Hunting the Falcon

A TLS, TIMES, PROSPECT AND WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR>A groundbreaking examination of how the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn sent shockwaves across a continent and changed England forever.<BR><BR>'In many places, where once we had speculation, we now have certainty. This book is at once an education and a joy to read' LITERARY REVIEW<BR>'Combines meticulously researched history and contemporary voices with narrative flair' SUNDAY TIMES<BR>'Anne Boleyn comes alive in this impressive study . . . Moves and informs' THE TIMES<BR>'The most cogent narrative reading of the evidence to date' SPECTATOR<BR><BR>The story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn is one of the most remarkable in history: a long courtship followed by a shotgun wedding and then a coronation, ending just short of three years later when a husband's passion turned to such hatred that he simply wanted his wife gone. In Hunting the Falcon, John Guy and Julia Fox examine the most recent archival discoveries and peel back layers of historical myth to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. They show how Anne and Henry's relationship was tied almost completely to the major events of international politics at one of the great turning points of European history, and dispel any assumptions that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. Anne was in fact a shrewd and ruthless politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies - and whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign. <BR><BR>Hunting the Falcon sets the facts and some completely new finds into a wide frame, unearthing the truth about these two extraordinary lives and their tumultuous times. It pays particular attention to the seven 'missing' years that Anne spent in France, and explores how she organised her side of the royal court in novel ways that ultimately sowed the seeds of her own downfall. In this feat of historical research and analysis, Guy and Fox offer a sumptuous retelling of one of the most consequential marriages in history and an exhilarating portrait of love, lust, politics and power.<BR><BR>'Better than Wolf Hall because it's all true' ANDREW ROBERTS<BR>'A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics' AMANDA FOREMAN

Die Ehe, die die Welt erschütterte: Anne Boleyn und Heinrich VIII. <BR> <BR>London 1533: Anne geht auf die dreißig zu und hat es ganz nach oben geschafft: Sie ist die Königin von England, gekrönt in der Westminster Abbey. Ihre Geschichte ist der Stoff für opulente Hollywoodfilme und historische Romane. Das echte Leben der Anne Boleyn war kein Märchen, denn die unperfekte Heldin war zu klug, zu emanzipiert, zu wortgewandt, zu weltläufig und in entscheidenden Momenten unvorsichtig selbstsicher. Der schockverliebte Traumprinz, König Heinrich VIII., entpuppte sich als narzisstischer Machtmensch - und statt Happy End findet diese Ehe ihr erbarmungsloses Ende in der Hinrichtung Annes. <BR> <BR>Es hätte anders kommen können: Wenn Anne Boleyn, die große Liebe Heinrichs VIII., bereit gewesen wäre, seine Mätresse zu sein und sich mit gelegentlichen romantischen Liebesbriefen begnügt hätte, hätte der König den Papst nicht gedrängt, seine erste Ehe zu annullieren, er hätte sich nicht selbst zum Oberhaupt der englischen Kirche ernannt und Schockwellen durch Europa gesandt. Doch Anne, in deren Wappen der Falke thronte, wollte mehr sein als 'die Frau an seiner Seite'. Sie organisierte die Rolle der Königin am Hof in subversiver Weise neu, beeinflusste die Politik des Königs und war auf dem besten Weg zur Mitregentin, bis Heinrichs Liebe in Hass umschlug. Die königliche Jagd auf den Falken begann erneut - dieses Mal nicht, um Anne zu erobern, sondern um sie zu töten. <BR>John Guy und Julia Fox haben eine gekonnt erzählte, schonungslos präzise Biographie einer Ehe geschrieben, die mit einer Fülle von Details tief in den Glanz, Pomp und Luxus des royalen Tudor-Englands eintaucht und zugleich die ständigen Ängste des Hofs Heinrichs VIII. vor Verrat, Bedeutungsverlust und der unvorhersehbaren Ungnade des Königs erspüren lässt. <BR> <BR>Eine starke, schockierende Geschichte, die an einem paranoiden Hof spielt. Andrew Roberts <BR> <BR> Für Leser:innen von Hilary Mantel <BR> Für Fans von Bridgerton und The Crown <BR> Die temperamentvolle Anne Boleyn wird in dieser beeindruckenden Studie lebendig. The Times <BR> Die bisher überzeugendste Deutung der Quellen. The Spectator <BR> Ein großes Lesevergnügen. Literary Review <BR> Bezwingend, fesselnd, ... ein wunderbar reichhaltiges Buch, gründlich recherchiert, mit einer Fülle an Details und dem richtigen Gespür für die Geschichte. Wall Street Journal

“A fierce, scholarly tour-de-force. . . . Hunting the Falcon brilliantly shows how time, circumstance and politics combined to accelerate Anne’s triumph and tragedy." —Tina Brown, New York Times Book Review“A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue, and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of DevonshireA groundbreaking, freshly-researched examination of one of the most dramatic and consequential marriages in history: Henry VIII’s long courtship, short union, and brutal execution of Anne Boleyn.Hunting the Falcon is the story of how Henry VIII’s obsessive desire for Anne Boleyn changed him and his country forever. John Guy and Julia Fox, two of the most acclaimed and distinguished historians of this period, have joined forces to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. By closely examining the most recent archival discoveries, and peeling back layers of historical myth and misinterpretation and distortion, Guy and Fox are able to set Anne and Henry’s tragic relationship against the major international events of the time, and integrate and reinterpret sources hidden in plain sight or simply misunderstood. Among other things, they dispel lingering and latently misogynistic assumptions about Anne which anachronistically presumed that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little to no influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. They reveal how, in fact, Anne was a shrewd, if ruthless, politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies, often against the advice he received from his male advisers—and whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign. Hunting the Falcon sets the facts–and some completely new finds–into a far wider frame, providing an appreciation of this misunderstood and underestimated woman. It explores how Anne organized her “side” of the royal court on novel and (in male eyes) subversive lines compared to her queenly predecessors, adopting instead French protocol by which the sexes mingled freely in her private chambers. Men could share in the women’s often sexually charged courtly “pastimes” and had liberal access to Anne, and she to them—encounters from which she gained much of her political intelligence and extended her authority, and which also sowed the seeds of her own downfall. An exhilarating feat of historical research and analysis, Hunting the Falcon is also a thrilling and tragic story of a marriage that has proved of enduring fascination over the centuries. But in the hands of John Guy and Julia Fox, even the most knowledgeable reader will encounter this story as if for the first time.