Difference between revisions of "Newest History Reviews"

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[[Category:History|*]]
 
[[Category:History|*]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|History]]__NOTOC__ <!-- INSERT NEW REVIEWS BELOW HERE-->
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{{Frontpage
*[[image:Woolf_Great.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1910985880?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1910985880]]
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|isbn=0578761718
 
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|title=The Inspiring History of a Special Relationship
===[[The Great Horizon: 50 Tales of Exploration by Jo Woolf]]===
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|author=Nancy Carver
 
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|rating=4.5
[[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:History|History]], [[:Category:Travel|Travel]]
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|genre=History
 
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|summary=The church of St Mary Aldermanbuy had existed in the City of London from at least 1181, when it was first mentioned in records. Sadly,  the original church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was rebuilt in Portland stone from a design by Sir Christopher Wren soon after the fire and then survived for centuries until World War II, when it was again ruined by bombs during the Blitz. But that wasn't the end of its story: after a phenomenal fundraising effort, the stones from the church's walls were transported to Fulton, Missouri. There, in the grounds of Westminster College, the church was rebuilt and today serves as a memorial to Winston Churchill.
Jo Woolf has compiled a brilliant set of fifty short insights into the lives and achievements of some amazingly brave people. Their fearless journeys have helped us unlock many of the mysteries of the wildest parts of our world, and also given us an understanding of what it is like to be faced with the most terrible conditions and still have the determination and grit to carry on. This book could be viewed as a taster which encourages us to seek out and read more about some of the most iconic explorers. Their stories are pretty incredible and Woolf does them justice. [[The Great Horizon: 50 Tales of Exploration by Jo Woolf|Full Review]]
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}}
<br>
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{{Frontpage
 
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|isbn=1784385166
<!-- Hailstone -->
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|title=The Third Reich in 100 Objects: A Material History of Nazi Germany
*[[image:Hailstone_Berlin.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1445672901?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1445672901]]
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|author=Roger Moorhouse
 
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|rating=5
===[[Berlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966 by Allan Hailstone]]===
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|genre=History
 
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|summary=What is the first image that comes to mind when you think of the Third Reich? Hitler? A swastika? The Nazi salute? The gate to a concentration camp? None of these are comfortable images but they are emblematic of the Third Reich's fascist regime in all its iniquity. But some objects and images from that time may be less familiar to you. In this short volume, Roger Moorhouse has attempted to illustrate the period of the Third Reich through one hundred of its material artefacts. 
[[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:GENRE|GENRE]]
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
''Berlin in the Cold War: 1959-1966'' contains almost 200 photographs taken by author / photographer Allan Hailstone in his visits to the city during this period. The images provide an insight into the changing nature of the divide between East and West Berlin and a glimpse into life in the city during the Cold War. [[Berlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966 by Allan Hailstone|Full Review]]
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|author=Lun Zhang, Adrien Gombeaud, Ameziane and Edward Gauvin (translator)
<br>
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|title=Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes
 
