Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the Marriage That Shook Europe

“A fierce, scholarly tour-de-force. . . . Hunting the Falcon brilliantly shows how time, circumstance and politics combined to accelerate Anne’s triumph and tragedy." —Tina Brown, New York Times Book Review

“A sumptuous drama of lust, intrigue, and betrayal, underpinned by the harsh reality of politics.”—Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire

A groundbreaking, freshly-researched work of Tudor history and a dual historical biography that examines one of the most dramatic and consequential marriages in history: Henry VIII’s long courtship, short union, and brutal execution of Anne Boleyn.

Hunting the Falcon is the story of how Henry VIII’s obsessive desire for Anne Boleyn changed him and his country forever. John Guy and Julia Fox, two of the most acclaimed and distinguished historians of this period, have joined forces to present Anne and Henry in startlingly new ways. By closely examining the most recent archival discoveries, and peeling back layers of historical myth and misinterpretation and distortion, Guy and Fox are able to set Anne and Henry’s tragic relationship against the major international events of the time, and integrate and reinterpret sources hidden in plain sight or simply misunderstood. Among other things, they dispel lingering and latently misogynistic assumptions about Anne, offering a fresh perspective on women in history by challenging the anachronistic presumption that a sixteenth-century woman, even a queen, could exert little to no influence on the politics and beliefs of a patriarchal society. They reveal how, in fact, Anne was a shrewd, if ruthless, politician in her own right, a woman who steered Henry and his policies, often against the advice he received from his male advisers—and whom Henry seriously contemplated making joint sovereign.

 Hunting the Falcon sets the facts–and some completely new finds–into a far wider frame, providing an appreciation of this misunderstood and underestimated woman. It explores how Anne organized her “side” of the royal court on novel and (in male eyes) subversive lines compared to her queenly predecessors, adopting instead French protocol by which the sexes mingled freely in her private chambers. Men could share in the women’s often sexually charged courtly “pastimes” and had liberal access to Anne, and she to them—encounters steeped in political intrigue from which she gained much of her intelligence and extended her authority, and which also sowed the seeds of her own downfall.

 An exhilarating feat of historical research and analysis, Hunting the Falcon is also a thrilling and tragic story of a marriage that has proved of enduring fascination over the centuries. But in the hands of John Guy and Julia Fox, even the most knowledgeable reader will encounter this story as if for the first time.

This rich and impeccably researched account of royal history delivers:

• A Fresh Perspective on Anne Boleyn: See how Anne was not a passive victim but a shrewd and ruthless politician in her own right, one who actively steered Henry’s policies and was nearly made his joint sovereign.
• Deep Archival Research: Go beyond the myths as the authors examine the most recent archival discoveries to reinterpret sources hidden in plain sight.
• Tudor Court Politics: Explore the subversive, French-style court Anne created where the sexes mingled freely, giving her unprecedented access to intelligence—and sowing the seeds of her downfall.
• A Nation-Changing Obsession: Understand the full impact of Henry VIII’s desire for Anne, a relationship that forever altered him, his court, and the course of British history.

John Guy is an award-winning historian; an accomplished broadcaster; a fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge; and the author of Mary Queen of Scots, which won the Whitbread Award for Biography and the Marsh Biography Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award for Biography. He has contributed to numerous BBC programs and has written for the Sunday Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday, the Economist, the Literary Review, the Times Literary Supplement, and the London Review of Books.

Julia Fox taught history in state and private schools and is the author of Jane Boleyn: The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford and Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile.