Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding...
Review: I don't see how this book can warrant less than five stars. While it may not be the most historically accurate book written about English King Henry VIII, it is certainly entertaining, insightful, and interesting. Don't let the length discourage you; 900 pages were up before I knew it and I didn't want it to end. I became so used to Margaret George's diary-style of writing through Henry that I almost felt as if he were my friend.
The book, written all through Henry's point of view (with clever inserts from his fool, Will) greatly improved my knowledge of Tudor England. Also, it really helped me to see Henry's life through his own eyes. Through much research, Margaret George has delved into his very personality and managed to write about every event of any significance in his life. She also showed how each wife and divorce/beheading came with a different justification for Henry VIII. As I came to understand his personality more and more, there were many times I felt sympathy and sorrow for the English monarch.
I highly suggest that anyone who has any interest in this subject read the book!
Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: Not being a historical reader, I mainly focus my reading in the fantasy genre, I got this book as a gift. At first the thickness overwhelmed me but as soon as I started reading I found it hard to put down. Whether historically accurate or not, I leave that up to the professionals, I definately enjoyed Henry and Will telling their story with embellishments and all, for who am I to say what actually happened for I wasn't there. I marvel at the amount of research that Margaret George put into the work and praise her for the unique perspective into the world of early 16th century English Royal Court. Even for casual readers like myself this was a wonderful read.
Rating:
Summary: Getting to know you, getting to know all about you......
Review: Getting to love you, ....Okay, sorry about that. But basically it does describe how this book made me feel about Henry VIII, well, almost.For all of my life I disliked Henry VIII by default. You know, the usual reasons...He had six wives, he beheaded two of them, he had mistresses, illegitemate children, etc. etc. But, being a great fan of Margaret George I felt I needed to read this book. I was not disappointed. Another great historical novel by Ms. George. An extraordinary amount of research appears to have gone into this book, and Ms. George actually accomplishes to almost, _almost_, make you feel sorry for poor Henry, and successfully paints him in a more "human" light. My opinion of him has definitely changed. Okay, so he should not have just thrown Katherine of Aragon away, simply because he fell for that whore Anne Boleyn, which resulted in a break with the Roman Catholic Church. But Katherine did start to become a real bore.
I can understand why he beheaded Anne. His public reasons (adultry) may have been questionable, but the witch thing? Back then you could never be too sure about those witches and what they could do. Off with her head!
And Jane, poor Jane, she truly loved him and he truly loved her. How tragic that she died so soon.
And then that Anne of Cleves! Wow, she must really have been a bow-wow, but then, who the hell marries a woman sight unseen? I don't care how distraught you are over the beheading of the witch. At least he was very fair in his separation of Anne of Cleves, and I think she got the better end of the deal, because by this time, Henry himself was no longer an Adonis either.
And then his foolish infatuation with that second hussy, Catherine Howard. How could he not have known? She also deserved to lose her head on the chopping block, no question about that. I mean, he's the KING for crying out loud!
And then the surprise marriage to Katherine Parr, dear Kate. Finally he gets lucky and marries someone nice who manages to stay alive in the process. But then of course, he dies. Ah well, such is the comedy of life. The notes by Will Somers are great, although I almost wish there had been more of them. It would have been nice to see what Will and other subjects of the King were thinking about all these crazy goings on in Henry's head. To sum it up, this was a very very good book. I am glad I read it and I am sure I will read it again soon. The descriptions of the characters and places are vivid and colorful, and the description of Henry's life is thorough and memorable. Also, read Ms. George's other books, The Memoirs of Cleopatra and Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles. Both are just as good. Don't let their size intimidate you! In the end you'll be glad they lasted as long as they did.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: In my opinion, I found this novel to be enlightening, thought provoking, and interesting. My mother has always been a Tudor fanatic, and I presume she passed it on to me. I found this to be a book rich with good information about this era, and would highly recommend it to others fascinated by the House of Tudor. This book is compromised of works written by Henry himself, and fillings by Margaret George where the story does not match up. READ THIS BOOK!!!!
Rating:
Summary: This is THE definitive biography of Henry
Review: This novel is perhaps the easiest and most thorough path to wander while attempting to navigate the social maze of developmental Renaissance England. George has created a majestic yet approachable novel, meticulously researched, that brings the reader incredibly close to a full understanding of a complicated and much maligned monarch during a tempestuous and violent period of an England emerging from years of bloody civil wars. I was raised in London and moved back to the US when very young, and was shocked at the reputation Henry has here in the States. This novel helped show me the course that led to the emergence of Elizabethan culture, and without Henry, I wonder truly which other European megapower might have formed our heritage. This book resulted in raising a passion within me to learn more about Tudor Europe, and many years later, helped guide me towards completing a Masters degree in English Lit focusing on Elizabethan culture and poetry. Buy the book.
