I'm always interested people who look at history and ask the question: where are the women? Obviously they were there, but women and their stories areI'm always interested people who look at history and ask the question: where are the women? Obviously they were there, but women and their stories aren't recorded as often as men, and so are frequently overlooked and forgotten.
In The Northwomen, journalist Heather Pringle searches for women in Viking world and talks to expert archaeologists who are looking at new (and old) evidence to rewrite what has been "established fact" for so long about the Viking world.
Pringle does an amazing job here, helping to tell the stories that archaeologists are discovering in ways that laypeople can understand, bringing us into the world of explorers, traders, artisans, raiders, and sorceresses to think about how Viking women could have lived- and when (and if) they might have held power in that world.
I loved how archaologically focused this book was, making the world very concrete and evidence based. One of my favorite chapters, surprisingly, was on weavers. Pringle interviewed people who have been studying and actually re-creating as much as possible the original Viking weaving methods, and used them to help make a woolen sail for a recreated Viking ship. The amount of work that went into the project and what they learned about the work the women would have done was amazing, and really captured me. There were even descriptions of woolen 'armor' that men would have worn when going into battle- in much of the world, not just among the Vikings! And all of it would have been created by women.
Pringle doesn't try to completely rehabilitate the Vikings as a people, but recognizes the negative aspects of their society as well as the positive. She talks about them as a slave trading society (as were most societies of their day) and does a really interesting comparison to modern psychological studies in the slave trade to try to understand what it would have been like for women who were subjected to this.
Overall, The Northwomen was a wonderfully written, well researched book that makes the latest archaeological research on women in the Viking world accessible to anyone who is interested in finding out about it. I definitely recommend this book!
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
Having read Lynne Olson's "Empress of the Nile" on early French Egyptian archaeologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, I was really eager to learn moHaving read Lynne Olson's "Empress of the Nile" on early French Egyptian archaeologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, I was really eager to learn more about other early women Egyptologists with this book. Unfortunately, while I got a little from it, I can't say I learned as much as I was hoping to.
We get a taste of what it would have been like to be a woman wanting to study archaeology in the time period- and are reminded that no one really had officially "studied" so much as they were still making some things up as they went, developing techniques, etc. Local workers were doing the real work most of the time and getting none of the credit.
We get dry chapters about women, some of whom spent years on digs, others who spent few years on digs and most of their time organizing funding for others to go to sites, others taught future archaeologists. Some lectured and brought ancient Egypt to the interest of the general public, or curated and organized the huge collections of artifactes being shipped back from the digs and then arranged the museum exhibits to educate American and British audiences (and hopefully get them to write the checks that would keep funding the digs).
The book suffers from repetition and a need for more editing than it got. Someone coming at the book with no knowledge of the people beforehand will be overwhelmed by the number of people who are named as if the reader is already supposed to know them. Because many of the women crossed paths they pop in and out of each other's chapters, but then a random "Nettie" will show up and you aren't sure if it is the Nettie you're going to read about later or someone you haven't been introduced to yet. The chapters aren't entirely chronological, which would have helped me keep some of the people straight- I think. You do get to see plenty of examples of how differntly women are treated, how they are taken advantage of, and how crucial their work is to the advancement of Egyptology at the time while the men take all the credit- which isn't surprising, but certainly annoying. I did find it interesting how differently the men and women mentioned treated those around them and recorded their experiences.
Overall, not a great book, but ok. Probably more useful if you already have some background knowledge of some of the people or history going on here. The author also stays completely in England and a little in America, so you don't get an idea on if other countries have women Egyptologists at the same time.
I received ann ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review...more
Martin Dugard's "Taking London" is an attempt at telling the story of the lead up to the Battle of Britain and the necessary build up of fighter pilotMartin Dugard's "Taking London" is an attempt at telling the story of the lead up to the Battle of Britain and the necessary build up of fighter pilots and improved planes in 1939-1940.
