Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII - Tapa dura

THE QUEENS OF HENRY V111:Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived: CATHERINE OF ARAGON the Catholic Spanish Princess, who suffered years of miscarriages and still births and yet failed to produce a son... She was the mother of Mary Tudor; ANNE BOLEYN, the pretty, clever, French-educated Protestant with whom Henry Vlll was madly in love.-. for a brief period. She was the mother of Elizabeth I; JANE SEYMOUR the demure and submissive contrast to Anne Boleyn's vampish style. She died soon after giving birth to the longed-for son (Edward VI); ANNE OF CLEVES, 'the Flanders mare': He was horrified because she was so plain and she was appalled because he was so fat... ; CATHERINE HOWARD, the flirtatious teenager whose adulteries made a fool of the ageing king; CATHERINE PARR, the shrewd Protestant bluestocking who outlived him. (2001-01-05)

David Starkey has breathed new life into popular history. His new 'golden handcuffs' deal with Channel 4 makes him the best-paid historian ever on TV, and will ensure an exceedingly high profile for his books. He is contracted to write and present a minimum of 25 hours of TV over 3 years, plus constant repeats of his TV series. A constitutional historian and broadcaster, and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, he is the acknowledged expert on the Tudors.