The story of Anne Boleyn goes to the root of all history; what makes an individual or event memorable to later generations? Anne is an exceptional case for her life was a double helix intertwining extraordinary human drama with profound historical crisis. A young lady of no particular importance or talents – she was neither a great beauty nor a captivating charmer – married a man who turned out to be England’s most notorious monarch, and then three years later she was publically executed for treason, accused of quadruple adultery and incest.

Mistress Boleyn was the crucial catalyst for three of the most important events in modern history: the break with Rome and the English Reformation, the advent of the nation state, and the birth of a daughter whose forty-three years on the throne stand as England’s most spectacular literary and political success story. Remove Anne and the Reformation as we know it today would not have taken place; remove Anne and Elizabeth I would not have existed at all. Anne Boleyn stands as a monument to the truth that there is nothing consistent in history except the unexpected.

• Features

  a startling new discovery about why Anne was executed. Anne's previous

  biographers have got it wrong. Alison Weir and Eric Ives argue that Thomas

  Cromwell was totally responsible; George Bernard believes she was guilty as

  charged. Professor Smith has got into the Tudor mindset to deliver the real

  reason...

• Hilary

  Mantel’s bestselling novel Bring Up the

  Bodies, is the story of the downfall of Anne Boleyn and has increased

  interest in the life story of this English queen. A major mini-series is due

  from the BBC and a US broadcaster of Mantel's trilogy of novels (broadcast

  dates tbc), which will increase interest further.

• Reviews in history

  magazines, national weeklies, national daily and Sunday newspapers, to include:

  The Independent and The Sunday Times, THES, and BBC History

  Magazine.