I had a lot of problems with this book and if it hadn't been a NetGalley book I had promised to review I would have stopped reading it very early on. My main issue was the writing style. Short choppy sentences. Repetitive. The book is in the present tense- which is just a bizarre choice for a history book. But if you make the decision to write "this is happening, he is doing this" etc. then I think you have given up the option to also provide foreshadowing about "what Churchill doesn't know is that this will be happening in a few months" or including what Hitler and his army is doing over in Poland when you've made it clear that isn't the focus of your book and the characters you've chosen to follow to tell your story.
Despite the subtitle, "Taking London" isn't really about Churchill (who you mostly see through blocks of his speeches) but about the RAF. It follows several young men as they join, train, and become successful pilots. There was no attempt at depth or historical or political analysis to anything. Just a constant bombardment of "this is happening. Now this is happening."
"Taking London" adds nothing new to anyone's knowledge of World War II or Churchill. If you're looking for an excellent book on the Battle of Britain and the pilots, I recommend Lynne Olson's "Last Hope Island", which goes into depth on a lot of the refugees from places like Poland and how they contributed to the efforts as well. It wasn't just British pilots in the air against the Nazis.
This is a book I recommend skipping.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review ...more
This was a brief, rather surface look at the woman best known as King Henry VIII's sixth wife, Katherine (Kateryn) Parr. But she was so much more thanThis was a brief, rather surface look at the woman best known as King Henry VIII's sixth wife, Katherine (Kateryn) Parr. But she was so much more than that. A highly educated woman who survived the dangerous world of Tudor politics in two marriages before Henry, Katherine was a fascinating woman in her own right. Then to manage Henry and survive plots against her as queen, you know she was both clever and politically savvy.
I was disappointed in this book. Not necessarily that it was pretty surface level, some books do that. And author Laura Adkins quotes extensively from some of Parr's letters, which was interesting. It was the poor writing and repetition that sunk the book for me. I did read an advance copy, so maybe more editing happened after the copy I read, but the writing was clumsy, awkward, and often far more repetitive than it needed to be. I ended up needing to skim some sections because they were virtually unreadable, particularly as the book went on. It took away from being able to treat the book as a serious biography of Kateryn Parr.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
If you're looking for an introduction to the world of Renaissance England through women's eyes and how they worked to make their voices heard through If you're looking for an introduction to the world of Renaissance England through women's eyes and how they worked to make their voices heard through writing- look no further than Shakespeare's Sisters by Ramie Targoff. She takes the long-held belief that Tudor women didn't read, didn't write, and certainly weren't anything but meek and mild wives and daughters and throws it out the window.
Queen Elizabeth might not have been trying to break the glass ceiling for women, but that doesn't mean other women weren't looking for ways to express themselves. Mary Sidney is someone readers might have heard of- at least because her brother was famous. She took that and ran with it, adding translations and poems of her own to published works of his (some that she only recently got credit for!). Aemilia Lanyer was the first woman to publish a book of original poetry in the 17th century, and she did it while worrying about money for her family because she wasn't nobly born! She made it more shocking by writing a feminist take on the crucifixion- including a poem from the point of view of the wife of Pontius Pilate arguing that if he condemned Christ he is basically erasing Eve's original sin and women are no longer the 'lesser sex'. Elizabeth Carey was the first woman to publish an original play, a feminist take on the Jewish princess Mariam. Anne Clifford is probably the first woman diarist who also wrote down her life and her family's history, all while fighting 40 years of legal battles for her inheritance.
Each of these women were ahead of their time in so many ways, determined to live life as they wanted to. This incredibly well-written and well-researched book gives them back their voices and introduces us to women we may not have known before, but will now definitely want to know more about. The book is designed to tell us more about their lives than to be literary analyses, but at the end we get a great chapter on why their writing is so rarely taught, where we can find their books, and other Renaissance women we might want to read.