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|rating=4.5
{{newreview
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|genre=Graphic Novels
|author= Alan Moorehead
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|summary=I never really followed the events of Tiananmen Square with much attention when it was playing out – someone in the second half of their teens has other priorities, you know. I certainly didn't know of the weeks of protests and hunger strikes from the students before the massacre and the birth of the Tank Man image, I didn't know how the area had long been a venue for political protest, and I didn't know more than a spit about the people involved on either side. This book is practically flawless in giving a general browser's context for the whole season of protests back in 1989.
|title= The Russian Revolution
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|isbn=1684056993
|rating= 4
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}}
|genre= History
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{{Frontpage
|summary= First published in 1958, Moorhead's account is regarded as one of the most succinct accounts of its subject, and now reprinted to mark the centenary of the revolution.
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|isbn=0648684806
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445667320</amazonuk>
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|title=Clara Colby: The International Suffragist
 +
|author=John Holliday
 +
|rating=4
 +
|genre=Biography
 +
|summary=The path of Clara Dorothy Bewick's life was probably determined when her family emigrated to the USA.  At the time she was just three-years-old but because of some childhood ailment, she wasn't allowed to sail with her parents and three brothers.  Instead, she remained with her grandparents, who doted on her and saw that she received a good education, both in and out of school.  She was the only child in the household and her childhood was glorious. By contrast, her family had become pioneer farmers in the mid-west of the United States and life was hard, as Clara was to find out when she and her grandparents eventually went to join the family.  Clara would only know her mother for a few months: she was married for fifteen years, had ten pregnancies, seven surviving children and died in childbirth not long after Clara arrived.  As the eldest girl, a heavy burden would fall on Clara and Wisconsin was a rude awakening.
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}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1783784350
 +
|title=This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History
 +
|author=Esther Rutter
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=History
 +
|summary=It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, writing to people she'd never met and preparing spreadsheets.  The job frustrated her and even her knitting did not soothe her mind.  January was going to be a time for making changes and she decided that she would travel the length and breadth of the British Isles with occasional forays abroad, discovering and telling the story of wool's history and how it had made and changed the landscape.  She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - '' a free-range child on the farm'' - and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's friend.  This was in her blood.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Adrian Mourby
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|isbn=1789017977
|title=Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels
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|title=Ronnie and Hilda's Romance: Towards a New Life after World War II
 +
|author=Wendy Williams
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Travel
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|genre=History
|summary=Adrian Mourby has given us a flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions of the world, with the hotels in each section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall pictureSo what makes a hotel 'grand'?  The first hotel to call itself 'grand' was in covent Garden in 1774 and it ushered in the beginning of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge for those without friends and family conveniently nearby.  The hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challengesWe begin in the Americas, move to the United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and AsiaAustralia, it seems, does not go for the grand.
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|summary=Ronnie Williams was the son of Thomas Henry Williams (known as Harry) and Ethel WallThere's some doubt as to whether or not they were ever married or even Harry's birthdate: he claimed to have been born in 1863, but he was already many years older than Ethel and he might well have shaved a few years off his age.  For a while the family was quite well-to-do but disaster struck in the 1929 Depression and five-year-old Ronnie had to adjust to a very different lifestyleOne thing he did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned-out and this would stay with him throughout his lifeHe joined the army at eighteen in 1942.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785782754</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Philip Matyszak
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|isbn=1980891117
|title=24 Hours in Ancient Rome
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|title=G Engleheart Pinxit 1805: A year in the life of George Engleheart
 +
|author=John Webley
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Art
 +
|summary=George Engleheart was one of the leading portrait miniaturists of Georgian London, with a career lasting from the 1770s to the Regency era. He was also one of the most prolific, painting nearly 5,000 miniatures altogether (over twenty of them being of King George III). Throughout most of that time he carefully recorded the names of each of his clients, and subsequently transcribed them into what is referred to as his fee book.
 +
}}
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{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1789016304
 +
|title=War and Love: A family's testament of anguish, endurance and devotion in occupied Amsterdam
 +
|author=Melanie Martin
 +
|rating=5
 
