Fantastic analysis of Anne Boleyn’s last year. Really does a fascinating and incredibly detailed account of Anne’s last year, of her movements and interests. The research done for this book is obvious and impressive. Great addition to the literature about this Tudor queen.

I know the story of Anne Boleyn. Or do I? The Final Year of Anne Boleyn by Natalie Grueninger certainly gave me a lot of food for thought! After reading this informative and compelling book, I realised that a lot of what I held to be truth about this fascinating woman really isn’t. There is so much misinformation and conjecture about Anne that is just accepted, and this book really opened my eyes. Even today, centuries after the travesty that was Anne’s ‘trial’, controversy surrounds her, and opinion is divided. I feel that this book helped to clarify some of the rumour and scandal that has been used to blacken the name of Anne Boleyn, and of those around her who became embroiled in her life.. The depiction of Anne, particularly in the tower, moved me greatly. She was a brave woman who faced her fate with courage and dignity to the end, and this is shown beautifully in the book. Anne Boleyn is a person that will always be subject to debate, and this book portrays her sensitively, and in my opinion accurately. Highly recommended.

So interesting and well researched….. Through close examination of intriguing events considered in their social and historical context, readers will gain a fresh perspective into the life and death of the woman behind the tantalising tale.

Wow this book blew me away! I thought I knew all there was to know about Anne Boleyn but I was very wrong, and I'm glad I was.
Natalie Grueninger’s passion for telling the true story of Anne Boleyn is on every page. The research she must have done into this subject is astounding. This book presents Anne Boleyn in a new sympathetic light, which any Tudor fan would appreciate.
I would highly recommend any Tudor Fan or just History fan read this Novel - Brilliant.

I actually enjoyed this read very much, it reminded me a bit of the tv show about Anne Boleyn with Jodie Turner Smith aside the fact that I hadn't watched it yet and I am not sure which premise came first, this book or the show. At any rate, I definitely agree that the last year of her life was the most pivotal to her demise and I applaud the author for putting the research in such a concise and straightforward manner, which made it so easy for me to explore her hypothesis and ultimately agree with it.

Anne Boleyn was a controversial woman. She was described with so many version and her succes and downfall story become the most popular retelling at so many HF books. But this book only tried gave us short period prior to her execution in 1536.

With slow start and the writing style , the book was informative but not an easy read for me. I really appreciated the good research and the complimentary data, photos, notes and statistics provided here. The author did very incredible extensive research and studies about the topic. But off course this is non fiction so I cant get deeper insight about Anne as personal.

Thank you Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for provided my copy. My thoughts always be my own.

This account of Anne Boleyn's last year alive prior to her execution in 1536 is heavily researched. It culls together the vortex of various influences that culminated in Anne's downfall. It distills things down to a final point- that Anne was ultimately gotten rid of because King Henry VIII had gotten tired of her and wanted her gone. He quickly moved on to his next conquest, Jane Seymour, who he married less than two weeks after Queen Anne's execution. Perhaps if Anne did not miscarry her last pregnancy (a male) history would have been different.

The author inserts historical quotes to support her findings throughout the narrative, which I found unpleasant and difficult to digest. The style of writing during the Tudor era can be hard to interpret and so these sections were a dirge for me and lent to some skimming. However, I greatly respect the authenticity this documentation lends to the book. Grueninger also strives to dispel many accepted Tudor stories as myths based on her intense research. As an example, one of these myths was that the male fetus Anne miscarried was utterly mishapen/malformed, lending credence that she was perhaps a witch.

The book concludes with end notes such as the actual list of Anne Boleyn's charges, photos of Tudor royal residences, gardens and churches, and an extensive bibliography. This may sound a bit frivolous, but I think the book's cover is exquisite. All in all, this is an impressive addition to any Tudor historian's library.

Thank you to the publisher Pen & Sword for "Granting my Wish" and providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

I've done a lot of reading on Anne Boleyn, but no amount of reading is ever enough (she's one of, if not, my favourite historical figures) and I'm always looking to know more about her. When I spotted this book on NetGalley, I was quick to request it.

What I appreciated most about this book is that it wasn't all about Anne's grisly end. It gave a full, well-rounded picture of how she spent the last year of her life, and made her feel human, instead of just a statistic, one of six. It paid attention to how she spent her time, what her interests were, the relationships that meant the most to her and the events that played an important role in her downfall. As a reader, I felt like I really got a sense of who she was, or could have been (it's always so hard to tell, as history is written by the winners - in this case, Henry VIII).

