The Creation of Anne Boleyn

By Susan Bordo,

Book cover of The Creation of Anne Boleyn: In Search of the Tudors' Most Notorious Queen

Book description

Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a fascinating reconstruction of Anne's life and an illuminating look at her afterlife in the popular imagination.

Why is Anne so compelling? Why does she inspire such extreme reactions? And what really was the colour of her hair? And…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Creation of Anne Boleyn as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book is a delight, from start to finish. I read it in one sitting. Like Lucrezia Borgia, it is both popular and erudite, but it does not recount the titular protagonist’s biography. Instead, it goes through all of the myths that have been floating around this unfortunate queen since her own lifetime. Bordo separates contemporary slander from fact, but then goes on to follow how the legend of Anne Boleyn was developed over the centuries in histories, fiction, and film. This study is also explicitly a study of how a legend takes hold and evolves.

Want books like The Creation of Anne Boleyn?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Creation of Anne Boleyn.

Browse books like The Creation of Anne Boleyn

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Anne Boleyn, the House of Tudor, and Europe?

Anne Boleyn 16 books
Europe 952 books