I absolutely recommend Shakespeare's Sisters to anyone interested in Tudor England and English literature, or the increasing discoveries of women's lives throughout history, some of which are only recently being brought back into the light.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
Interesting ideas, but weak and highly repetitive writing made this one I had trouble staying with to finish. The writing style really let it down forInteresting ideas, but weak and highly repetitive writing made this one I had trouble staying with to finish. The writing style really let it down for me....more
I liked the idea of this book: brief biographies of Tudor women who didn't fit our perceived mold of quiet, submissive historic women willing to blendI liked the idea of this book: brief biographies of Tudor women who didn't fit our perceived mold of quiet, submissive historic women willing to blend into the background and be forgotten. While they certainly wouldn't have known the word 'feminists' and I don't think any of them would have considered themselves trailblazers or pioneers of any kind, the idea of reminding modern readers that there are always people who stand out as different is something worth reading about.
Did "Tudor Feminists" successfully do this? It was a pretty mixed bag for me. I have read biographies of most of the women in this book, or at least read about most of these women in other histories, so I've certainly read very good arguments for how Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Parr all used their positions and education to encourage education for others, even women of all classes, or how they tried to influence religion in society in different ways, or politics. I didn't feel like this book did an especially good job of talking about what they did or tried to do for others, how they really stood out among women at the time. The same with Bess of Hardwick. A strong and incredible woman in business and finance and especially in building! Much more so than the men in her family. But that force of nature personality doesn't come through as well in this book. I knew a little of Arbella Stuart through the biographies I've read of Bess of Hardwick, but I didn't get a sense of why this author felt Arbella was a "Tudor feminist". Because she might have had an eating disorder and that was how she took control of her life at the end? Actually, there were a few women I couldn't entirely figure out how the author thought were 'ahead of their time' significantly enough to make it into this book compared to other women of the time period.
Maybe some of it was that I didn't think this was a well-written book. It was repetitive and often seemed to wander from what her point should have been. I expected to read brief biographies of each of the ten women highlighted here, but I expected each section to focus mostly on the argument of why author Rebecca Wilson felt that woman was "ahead of her time". Lanier was the first published female poet? Ok, talk about what that means in the context- when were other women published, how difficult was it to get published, what was involved? Instead we read more about her using her sexuality to get ahead in the world and who she might have influenced (including Shakespeare), with lots of wondering about if she was the inspiration for the "Dark Lady" of his sonnets- before saying that it would be wrong to just focus on that.
Overall, not what I was hoping for. Repetitive, either not well written or not well edited, and overly simplistic. Maybe ok as an introduction to women you'd like to learn more about - in which case the bibliography is going to be your best reading.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
An interesting and well researched book. Lots I didn’t know, especially about Big Sugar. I especially was fascinated by the medieval history of sugar An interesting and well researched book. Lots I didn’t know, especially about Big Sugar. I especially was fascinated by the medieval history of sugar and changing food and medical opinions dealing with it. I liked how it tended on a positive note of what we can do today to make changes....more
An excellent research guide for someone writing about castles in the medieval time period, or reading about specific people or places and wanting justAn excellent research guide for someone writing about castles in the medieval time period, or reading about specific people or places and wanting just a bit more about specific castles, "A Guide to the Medieval Castles of England" covers 400 castles across the country in alphabetical order. With some pictures and diagrams to break up what would otherwise be a very text heavy book, you can get a good sense of certain styles of buildings. The focus is very much the architecture of the buildings and the glossary of terms in the beginning was a big help since there were a lot of terms I didn't know and had to keep checking.
Not a book you'd necessarily read from beginning to end, but would more dip into for a few pages at a time unless you were doing specific research, it would also be a great help when planning a trip, since Hislop identifies what places are currently open to the public and what you can see today of the medieval buildings.
I received this book from NetGalley and Pen and Sword in exchange for an honest review...more
This was a really fascinating and well-written book about the Mary Rose, a Tudor warship that went down in the English Channel in 1545, and then AlexaThis was a really fascinating and well-written book about the Mary Rose, a Tudor warship that went down in the English Channel in 1545, and then Alexander McKee's journey to find it. The first part is the Tudor story of the ship as an active war vessel, and gives you a really good feel for how McKee was captured by the Mary Rose's story. He does a great job of bringing her (and the men who would have sailed on her) back to life. The rest of the book is his story: how he and a group of fellow divers gave up their days and searched for the Mary Rose, how they worked with others to develop the underwater archaeology that would serve best in the Channel (since the work being done in the Mediterranean was totally different conditions and everyone figured out that wouldn't work here!), and the trials and tribulations along the way. McKee is great about spreading the praise to all the team members and using their own words to help tell the story (even if they aren't complimentary to him), and the reader gets an amazing feel for how this discovery happened.
