The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

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McClelland & Stewart, Dec 29, 2009 - History - 384 pages
From one of the world's foremost popular historians, a detailed and intricate portrait of the last days of one of the most influential and important figures in English history.

The imprisonment and execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, was unprecedented in the annals of English history. It was sensational in its day, and has exerted endless fascination over the minds of historians, novelists, dramatists, poets, artists, and filmmakers ever since.

Mystery surrounds the circumstances leading up to Anne's arrest and imprisonment in May 1536. Was it Henry VIII who, estranged from Anne, instructed Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell to fabricate evidence to get rid of her so that he could marry Jane Seymour? Or did Cromwell, for reasons of his own, construct a case against Anne and her faction, and then present compelling evidence before the King?

Following the coronation of her daughter Elizabeth I as queen, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine. Over the centuries, she has inspired many artistic and cultural works and has remained ever-present in England's, and the world's, popular memory. Alison Weir draws on her unsurpassed expertise in the Tudor Period to chronicle the downfall and dramatic final days of this influential and fascinating woman.
 

Contents

More Accused than Convicted
203
Fighting Without a Weapon
222
Just True and Lawful Impediments
241
For Now I Die
263
When Death Hath Played His Part
291
The Concubines Little Bastard
314
A Work of Gods Justice
329
Legends
349
NOTES ON SOME OF THE SOURCES
355
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
361
PROLOGUE The Solemn Joust 3
373
Turning Trust to Treason 120
386
INDEX
413
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Alison Weir is one of the world's foremost popular historians. Her books include Britain's Royal Families; The Six Wives of Henry VIII; Children of England; Henry VIII: King and Court; Mary, Queen of Scots; Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England; the novel Innocent Traitor; and most recently, Mistress of the Monarchy, a life of Katherine Swynford.

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