Catherine Howard Paperback – February 15, 2010

Although this book is well written and engaging it is not the biography of Catherine Howard I expected. The author mentions repeatedly that little is known or documented about Catherine. The book deals mainly with Tudor history, the Tudor Court and its many intrigues and politics of the day while occasionally weaving Catherine's name into the story. I would still recommend the book to Tudor enthusiasts however do not expect much insight into Catherine's life per se.

I've done a lot of reading about the Tudors in general and the six wives of Henry VIII. Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard have always been especially interesting to me and this is a wonderful addition to my library. Lacey spends much of the book describing the mentality of the Tudors, how they looked at the world, and a well bred lady's place in it. The last two chapters, covering the arrest and trial, were to me the most interesting. Mr. Lacey did an excellent job.

I was looking forward to reading a book about Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's 5th wife, very much. I've often felt that Catherine gets slandered more so than she deserves so I was looking forward to a more in depth look at her background. Ms. Baldwin-Smith does do a good job of trying to filter and separate fact from fiction but, unfortunately, it just doesn't seem like there is much information. This isn't a short book but it does seem a bit short on information on Catherine. A lot of time is spent looking at her family and their connections but precious little on her movements. I can't fault Mr. Baldwin-Smith entirely because I am sure there probably isn't a whole lot of information on her which seems to be the curse of most women at this time. That said, I did learn more about Catherine than what I already knew and Mr. Baldwin-Smith has a good and engaging writing style. I would recommend this book for something wanting to expand their knowledge of Catherine.

The book itself is excellent,but don't purchase if you already own "A Tudor Tragedy" published in 1961. Although not advertised as such, this is a re-release of that title. BTW- the portrait on the cover isn't Catherine Howard, it's a portrait of Jane Seymour's sister.

This was an excellent book explaining Catherine's background. She was basically in a "group" home (as it is called today) with no one to look after her or train her in the morals of the day. She became sexually active at a young.

Good biography

I would like to applaud the author Ms. Smith for her in depth (and I mean in depth) history of the Howards'. As a text I give it a very high mark. As a fun book to read, maybe not.

This biography of Katheryn Howard, under its original title of A Tudor Tragedy, was the first I ever read. Daughter of a younger son the Duke of Norfolk, Katheryn was a first cousin to Anne Boleyn. Katheryn's ascendancy occurred in less than ten months of coming to court. But she fell less than two years later. Why?First published in the 1960s, Baldwin Smith's account is both rigorous and unsympathetic. To this end, some of Baldwin Smith's language can appear judgemental, almost reactionary. Here Katheryn is inconsequential, with the characteristics of a juvenile delinquent. Baldwin Smith doesn't paint the abused, tragic girl we have seen recently. How correct this account can be cannot be answered - Katheryn left no real historical footprint.Baldwin Smith was a fantastic historian and his account of Henry VIII is brilliant. This biography is for those with interest in the subject. It does act as a counterbalance to more recent accounts.

The author has used clever techniques to bring alive the characters in this account of the life of Henry VIII's 5th wife. The portrayal of Tudor London and Catherine's life prior to her betrothal to Henry is vividly played out giving the reader the feeling they have been transported back to 1539. The book has clearly been very well researched and what is a fascinating insight is very difficult to put down.

It was ok but not really Catherine Howards life more about Tudor everyday life

This is the definitive read for anyone who is interested in Henry and his marriage to Katherine Howard. I devoured it.

Whilst I do not doubt for one minute Smith's ability, or the passion or breadth of research which undoubtedly went into the planning of this book, I did however, find details relating to the subject matter very lacking.Although Smith did an excellent job of vividly portraying Tudor court life and the environs of London, a society to which Katherine belonged so that we were able to judge the key actors in the context of the times, the book lacked the intense speculation of Weir and the vivid scrutiny of Starkey or Ives.There was such a lack of analysis on Katherine herself and when the spotlight was focused on her from time to time, it focused rather fleetingly on her affair with Manox and Dereham, her entry to Court and her downfall. The chronological scrutiny of these events and the scrutiny of her character was sometimes interrupted by rather too lengthy discussions on life in the capital and court life.The detail presented in Starkey's "Queens of Henry VIII" concerning information relating to the conversations of Culpepper and Katherine during their many clandestine meetings was lacking, the book made little mention of the fact that Katherine and Culpepper were associated before her marriage to the King, there was a failure to explore the possibility that it was perhaps Culpepper's older brother and not Thomas who was responsible for notorious past misdemeanours and there was also too little focus on Katherine's mysterious relationship with Jane Parker, Lady Rochford, her Nolfolk relations and the Dowager Duchess - to whom she was entrusted for her education and upbringing.There was however, an interesting exploration of political events which preceeded Henry's marriages to Anne of Cleves and Katherine, which suggested that Henry's revulsion at the former had as much to do with political manoeuvering between the Cromwell and Norfolk factions as it had with Anne and Katherine themselves.I appreciate that there is a general lack of historical information relating to Katherine, however the book sadly missed a great deal of opportunity to speculate on the subject-matter, and there was also scant scrutiny of other sources close to Katherine, whom could also have shed some further light on her story and character.