It's hard to say much new about Henry VIII's first wife, but Giles Tremlett manages to do just that by bringing in the lesser know testimony of Catherine of Aragon's Spanish courtiers, particularly those who accompanied her on her journey from Spain to England and who later testified in a Spanish trial regarding the legitimacy of her marriage to Henry VIII. These sources adds new voices, if not much new information, to the discussion of Catherine and Henry's notorious divorce. Overall, this biography provided a solid life of Catherine and, being familiar with this time period, I appreciated that the author took the time to discuss Catherine's Spanish childhood and the middle years of Catherine's life, rather than skipping past those years to dwell on her divorce. Good reading for those interested in Catherine of Aragon. ( )

Solid account as far as I can tell. ( )

This book may be unique in English-language historical literature; at least, I can't think of another like it. There are many, many books about Henry VIII, or the six wives of Henry VIII, or Anne Boleyn (Catherine of Aragon's successor/usurper), but I can't think of a single full-length biography of Catherine herself. Most of the books about Henry's wives act as if she only stepped onto the scene when Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn. This covers her entire life, beginning with the background stories of her parents, in particular her mother, Isabella of Spain.

The author doesn't waste a lot of time in pointless speculation of "did she or didn't she?" regarding the consummation or otherwise of Catherine's marriage to Henry's brother Arthur; nor does he talk about Anne Boleyn any more than is necessary. Catherine steals the show here. You get to see her here as an intelligent, incredibly strong and tenacious woman in her own right, and you understand better why she acted as she did in opposing the divorce even to the bitter end. Contrary to some accounts, she was not poisoned to death; when they autopsied her body they found a tumor attached to her heart, which had turned black. She died of something very close to a broken heart.

This is a very valuable, downright necessary, addition to the canon of Tudor history. Well worth a read. ( )

I'm a Tudor history junkie. My mom started me on Jean Plaidy practically in the crib, and I've never looked back.

This is the first truly sympathetic, in depth portrait of Catherine that I've read. It was so interesting to read the other side of the glamorous, scandalous Great Matter of the King. Because Elisabeth I was so beloved and ruled so wisely and long, the world tends to focus on her doomed, tragic, pathetic mother, and Bloody Mary's mom gets relegated to the dowdy impediment to the birth of The Virgin Queen. This book sets about redressing that imbalance.

The Catherine who emerges from these pages is vital, committed, and entirely lovable. She's also smart and able, but outgunned in the end. There's a lot of familiar territory here just the same- hard to present it freshly. The writing is able but not stellar.

Highly recommended for Tudor history fans. ( )

This is a great book, very readable and absolutely fascinating. Although I had no particular interest in Catherine of Aragon to start with, I like history so I decided to pick it up from the bargain table in my bookshop. I'm glad I did. Highly reccomended :) ( )