The Creation of Anne Boleyn: A New Look at England’s Most Notorious Queen

“Bordo’s sharp reading of Boleyniana and her clear affection for this proud, unusual woman make this an entertaining, provocative read.”—Boston Globe

Part biography, part cultural history, The Creation of Anne Boleyn is a reconstruction of Boleyn’s life and an illuminating look at her very active afterlife in the popular imagination. With recent novels, movies, and television shows, Anne has been having a twenty-first-century moment, but Bordo shows how many generations of polemicists, biographers, novelists, and filmmakers have imagined and reimagined her: whore, martyr, cautionary tale, proto-“mean girl,” feminist icon, and everything in between. Drawing on scholarship and razor-sharp analysis, Bordo probes the complexities of one of history’s most intriguing women, teasing out what we actually know about Anne Boleyn and what we think we know about her.

“Riveting . . . Bordo’s eloquent study not only recovers Anne Boleyn for our times but also demonstrates the ways in which legends grow out of the faintest wisps of historical fact.” —Book Page

“Engrossing . . . Ms. Bordo offers a fascinating discussion.”—New York Times