This book definitely makes me want to go to the Mary Rose museum in Southhampton in England and see the artifacts they found and learn more of the story of how it was raised, as well as see the actual ship and learn more about the conservation work that had to be done. I think anyone interested in history or archaeology will want to give this a try!
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
This book compares and contrasts two women who were icons in the world of cookery in their day, though today Mrs Beeton is the more well-known of the This book compares and contrasts two women who were icons in the world of cookery in their day, though today Mrs Beeton is the more well-known of the two. I hadn't heard of Mrs Marshall before this and was interested in learning about her. The chapters mirror each other, giving some family background as well as descriptions of their work and influence.
I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this book. I'm a fan of Emma Kay's work and was expecting a lot from this book. For me, the family background read like census reports without necessarily giving me an understanding of how the extended family would have affected either of our main women, and the writing on their work felt like I needed to have at least some knowledge about them and their books and influence before reading this book. For me, this felt more like an analysis of information I was already supposed to know, but didn't. I think I'd have gotten more out of the book if I had read some of the biographies on Beeton and Marshall in the bibliography first, then come back to this one and read it as a comparison between the two women and how they influenced their times and why they were able to accomplish what they did. There is an excellent bibliography for anyone who wants to get into the reading in detail.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ...more
An interesting look at early American politics- Brands does a great job of using the Founding Father's own words to remind us that from the beginning,An interesting look at early American politics- Brands does a great job of using the Founding Father's own words to remind us that from the beginning, there have been serious questions between Americans about how they planned on running the country. Things were a lot more divided after the Revolutionary War than we might have realized and here Brands shows the development of differing political parties almost from day one. I was interested to see some of the early things they had to develop (and the different plans they thought about and rejected) for how to form governments, what role a Federal government should play vs state governments, etc. There was some explanation of the compromise that led to the Electoral College we still use for presidential elections, though I wish the explanation had been a little clearer.
The book was a little mixed for me. In some sections Brands gets super detailed and into the weeds on subjects that I'm not sure he needed to (Hamilton's banking schemes for instance). Then he'd talk about states choosing the president and be very brief about it. I think someone more heavily interested in early American history would enjoy the book more than I did, but the denseness made this one drag a bit for me. Still, a timely topic, even though I felt like I had to work for it.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
I'm fascinated by Homer's Iliad and the world he writes about, but I don't have any kind of real specialist knowledge on any subject connected with itI'm fascinated by Homer's Iliad and the world he writes about, but I don't have any kind of real specialist knowledge on any subject connected with it. So I was hoping for a book that had something that might be a 'behind the scenes' look into the Iliad or the world that scholars currently think Homer was writing about. There was definitely some of that here, and I really enjoyed the sections on the archaeology behind what is now believed to be the site of Troy. A lot of it was interesting, though got a little too in-depth for me as a casual reader and would probably appeal more to a more scholarly reader. This might be a book I recommend a casual reader take in small pieces so they don't get too overwhelmed when reading about whether Homer existed, where and when he might have lived, how he might have written (or not), and the world he lived in versus the world he wrote about.
Interesting, but it felt more like it was written towards scholars than the casual reader and I definitely got overwhelmed sometimes.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
In "Emperor of Rome" Mary Beard takes on Rome's early emperors- not to give us biographies of them as individuals, but to explore what it meant to be In "Emperor of Rome" Mary Beard takes on Rome's early emperors- not to give us biographies of them as individuals, but to explore what it meant to be an emperor in ancient Rome. It is a really interesting examination of what the people expected/wanted their emperor to do, the role they wanted him to play, and how he was judged "good" or "bad" according to how he was seen to fit that role.
