Under the traditionally established title, the reader receives a sixty-page study, which is based on the examination and interpretation - often revealing - of historical documents, but is nevertheless written in an elegant and, above all, generally comprehensible style.
The skeleton of the book is the development of Henry's character from the first Renaissance personality on the English throne to an intolerable tyrant surrounded by cynical advisers who are capable, but mostly unfortunately, of everything. At the same time, we go through all the vicissitudes of English politics and the Reformation and learn a lot about the culture, justice, diplomacy, wars, royal courts, fashion and customs of the time. All this in an international context.
The author sticks to the sources, for a greater immediate effect she often lets them speak in the original authentic speech in the quotes, but she does not engage in sensational or titillating speculations. Her book is an instructive example of historical non-fiction due to the typically English sober matter-of-factness that the author applies when processing an "eternal attractive" subject.

"A thrilling story that sends chills down the spine of the reader."
- The Sunday Telegraph

"We are finally learning the truth about Henry VIII's wives. This book is reliable and expertly instructed as well as readable.”
- A.L. Rowse, The Evening Standard

Henry VIII, one of the most powerful monarchs in British history, reigned over England amidst splendor that had never been equaled before. In this remarkable book, spanning several biographies at once, Alison Weir portrays his six women so vividly that we can literally see them before our eyes, presenting each as a distinct and captivating personality in her own right/one of a kind.

The book Six Wives of Henry VIII. draws on a rich source of documentary material from the Tudor era to show us a court where personal needs often influenced the events of public life and a life of wonderfully ritualized pleasure was often permeated with ambition treachery and violence.

"An entertaining account of the complex family stories of Henry VIII. It is full of interesting details… Alison Weir's approach to this perennially dazzling subject is seductively charming.
- Anne Somerset, The London Review of Books