The book also felt incredibly well researched. The author cited work by many other experts in the field, whose books I have also read, and debated whether or not she agreed with their conclusions on the page. It was great to see her justifications behind why she did or did not agree with other historians on the matters at hand.

For someone who hasn't done a lot of reading on Anne's life or the Tudors in general, this book is a very informative, objective place to start. For someone who has done reading on the subject, it's less informative but does serve to give a different perspective on, what are considered to be, well-known parts of her story.

My main objection to the book, and the reason I didn't give it more stars, is that I felt like the earlier part of the book paid too much attention to details that didn't really matter to the subject matter. The one that really sticks in my brain is describing the layout and design of some of the houses that Anne and Henry stayed in on their progresses - while it demonstrates the kind of livestyle they liked to live, it makes no overall difference to the story being told. This did improve as the book, and Anne's untimely demise, progressed, but it made the first part of the book a bit of a slog to get through.

I have been on a nonfiction kick recently and this one stood out for many reasons. I loved the honesty and emotion. I felt like I was in the moment with the author and I felt like the articulation of the circumstances were easy to understand which I appreciated with such a complex issue.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I'm a little bit obsessed with the subject here
This was really well researched and I learned loads
Highly recommend

This book is clearly very well researched and describes the Tudor court during the last year of the life of Anne Boleyn with much detail providing a rich glimpse into Tudor life.

However, I found it too deep for me and the level of detail too much. There is a lot to concentrate on and I would definitely recommend it for folks who already are familiar with Tudor life and history. You would definitely discover new knowledge. But for the beginner like me it may just leave you feeling lost.

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Tudor era. The author has certainly done her research.. It does get bogged down somewhat in details but this book actually shows what Anne Boleyn was like. Though she could be manipulative she is nothing like the Anne Boleyn portrayed in movies and some publications. She was very compassionate toward the poor of England and believed her actions were appropriate. She was put to death through false testimony and because the King wanted her gone to remarry which he did 11 days after Anne's death.
Fascinating book!!!

This gives a detailed account of Anne Boleyn’s last year. It is detailed and in depth but, I must confess I struggled a bit with the authors obvious bias for her subject. It was however well written.

This book was incredibly well researched. The author fully immersed the reader into Anne’s final year. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Anne Boleyn and Tudor history.

Thank you NetGalley and Pen & Sword History for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting read. It focused specially on the final year of Anne Boleyn's life. There was tons of details that gave insight into what Anne may have truly been like, opposed to how she has been portrayed. throughout history Unfortunately, as the author noted, there is very few of Anne's documents that have survived, so many accounts of her were taken from secondary sources. As a result, much of Anne's final year is interpreted via documentation on Henry VIII. Even so, the narrow and chronological time frame provided a clear picture of what led to her demise. I highly recommend this book for fans of Philippa Gregory and Tudor/British history.

An immersive study of the life of Anne Boleyn. We hear so much about her but the author takes us on a deep dive into the secrets, the betrayals, the loves, and the every day life of Anne. If you are a Tudor fan, a must read.

This is one of the best book I read about Anne Boleyn as it's well researched and well written. A detailed analysis of the last year that explains how politics played a role in her downfall.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I thought this was a well researched and well written book on Anne Boleyn's final year. Natalie Grueninger did a good job of giving the reader the overall political picture at home and abroad, immersing the reader in the Tudor world. I got a better understanding of how Anne tried to influence things, especially the changes she worked to create in England regarding the poor and the Church, then I did from other books I've read on Anne Boleyn that try to give you the big picture. Contrasting the beginning, when things were still good between Anne and Henry, and the end of the year and how fast things changed was both fascinating and terrifying. Grueninger makes an excellent argument for her theory that Henry knew Anne had not committed the crimes she was charged with, but simply wanted her out of the way, and why he felt he had to do it in such a fashion.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Anne Boleyn and Tudor history!

I received an ARC of this book from netGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is a solid history examining in detail the last years of Anne Boleyn. I think this is a time of her life that gets rushed through so it was nice having an even paced accounting and analysis.

I am all about British history! Just pass the book through my iPad please and thank you publisher, author, and NG! The Tudor period is probably my niche simply because it’s the most documented? But I will read about any era or period. One thing I did not know: that Henry and Anne traveled so much this last year of her life. That was definitely one expensive year! It seemed that this lady is an author but not a historian? I am thinking that because of the sources she quoted from. Like I said, I’m a huge reader of British history and I’ve read some of the sources she used. Nothing wrong with that considering most readers are not as ocd as I am. And I still enjoyed this book. Easy to read, didn’t feel like the facts were being shoved down my throat.