Instead of going chronologically by person, Beard goes by subject: dining, entertaining, religion, military life, etc., and explores what those things meant to the Romans and what the emperor's role was meant to be (as best we can tell)- including some notable successes and failures. She's good at reminding us of which sources are more reliable than others and why, who was trying to curry favor with the current emperor in their writings, and how that would influence what they said compared to what historians and archaeologists can discover about them.
What was really interesting to me was discovering how much of a role the emperor really was, compared to the individual. There were specific forms for the emperor in art, in letters, in speeches, and Beard argues that it didn't matter who the person was who filled the role- especially the further you got from Rome itself. The man was meant to fit the formula and what tends to stand out or be invented later on are stories about things that didn't fit the formula.
The book itself was a bit dense at times, and hard going, although other times I found it easy to read and enjoyable. Not the lightest of books, but very thought-provoking and interesting.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ...more
Erik Larson, known for Devil in the White City and The Splendid and the Vile, among many others, this time takes on Fort Sumter and trying to understaErik Larson, known for Devil in the White City and The Splendid and the Vile, among many others, this time takes on Fort Sumter and trying to understand (and explain) the root causes behind the American Civil War.
Americans may think they know the basics: Lincoln got elected, South Carolina seceded, Fort Sumter was fired on, there was a war. But Larson takes us into the deeply human and often tragic months between Lincoln getting elected and the firing on Fort Sumter. Were there moments when things could have been different? When different choices could have caused massively different outcomes?
The surprising truth is that, as Larson shows us, Northerners and Southerners as a whole did not understand each other. And had not for decades-if ever. The Southern aristocrats who made up the politicians most Northerners met with were hot-tempered, extremely proud, and always on alert to having their honor offended at the slightest provocation. And they had largely managed to convince themselves that there was nothing wrong with slavery. So the louder abolitionists in the North became, the more offended the South became. Abolitionists said the institution of slavery was evil, Southerners heard that they themselves were evil.
Add to this hot-heads who had been arguing that Southern states should have separated from the Union for decades, and the situation had been rife for rebellion longer than many were willing to admit. One person who doesn't come out of Demon looking good is outgoing President Buchanan. Buchanan acts oblivious to everything until he can't avoid it any longer (I particularly loved a quote by Georgia representative Toombs who tells Buchanan he's been in the midst of a revolution for over a year, he just hasn't noticed it.). His only goal is to get to Inauguration Day without violence so he can dump the problems on Lincoln and any states that leave happen under Lincoln's watch instead of his. But when South Carolina seceded letters show partying Southerners go to the White House, assuming Buchanan will be happy as well. There's no record of whether Buchanan partied too, but the fact that Southerners in Washington assumed he was on their side did not help issues moving forward. The level that rumors and misunderstandings played in politics of the day was surprising to me.
Reading about the experiences of the people in Fort Sumter itself were some of the most interesting parts for me. Major Anderson, conflicted between his natural feelings for his home in the South and his sworn oath to the US Army (a conflict many military men would have to deal with)- on top of having to make a lot of decisions himself that he shouldn't have had to make, was especially someone I felt for. He knew pretty early on his decisions had the real potential to spark a war if he wasn't careful, and he had almost no feedback from his superiors to help guide him. He was in a no-win situation and I expect plenty of people would have surrended the fort a lot sooner than he did. His sections of the book helped explain a question I never knew I had: what made Fort Sumter so important and such a flash point that we connect it with the start of the war?
I had a little trouble getting into Demon at first- possibly because when I started it I could only read small sections at a time and I think the beginning of the book would benefit from reading in a large chunk in one sitting to really get into it. There are a lot of people to get to know and some time traveling to get really settled into understanding the 1860 "present" (Larson backs up and gives up some pre-1860 Southern history so we understand where the Southern mindset is and that the idea of seceding isn't something new to them). But once I got settled in the book I really enjoyed it, because there was so much behind-the-scenes history Larson was showing me that I hadn't known about before. As always, Larson uses letters, diaries, and other first-hand accounts to make the events spring to life for the reader- which I love.