|genre=History
 
|genre=History
|summary= I've never been that interested in Ancient Rome. Blame my teachers, or our oh-so-dry visits to Roman villas with their earnest interpretation panels, or perhaps I just daydreamed through all the interesting bits… Somehow I entered adulthood with the impression that all Romans were bloodthirsty and hedonistic heathens with little to recommend them. ''Mea culpa'', you might say. So when my eye fell upon Philip Matyszak's ''24 Hours in Ancient Rome'', and its claim to introduce readers to the real Ancient Rome by examining the lives of ordinary people, I decided it was high time to update my education. And the lovely artwork on the front cover made this book all the more appealing.
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|summary=Melanie Martin read about what happened to Dutch Jews in occupied Amsterdam during World War II and was entranced by what she discovered, particularly in ''The Diary of Ann Frank'' but then realised that her own family's stories were equally fascinating. A hundred and seven thousand Jews were deported from the city during the war years, but only five thousand survived and Martin could not understand how this could be allowed to happen in a country with liberal values who were resistant to German occupation.  Most people believed that the occupation could never happen: even those who thought that the Germans might reach the city were convinced that they would soon be pushed back, that the Amsterdammers would never allow what happened to escalate in the way that it did, but initial protests melted away as the organisers became more circumspect. It's an atrocity on a vast scale but made up of tens of thousands of individual tragedies.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782438564</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Sharon Bennett Connolly
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|isbn=1908745819
|title= Heroines of the Medieval World
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|title=Surfacing
|rating= 5
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|author=Kathleen Jamie
|genre= History
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|rating=5
|summary= Many women in medieval times left their mark on history, but as a rule they have been neglected by biographers and historians as there is too little surviving information for them to have even brief biographies to themselves. Ms Connolly has adopted an enterprising solution to the problem by writing a general account on a broadly thematic basis.
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|genre=History
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445662647</amazonuk>
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|summary=Sometimes when people suggest that you read a certain book, they tell you ''this one has your name on it''. Mostly we take them at their word, or not, but rarely do we ask them why they thought so unless it turns out that we didn't like the book. That's a rare experience. People who are sensitive to hearing a book calling your name, rarely get it wrong. In this case, I was told why.  The blurb speaks of the author considering ''an older, less tethered sense of herself.''  Older. Less tethered. That's not a bad description of where I am.  Add to that my love of the natural world, of those aspects of the poetic and lyrical that are about style not form, and substance most of all, about connection. Of course, this book had my name on it.  It was written for me. It would have found its way to me eventually. I am pleased to have it fall onto my path so quickly.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Kurt Andersen
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|isbn=0857058320
|title= Fantasyland
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|title=Lord Of All the Dead
|rating= 4
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|author=Javier Cercas and Anne McLean (translator)
|genre= History  
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|rating=4
|summary= Fantasyland covers the history of America from 1517 to 2017 in awesome detail. Covering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the conjuring of America in vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to politicians, the exhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, seminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor sharp wit.
+
|genre=History
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785038656</amazonuk>
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|summary=''Lord Of All the Dead'' is a journey to uncover the author's lost ancestor's life and death. Cercas is searching for the meaning behind his great uncle's death in the Spanish Civil War. Manuel Mena, Cercas' great uncle, is the figure who looms large over the book. He died relatively young whilst fighting for Francisco Franco's forces. Cercas ruminates on why his uncle fought for this dictator. The question at the centre of this book is whether it is possible for his great uncle to be a hero whilst having fought for the wrong side.  
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Twigs Way
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|isbn=0008294011
|title=Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series)
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|title=How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship
|rating=4
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|author=Ece Temelkuran
|genre=Lifestyle
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|rating=4.5
|summary=Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip to the country in those days. Men had their coffee houses, but they were not places where women could or would be seenTea was introduced to England in the 17th century but it was not until 1784 that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% and tea became the drink of choice for the nationUntil then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap ginOnly, where would this beverage be drunk?  One answer was the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see and be seen: by the mid 1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardens.
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|genre=History
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445670011</amazonuk>
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|summary=A little while ago a friend asked me if I thought that we were living through what in years to come would be discussed by A level history students when faced with the question ''Discuss the factors which led to...'' I agreed that she was right and wasn't certain whether it was a good or bad thing that we didn't know what all 'this' was leading to.  I think now that I do knowWe are in danger of losing democracy and whilst it's a flawed system I can't think of a better one, particularly as the 'benevolent dictator' is as rare as hen's teeth.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Nathen Amin
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|isbn=1788037812
|title=The House of Beaufort: The Bastard Line that Captured the Crown
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|title=The Fraternity of the Estranged: The Fight for Homosexual Rights in England, 1891-1908
|rating= 4
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|author=Brian Anderson
|genre= History
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|rating=5
|summary= The family name of Beaufort played a major part in British history during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It therefore seems remarkable that little has been written about them until the appearance of this book.
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|genre=History
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445647648</amazonuk>
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|summary=Originally passed in 1885, the law that had made homosexual relations a crime remained in place for 82 years. But during this time, restrictions on same-sex relationships did not go unchallenged. Between 1891 and 1908, three books on the nature of homosexuality appeared. They were written by two homosexual men: Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds, as well as the heterosexual Havelock Ellis. Exploring the margins of society and studying homosexuality was common on the European Continent, but barely talked about in the UK, so the publications of these men were hugely significant – contributing to the scientific understanding of homosexuality, and beginning the struggle for recognition and equality, leading to the milestone legalisation of same-sex relationships in 1967.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Rory Stewart
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|isbn=1910593508
|title= The Marches
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|title=Apollo
|rating= 5
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|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins
|genre= Travel
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|rating=5
|summary= The Observer quote on the front of the paperback edition of Stewart's latest book observes ''This is travel writing at its finest.''  Perhaps, but to call it travel writing is to totally under-sell it.  This is erudition at its finest.  Stewart has the background to do this: he had an international upbringing and followed his father in both the Army and the Foreign Office, and then (to his father's, bemusement, shall we say) became an MP.  Oh, and he walked 6,000 miles across Afghanistan in 2002. A walk along the Scottish borders should be a doddle by comparison.
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|genre=History
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099581892</amazonuk>
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|summary=This incredible graphic novel is a love letter to the Moon landings and the passion for the subject drips off every Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins. This is a story we know well and because of this, the authors take a few narrative shortcuts knowing that we can fill in the blanks. These shortcuts are the only downside to the book. If you've ever read a comic book adaptation of a film you will be familiar with the slight feeling that there are scenes missing and that dialogue has been trimmed. This is a graphic novel that could easily have been three times as long and still felt too short.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Josh Dean
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|isbn=1786331047
|title=The Taking of K-129: The Most Daring Covert Operation in History
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|title=The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family
 +
|author=Helen Rappaport
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=History
 
