Sword History for "Granting my Wish" and providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.