While not his best book in my opinion, The Demon of Unrest is an excellent, well-researched book that Larson's fans should enjoy. Full of the drama, pathos, and absolute humanity that draws you into an excellent history book.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
In all my reading of Tudor England, Katherine Parr is someone I've read very little about. This book (originally published in the 70s) was a really grIn all my reading of Tudor England, Katherine Parr is someone I've read very little about. This book (originally published in the 70s) was a really great introduction to her. It explores her entire life, focusing on the Humanist education she received as a young girl, how she learned by watching Henry's wives over the years, and how she developed her touch for politics.
I had no idea that Katherine was pretty much raised at court, her mother being a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon. Katherine and Henry VIII's daughter Mary were contemporaries and spent their formative years together, learning at a Court school with several other girls who would form a block of influential women as they grew up. The author emphasises the Humanist learning the girls were taught, which becomes the bedrock of Katherine's belief system and what she eventually passed on to Elizabeth I. I liked how the obligatory history of Henry VIII and his other wives was seen more through what Katherine learned from the women- if she was at Court how she might have interacted with them and how the other women in her circle also interacted with them. There were also times when the Parrs dealt with Henry, since they were almost taught to see him as a father figure, and he was surprisingly interested in their lives and careers going forward. This may have saved Katherine's second husband when he was caught up in the Pilgrimage of Grace and the author suggests that it may have played a role in the downfall of Thomas Cromwell, after a conversation between Henry and Katherine.
I especially liked how Martienssen looked at the power of women-both as individuals and as a group-in this book. The comparison between Anne Boleyn, who flaunted her power, and Katherine Parr, who largely kept her influence behind the scenes, is striking. I would definitely want to read more on her to see if other authors see Katheirne in similar ways. The book has its weaknesses, the largest one being not including an actual bibliography but just including notations in brief footnotes. But I'm definitely hooked and now planning on looking for many more books on Katherine in the future.
I received an ARC of this edition from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
This was an excellent book for people who want to visualize Tudor clothing and how it changed over the course of the era and across the social spectruThis was an excellent book for people who want to visualize Tudor clothing and how it changed over the course of the era and across the social spectrum. Judith Arnopp is writing for those who want a good, hands-on approach to clothing and her experiences as a reenactor and the research necessary for making the clothing for her group bring the clothing to life here!
The book is wonderfully divided into men's, women's, and children's clothing, and Arnopp explores each individual piece and how it developed over the course of the Tudor era. Materials and sumptuary laws, as well as reasons behind many of these developments, are also covered, with photographs of paintings to help illustrate her descriptions of certain items of clothing. Finally, Arnopp covers being a reenactor and her best tips and tricks for choosing costumes, making garments, etc. with good illustrations along the way.
This is going to be a necessary book on your shelf if you are interested in the fashion history of the Tudor era, if you are a historical writer looking for help describing both the clothing and how it would have felt to wear them, or as a reenactor looking for inspiration and assistance!
I received this book from NetGalley and Pen & Sword in exchange for an honest review...more
This was a very well-written book, and clearly a lot of research went into it! Covering 500 years of history in less than 500 pages (I think, I read tThis was a very well-written book, and clearly a lot of research went into it! Covering 500 years of history in less than 500 pages (I think, I read the e-reader version) is quite a feat. I particularly liked the chapters that focused on the history of the building changes and what you can see vs what was torn down- so William and Mary (not my favorite history time period) ended up being my favorite chapter because Russell did such a great job explaining how they started tearing down the palace to rebuild it and how they stopped (thankfully!) when they ran out of money. That did such a great job of explaining what I'd seen when I visited! I also loved the chapter on the Chocolate Kitchens, and the transition to tourist attraction by Victoria and Albert was interesting, and I would have liked to learn a bit more there. I wish more of the book had been like that, explaining how the different rooms reflected specific instances of history, or had been affected by the current monarchs- I had hoped for lots about Henry VIII and details about his building projects, but it didn't feel like we got a lot of details on those.
The history of the people was interesting (though this often seemed to go into tangents separate from what was happening at Hampton Court), and a history of the people as seen through Hampton Court's 'eyes' is an interesting idea. Overall, the book was ok, and worth reading, but wasn't quite what I'd been hoping for.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review...more
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