Book Reviews
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A new biography about this Lancastrian king. The following is the blurb, not a review, because it isn’t available until 26th May. Available at Amazon, and, I’m sure, a lot of other places too. But here’s a link to the Amazon page. http://tinyurl.com/ka2t4pk Blurb: In this new assessment of Henry VI, David Grummitt synthesizes a…
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Princess Cicely (an alternative spelling of Cecily) is 16 as her love story commences in this trilogy, 18 at the end of the third book. During that time, she has cut quite a swath at the English court. Her lovers include two kings and three jacks. That is, three men named John, whom the…
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The Battle of Sedgemoor 1685 by Stephen Lark (Bretwalda Battles Book 19) [Kindle Edition] ASIN: B00TEAO11G Driving the M5 today, across the Somerset Levels, it is hard to imagine what the landscape used to be like, before rhynes and ditches drained much of the water. The rhynes were there in the 17th century, but they…
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I have read several of JAH’s books and always find them thoroughly researched and informative. That’s not to say that I always agree with his conclusions, but mostly I do. His latest book concerns both the ancient myths surrounding his life, death and burial and more modern, newer myths which have begun since his remains…
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We Speak No Treason by Rosemary Hawley Jarman Review by Lisl (2013) Because I sometimes have a tendency to borrow too many books from the library, it happens on occasion that I tire of keeping up with conflicting due dates and end up tossing the lot into a bag to haul them back, unread. Such…
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I was interested to read this book, first of all, because it seemed to me that the title is expressing the view of many Ricardians, who find it baffling that Richard III is seen by many as the archetypal murderous tyrant when clearly Henry VIII was far more murderous and tyrannical. The book begins by…
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It is a good many years since I read this excellent book and this is not intended as a review. I do recall that the book argued as forensically as could be expected from a member of the legal profession, that he skewered one Cairo dweller in particular and that, at the apparent behest of…
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As Joanie Swift herself states, “If only the Battle of Bosworth had not ended in a Tudor victory . . .” Yes, but it did, and we can’t change that, although Joanie takes a huge swipe in the right direction with this hilarious little roman à clef. Instead of Bosworth in 1485, we’re in London…
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Another member of the team was matched with this person by an online dating organisation: “I have read all of the Phillippa Gregory Cousin’s War series and learnt so much about the Medieval time before the Tudor court which is fascinating both because it is about a period of history often considered less interesting than…
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Lady Antonia Fraser’s “The Kings and Queens of England” was a favourite of mine nearly forty years ago – my grandmother owned it and I read it whilst visiting her. Anyway, I consulted the entries on Charles II and James II – Maurice Ashley wrote the Stuart chapter and he said: 1) (p.236) “(the Rye…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 