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Hey lovely, I was wondering was there a biography on Henry VIII that you’d recommend? I’ll be honest I’ve never been overly fond of him but it’s come to my realization (after I read your wonderful history ask responses) that I actually don’t really know that much about him beyond the usual narrative. Need to fix that!

alicehoffmans:

I actually have only fully read one biography of him (I’m fake!!), and it actually only goes over Henry’s childhood and the first few years as king. 

It was a very good and informative read tho, so I will rec it nonetheless:

Henry: Virtuous Prince by David Starkey

I have also updated this reference list, which has quite a few!

As far as articles go I’d recommend:

Will the Real Henry VIII Please Stand Up? by Eric Ives (sorry the font sucks, zooming in makes it better)

500 years later: Henry VIII, leg ulcers and the course of history is another very comprehensize one.

The link for the PDF of the Will the Real article is now broken; but I did an excerpt here.

And added another excerpt on a post where it was relevant:

Who is your favourite Tudor monarch and why?

Henry VIII. 

And somehow I ran out of steam, maybe I’ll reblog more on ‘why’ later but I guess I’ll just leave it at #HisImpact, and I personally find him the most interesting which is all the matters (sksksksk) and also he’s somehow, of all them, the most accessible (via what there is to read on him from primary sources alone, and how much of it is available for free online) and also the least accessible (”Three may keep counsel, if two be away; and if I thought my cap knew my counsel, I would cast it into the fire and burn it”.)