|genre=History
|summary=In February 1968 the Soviet nuclear missile submarine K-129 left the port of Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka peninsula with a crew of 98 submariners. The captain and executive officers were experienced: the only factor giving cause for concern was that the crew had only recently returned to base and were expecting a longer break and were only back at sea because two sister ships had experienced mechanical problems and were unfit for combat controls. The Division Commander complained that the decision was cruel and potentially reckless.  He would be proved right - but not publicly - as K-129 went down with all hands in March 1968.  It was a while before the sSoviet navy realised that it had lost one of its submarines and despite an extensive search they couldn't find it.
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|summary=The basic facts about the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra, some of which were deliberately obscured at the time for various reasons, have long since been established. For the last few months of their lives in Russia the former Tsar and Tsarina, their children and few remaining servants were held in increasingly squalid, humiliating captivity. To prevent them from being rescued, in July 1918 the revolutionary regime had them all shot and bayoneted to death in circumstances which, once the news was confirmed beyond all doubt, horrified their relatives in Europe.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445674742</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
<!-- Parker -->
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|isbn=Woolf_Great
*[[image:Parker_50.jpg|left|link=https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1784937908?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1784937908]]
+
|title=The Great Horizon: 50 Tales of Exploration
 
+
|author=Jo Woolf
===[[50 Things You Should Know About the Vikings by Philip Parker]]===
 
 
 
[[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]], [[:Category:Confident Readers|Confident Readers]], [[:Category:History|History]]
 
 
 
The Vikings have got a lot to own up to. A huge DNA study in 2014 was the first thing that proved to the Orkney residents that they had Viking blood in their veins – they had been insisting it was that of the Irish. The Vikings it was that forced our English king's army to march from London to Yorkshire to kill off one invasion, only to spend the next fortnight schlepping back to Hastings to try and fend off another – and the Normans had the same Norse origin as the first lot, hence the name. There is a Thames Valley village just outside Henley – ie pretty damned far from the coast – that has a Viking longship on its signpost. Yes, they got to a lot of places, from Greenland to Kiev, from Murmansk to Turkey and the Med, and their misaligned history is well worth visiting – particularly on these pages. [[50 Things You Should Know About the Vikings by Philip Parker|Full Review]]
 
<br>
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Emma Kay
 
|title=Vintage Kitchenalia
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=History
 
