Tag archives for book review - Page 4
Of Blood Exhausted by Jemahl Evans [Book Review]
Of Blood Exhausted by Jemahl Evans My rating: 6 of 5 stars Of Blood Exhausted is the third in the Blandford Candy series that started with The Last Roundhead. (The second was This Deceitful Light.) If anything Jemahl Evans is improving with practice, there's a real feel for the period in the language used, the descriptions and the characters, several of whom are based on real people. There are footnotes throughout to add context to the historical events, either to corroborate the source or correct errors from Candy's recollection of events. Of Blood Exhausted As with the previous two in the series Of Blood Exhausted cuts between the aged Sir Blandford Candy narrating from 1720 and the imminent South Seas Bubble which his nephew is involved with, and the winter of 1644-5 culminating in the battle of Naseby. Candy is…
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3 Novels That Exemplify The Best Of Historical Fiction [Guest Post]
After my recent comments on historical fiction and its problems, I was offered a guest post by Elizabeth Caskey. Here's her take on three novels that show the best features of historical fiction. Feel free to add your own comments on your own favourite historical fiction below. 3 Novels That Exemplify The Best Of Historical Fiction Historical fiction is a deceptively tricky genre of writing. An author has to do a breathtaking amount of research, often over the course of several years, just to make a story possible. Then the story actually has to be written. On top of the ordinary challenges of constructing a plot that moves, developing characters in a satisfying manner, and all the rest, the subjects of the research have to be threaded in deftly but comprehensively. A good work of historical fiction needs to live…
A Dark History: Vikings by Martin J. Dougherty [book review]
A Dark History: Vikings by Martin J. Dougherty My rating: 4 of 5 stars A Dark History: Vikings is a really good introduction for grown ups interested in Vikings. It's fairly modern and has lots of illustrations to bring the text to life. Way more informative than the stuff your kids might read, but also easily accessible compared to some of the more academic histories. A Dark History: Vikings What I enjoyed about it was that there was a mix of social and cultural history along with the usual timelines. It also gave me a sense of 'Viking' being a product of lazy thinking in the same way that 'Celts' are. The reality was that there were lots of people over a vast geographic area and a couple of centuries. There's no central drive or common ethos for the entire…
Code Name Beatriz by Lou Cadle [Book Review]
Code Name: Beatriz by Lou Cadle My rating: 5 of 5 stars Code Name Beatriz by Lou Cadle is historical fiction done right. I always shy from historical fiction, not because I don't like it, but because it's really hard to get right. That's doubly so when it's one of my favourite and most read periods of history. I've read about SOE agents since finding a copy of Carve Her Name With Pride at my granny's house when I was ten. Lou Cadle has done a great job with Code Name Beatriz. Code Name Beatriz French resistance fighters being arrested, France, Jul 1944 (photo: Bundesarchiv, Koll, Bild 183-J27289) Starting in the early spring of 1944 it follows an SOE agent with the code name Beatriz (hence the title). Beatriz is a fully rounded and complex character, which makes her interesting.…
Destructive & Formidable by David Blackmore [Book Review]
Destructive and Formidable: British Infantry Firepower 1642 - 1765 by David John Blackmore My rating: 5 of 5 stars Destructive and Formidable is a quantitative look at British infantry doctrine using period sources from the British Civil Wars of the seventeenth century up to just before the American War of Independence. If anything you can see the constancy, which drove the success in battle of British forces, even when outnumbered. Destructive and Formidable This has got all the detail you need to model infantry battles in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There are comparative weights and rates of fire. Measured hit rates based on range, and commentary on doctrine and how certain tactics worked in certain situations but not others. In short everything you need to design a game (although there's clearly a morale factor, which Destructive and Formidable covers…