Catharine of Aragon was a staunch though misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn, an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour, a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves, a good-natured woman who jumped at the chance of independence; Catharine Howard, an empty-headed wanton; and Catharine Parr, a kind-hearted blue-stocking who was all too human when it came to a handsome rogue. This composite biography of Henry VIII's wives depicts a Tudor England where personal needs and private emotion could, and frequently did, override or influence national events. The author also wrote The Princes in the Tower.