|genre=History
|summary=Over the half century and more that I've been preparing meals on a regular basis I've seen food preparation move from being just something you did, to an obsession akin to a religion.  My first kitchen had nothing in the way of luxury - it was there to make meals as nutritiously and economically as possible: my current kitchen is not ''quite'' state of the art, but it's equipped to a high standard and is a pleasure to work in. But what of all the equipment which went before, which paved the way to what we have now?  Emma Kay is going to give you a quick trip through the history.
+
|summary=Jo Woolf has compiled a brilliant set of fifty short insights into the lives and achievements of some amazingly brave people. Their fearless journeys have helped us unlock many of the mysteries of the wildest parts of our world, and also given us an understanding of what it is like to be faced with the most terrible conditions and still have the determination and grit to carry on. This book could be viewed as a taster which encourages us to seek out and read more about some of the most iconic explorers. Their stories are pretty incredible and Woolf does them justice.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445657511</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author= Martyn Beardsley
+
|isbn=Mourby_Rooms
|title= Waterloo Voices 1815: The Battle at First Hand
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|title=Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Adrian Mourby
|genre= History
+
|rating=4
|summary= The battle of Waterloo, fought on a midsummer day on a muddy field in Belgium, brought an end to two decades of war in Europe. As one of the pivotal events of the nineteenth century, it has inevitably been the focus of many accounts over the last two hundred years.
+
|genre=History
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445660164</amazonuk>
+
|summary=Adrian Mourby has given us a flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions of the world, with the hotels in each section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall picture. So what makes a hotel 'grand'? The first hotel to call itself 'grand' was in Covent Garden in 1774 and it ushered in the beginning of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge for those without friends and family conveniently nearby. The hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challenges. We begin in the Americas, move to the United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and Asia. Australia, it seems, does not go for the grand.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Sarah Rutherford
+
|isbn=Hailstone_Berlin
|title=Landscape Gardens
+
|title=Berlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966
 +
|author=Allan Hailstone
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Art
+
|genre=History
|summary=My first experience of a ''big'' garden was Versailles as a teenager and whilst I was impressed, I didn't really like it.  I felt stifled and strangely underwhelmed by the flatness of it all. As luck would have it I then saw Hampton Court and it was official: I was off big gardens.  It would be many years before I revised my opinion.  On a trip to Harewood House it was too hot a day to be corralled into the house, so I wandered the gardens and found they were delightful.  I felt uplifted.  Then a cricket match at Stowe gave me the opportunity to walk the grounds for over an hour. I was completely won over and a devotee of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.  Sarah Rutherford's ''Landscape Gardens'' was an opportunity to put him in context.
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|summary=''Berlin in the Cold War: 1959-1966'' contains almost 200 photographs taken by author/photographer Allan Hailstone in his visits to the city during this period. The images provide an insight into the changing nature of the divide between East and West Berlin and a glimpse into life in the city during the Cold War.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445669935</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Moorehead_Russian
|author= Stuart Maconie
+
|title=The Russian Revolution
|title= Long Road From Jarrow
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|author=Alan Moorehead
|rating= 5
+
|rating=The author was writing from a slightly different stance from most other historians. Only a decade after the end of the Second World War, he was basing his account on the premise that the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was connected with the heritage that Lenin had left behind, and that without Stalin's assurances of support Hitler would never have dared to plunge the world into such a devastating global conflict. It was his belief that America's post-war commitments in Europe and the Far East, and other post-1945 developments, could also be traced back to the events of 1917. Much of his material came from German archives which were saved from destruction when the Third Reich was on the brink of collapse. These documents that the German government would have kept private had they won the war provided full detail on the attempts of their forebears to pave the way for chaos and revolution in their Asiatic neighbour.
|genre= Travel
+
|genre=History
|summary= I cancelled my ''Country Walking'' magazine subscription about a year ago and the only thing I miss is Stuart Maconie's column.  His down-to-earth approach and sharp wit belie an equally sharp intellect and a soul more sensitive than he might be willing to admit.   Let's be honest, though, I picked this one up because of someone else's review, in which I spotted names like Ferryhill and Newton Aycliffe. Places I grew up in.  Like Maconie I have no connection (that I know of) to the Jarrow Crusade but when he talks about it being ''a whole matrix of events reducible to one word like Aberfan, Hillsborough, or Orgreave'' then somehow it does become part of my history too.  Tangentially, at least.
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|summary=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1785030531</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Vicky Hayward
+
|isbn=Anderson_Fantasyland
|title=Juan Altamiras' New Art of Cookery: A Spanish Friar's Kitchen Notebook
+
|title=Fantasyland
 +
|author=Kurt Andersen
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Cookery
+
|genre=History
|summary=In 1745 a Spanish friary cook, Juan Altamiras, published the first edition of his ''New Art of Cookery, Drawn From the School of Economic Experience''. It contained more than two hundred recipes for meat, poultry, game, salted and fresh fish, vegetables and desserts.  The style was informal, chatty and humorous on occasions and it was aimed, not at those who could afford to cook on a grand scale, but at those with more modest budgets, who sometimes needed to cook for large numbers.  Whilst the ingredients were - for the most part - modestly priced there is a stress on the careful combination of flavours and aromas.  Spices are used conservatively and the bluntness of some Moorish cooking is eschewed in favour of something much more subtle and we see influences from Altamiras' own region, Aragon, the Iberian court and the New World.
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|summary=Fantasyland covers the history of America from 1517 to 2017 in awesome detail. Covering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the conjuring of America in vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to politicians, the exhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, seminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor-sharp wit.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1442279419</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Susan Duxbury-Neumann
+
|isbn=Way_Tea
|title= What Have the Germans Ever Done for Us?: A History of the German Population of Great Britain
+
|title=Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series)
|rating= 4
+
|author=Twigs Way
|genre= History
+
|rating=4
|summary= The adapted Monty Pythonesque rhetorical question takes some time to provide a full answer, and this slim but useful volume does so very well.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445664860</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Gillian Tindall
 
