On Enjoying Some History: what I’m reading now!

My new book is this one, a biography of Henry VIII, right from the beginning; it’s a photo I took in the pub, over a glass of lemon, lime and bitters. The difference between this and many other Henry VIII bios is that they are usually about his relationships with his wives and other women in his life. That’s not surprising, given how many women there were in his life and howcthese relationships affected history. But this one is about the male figures in his life. I discovered it last week when I was in Dymock’s, meeting my friend Bart before we headed to Ganache for tea and chocolates. I still had some money on my gift voucher and was pleased to spend it. I like to browse the history shelves at Dymock’s; if I want fiction I can buy it in ebook. Non fiction ebooks tend to be large downloads, due to the photos.

Just before I picked this up, after a browse elsewhere, a shop assistant showed a copy to a man who must have asked for it. Well, I thought, maybe this is the one I should try. And so far, I’m enjoying it. I’ve just started chapter 3, where young Henry has just become King.

Henry looked an awful lot like his maternal grandfather, Edward IV, who was tall, strawberry blonde and powerfully built, and both enjoyed wine, women and song. He also had Edward’s tendency to put on weight - a lot of weight!

Like most people, I have mostly read about the women in his life, not his earlier years, which included a lot of guys who would play important roles in his life later. I knew Charles Brandon was a close friend in his circle of roisterers, and that he later became a brother in law. I didn’t know about his earlier life, getting one of the Queen’s ladies pregnant, dumping her to marry her rich aunt, then when he’d spent all the money paying his debts, then getting his marriage annulled so he could marry the niece(who had lost the baby in stress). Not a nice man, but Henry liked him and forgave him for secretly marrying Henry’s sister Mary, though it took a lot of money.

I didn’t know about Henry’s bad relationship with his Dad, either. After Prince Arthur’s death, the King brought his son to court and gave him a room he couldn’t get in and out of without going through his own room, and wouldn’t let him compete in tournaments. To be fair, it was about security and Henry VII had lost his original heir, plus his wife. If anything happened to his son, what then? But it wasn’t going to make him popular with a teenager, especially one who loved parties, sports and having everyone fuss over him.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to reading the lot! I’ll be reading it over dinner.