Throughout his life, King Henry VIII manipulated and vilified his wives, distorting our present-day view of them. Under Antonia Fraser's scrutiny, Catherine of Aragon emerges as a scholar-queen, Anne Boleyn is absolved of everything but a sharp tongue and an inability to produce a male heir, and Catherine Parr is revealed as a religious reformer. This insightful group portrait also reveals Jane Seymour's wisdom, the dignity of Anna of Cleves, and the youthful naiveté that led to Katherine Howard's fatal indiscretions.