|title= The Tunnel Through Time: A New Route for an Old London Journey
 
|rating= 4.5
 
|genre= History
 
|summary=This book traces the course of historical journeys across the city in time and space, examining how the areas above the new Crossrail route, the largest building project currently under construction in Europe offering high speed links across London, have changed over the centuries, with destruction and renewal being a constantly recurring process in the city's history. It is a fascinating, compellingly readable exploration through the historical highways and byways of the metropolis.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099587793</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jonathan Trigg
 
|title=Voices of the Flemish Waffen-SS: The Final Testament of the Oostfronters
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=History
 
|genre=History
|summary=In the week I write this, Trump has come under fire for not condemning fascistic behaviour in America from some Neo-Nazis.  It strikes me that the ''Neo-'' is a pointless dignification – yes, they cannot be deemed to follow Hitler precisely as he's long dead and burnt, so they're kind of new, but common sense obliges me to just call them Nazis. Their excuse is they feel America has been invaded by the enemy – but what if you were indeed under occupation?  Could you see yourself working for the forces that had indeed invaded you?  The author begins by pointing out that several countries were invaded by the Nazis, and they have different feelings about the people who worked against the commonly-held nationalistic aim.  France hates her collaborators, but just north of the border things are different – and the picture is a lot more muddy as a result.
+
|summary=Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip to the country in those days. Men had their coffee houses, but they were not places where women could or would be seen. Tea was introduced to England in the 17th century but it was not until 1784 that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% and tea became the drink of choice for the nation. Until then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap gin. Only, where would this beverage be drunk? One answer was the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see and be seen: by the mid-1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardens.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445666367</amazonuk>
+
 
}}
+
Move on to [[Newest Home and Family Reviews]]

Revision as of 10:45, 23 November 2020

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Review of

The Inspiring History of a Special Relationship by Nancy Carver

4.5star.jpg History

The church of St Mary Aldermanbuy had existed in the City of London from at least 1181, when it was first mentioned in records. Sadly, the original church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It was rebuilt in Portland stone from a design by Sir Christopher Wren soon after the fire and then survived for centuries until World War II, when it was again ruined by bombs during the Blitz. But that wasn't the end of its story: after a phenomenal fundraising effort, the stones from the church's walls were transported to Fulton, Missouri. There, in the grounds of Westminster College, the church was rebuilt and today serves as a memorial to Winston Churchill. Full Review

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Review of

The Third Reich in 100 Objects: A Material History of Nazi Germany by Roger Moorhouse

5star.jpg History

What is the first image that comes to mind when you think of the Third Reich? Hitler? A swastika? The Nazi salute? The gate to a concentration camp? None of these are comfortable images but they are emblematic of the Third Reich's fascist regime in all its iniquity. But some objects and images from that time may be less familiar to you. In this short volume, Roger Moorhouse has attempted to illustrate the period of the Third Reich through one hundred of its material artefacts.  Full Review

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Review of

Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hopes by Lun Zhang, Adrien Gombeaud, Ameziane and Edward Gauvin (translator)

4.5star.jpg Graphic Novels

I never really followed the events of Tiananmen Square with much attention when it was playing out – someone in the second half of their teens has other priorities, you know. I certainly didn't know of the weeks of protests and hunger strikes from the students before the massacre and the birth of the Tank Man image, I didn't know how the area had long been a venue for political protest, and I didn't know more than a spit about the people involved on either side. This book is practically flawless in giving a general browser's context for the whole season of protests back in 1989. Full Review