Rating: 
Summary: 3.5 stars. Interesting but flawed...
Review: My Tudor reading binge continues with this immense novel by Margaret George, all of whose books seem to be doorstopper length. The woman seems to have unlimited words in her head. But I digress. _The Autobiography of Henry VIII_ is a fictional "what-if" positing that maybe Bluff King Hal left a journal behind to tell his side of the story. And as such, this novel succeeds. George's major accomplishment in _Autobiography_ is making us understand some of the seemingly irrational things Henry did--without embellishing the historical record too much. For example, most historians are pretty certain these days that Anne Boleyn did not actually commit adultery and witchcraft. Most novels dealing with the issue show Henry inventing the charges just to get rid of his wife. Here, though, Henry watches Anne dancing and flirting with her male courtiers, and also notices that, for some reason, almost everyone opposed to Anne is suddenly dying. I never thought of that before--maybe Henry really thought she was killing Catherine of Aragon, Mary of Suffolk, etc., with magic. George convinces us he was sincere when he made the charges. She doesn't make anything up; she doesn't invent Anne's guilt. I still wasn't convinced she was guilty. But I can see how the King might have been. What I didn't like about _Autobiography_ was that it seemed somehow imbalanced. Pages and pages and pages are devoted to any ceremony, banquet, or other pageantry. Either the author or the King is obsessed with the details of such occasions. At the same time, emotions are glossed over. The King will say he is in love with someone, after maybe talking to her once, and we are given no clue as to how this emotion cropped up overnight. Lust maybe. But love? The passions that caused him to overhaul the whole country are never made real. And so we have a huge novel that at times seems to be mostly a description of the scenery. It is very good in parts, but I only recommend it to die-hard Tudorphiles (like me). Others will toss it against the wall after the first 20 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Fiction -- Mediocre History
Review: The first ten or twelve times (yes, it's that good) I read the Autobiography of Henry VIII, I was blown away by the romantic grandeur of 15th-16th century England, and Europe. Enter the world of castles, monasteries, diplomats, priests, peasants and manuscripts (books written by hand on parchment). Margaret George skillfully whisks the reader away from the 20th-21st century to the King's Court, where the ornate intracacies of ballroom and bedroom are as lethal as battlefields dominated by cannon and horsemen. The reader is invited to the private counsel of the King who presides over it all, to discover not only what he says in public, but what he really thinks of his wives, his nobles and courtiers, his rivals in France and beyond. It is a brilliant work of historical fiction, one to be savored many times.
HOWEVER, keep in mind that, as a work of history (as opposed to historical fiction), the books fails badly. Judging by Henry's actual statements and actions, George's interpretation of his life are highly unlikely. There are several events of his life, and of his character that go unnoticed or unresolved in the novel. Remember the actual Henry VIII was decried in England for centuries after his death as a bloodthirsty tyrant. The reasons for his legendary cruelty go unmentioned in George's novel. For that matter, Henry's cruelty itself goes largely unmentioned. He is recast, from the vicious tyrant of history, to a lovestarved prince of fiction. Simply put, the real contemporaries of Henry VIII would not recognize the king portrayed in this book. Did Henry simply deceive himself, so that he did not know what a sharktank his court had become? Was he an incurable romantic, as the Autobiography suggests? No. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the book does not portray the greatest Tudor king as he was.
NEVER MIND. If you want history, read history. If you want to be transfixed by a seductive tale of intrigue, desire, vengeance and greed, this is your book. There are very, very few novels with the romantic sweep of The Autobiography of Henry VIII.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, historically accurate book
Review: This is a wonderful book. Margaret George is one of mY favorite authors, and I have read and re-read this book. It gives the reader an unequaled glimpse into the life of Henrician England, and into the mind and heart of its larger-than-life king.
Rating:
Summary: Henry Vll children
Review: I thought that this book was fantasticly wrote I'm not
I'm not shore who the auther is but I want to thank them
for writing it was a pleasher to read.
Rating:
Summary: Starts slow but...wow
Review: It took a few pages to get into this one. Margaret George requires that you switch your mindset as you read her fictional autobiography. Essentially, she has written a diary as if she was Henry VIII. If you have extensive historical knowledge of the time period, you'll love her fresh take on the events. If, like me, you go in knowing the basics, you'll learn a few things and be dazzled by how thoroughly she convinces you that you are reading the words of the notorious king. By the middle of the book, I couldn't wait to pick it up again and again. It was the perfect companion for a long, unemployed summer following graduation from college.
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