"Was Anne Boleyn a difficult woman? Yes, I believe so if a difficult woman is what today's standard of a difficult woman is which is she had opinions She was assertive. She wasn't docile or particularly meek at all She could be caustic at times. She could be unpleasant when she felt it was warranted None of this means that she's not worthy of investigation. I get asked quite a bit Why did you study Anne Boleyn and people expect me to say well, I'm a fan of her Which I'm not or they expect me to say well, she was maligned by history, which she was But that's not why I'm studying her I'm studying her because I really want to restore her voice to history as it was Without making her more palatable than she was without maligning her and saying that she was a witch or sorceress I just want to know who Anne was and I don't think she had to be particularly nice in order to be interesting"