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Review of

Clara Colby: The International Suffragist by John Holliday

4star.jpg Biography

The path of Clara Dorothy Bewick's life was probably determined when her family emigrated to the USA. At the time she was just three-years-old but because of some childhood ailment, she wasn't allowed to sail with her parents and three brothers. Instead, she remained with her grandparents, who doted on her and saw that she received a good education, both in and out of school. She was the only child in the household and her childhood was glorious. By contrast, her family had become pioneer farmers in the mid-west of the United States and life was hard, as Clara was to find out when she and her grandparents eventually went to join the family. Clara would only know her mother for a few months: she was married for fifteen years, had ten pregnancies, seven surviving children and died in childbirth not long after Clara arrived. As the eldest girl, a heavy burden would fall on Clara and Wisconsin was a rude awakening. Full Review

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Review of

This Golden Fleece: A Journey Through Britain's Knitted History by Esther Rutter

5star.jpg History

It was December and Esther Rutter was stuck in her office job, writing to people she'd never met and preparing spreadsheets. The job frustrated her and even her knitting did not soothe her mind. January was going to be a time for making changes and she decided that she would travel the length and breadth of the British Isles with occasional forays abroad, discovering and telling the story of wool's history and how it had made and changed the landscape. She'd grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk - a free-range child on the farm - and learned to spin, knit and weave from her mother and her mother's friend. This was in her blood. Full Review

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Review of

Ronnie and Hilda's Romance: Towards a New Life after World War II by Wendy Williams

4star.jpg History

Ronnie Williams was the son of Thomas Henry Williams (known as Harry) and Ethel Wall. There's some doubt as to whether or not they were ever married or even Harry's birthdate: he claimed to have been born in 1863, but he was already many years older than Ethel and he might well have shaved a few years off his age. For a while the family was quite well-to-do but disaster struck in the 1929 Depression and five-year-old Ronnie had to adjust to a very different lifestyle. One thing he did inherit from his father was his need to be well-turned-out and this would stay with him throughout his life. He joined the army at eighteen in 1942. Full Review

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Review of

G Engleheart Pinxit 1805: A year in the life of George Engleheart by John Webley

4.5star.jpg Art

George Engleheart was one of the leading portrait miniaturists of Georgian London, with a career lasting from the 1770s to the Regency era. He was also one of the most prolific, painting nearly 5,000 miniatures altogether (over twenty of them being of King George III). Throughout most of that time he carefully recorded the names of each of his clients, and subsequently transcribed them into what is referred to as his fee book. Full Review

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Review of

War and Love: A family's testament of anguish, endurance and devotion in occupied Amsterdam by Melanie Martin

5star.jpg History

Melanie Martin read about what happened to Dutch Jews in occupied Amsterdam during World War II and was entranced by what she discovered, particularly in The Diary of Ann Frank but then realised that her own family's stories were equally fascinating. A hundred and seven thousand Jews were deported from the city during the war years, but only five thousand survived and Martin could not understand how this could be allowed to happen in a country with liberal values who were resistant to German occupation. Most people believed that the occupation could never happen: even those who thought that the Germans might reach the city were convinced that they would soon be pushed back, that the Amsterdammers would never allow what happened to escalate in the way that it did, but initial protests melted away as the organisers became more circumspect. It's an atrocity on a vast scale but made up of tens of thousands of individual tragedies. Full Review

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Review of

Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie

5star.jpg History

Sometimes when people suggest that you read a certain book, they tell you this one has your name on it. Mostly we take them at their word, or not, but rarely do we ask them why they thought so unless it turns out that we didn't like the book. That's a rare experience. People who are sensitive to hearing a book calling your name, rarely get it wrong. In this case, I was told why. The blurb speaks of the author considering an older, less tethered sense of herself. Older. Less tethered. That's not a bad description of where I am. Add to that my love of the natural world, of those aspects of the poetic and lyrical that are about style not form, and substance most of all, about connection. Of course, this book had my name on it. It was written for me. It would have found its way to me eventually. I am pleased to have it fall onto my path so quickly. Full Review

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Review of

Lord Of All the Dead by Javier Cercas and Anne McLean (translator)

4star.jpg History

Lord Of All the Dead is a journey to uncover the author's lost ancestor's life and death. Cercas is searching for the meaning behind his great uncle's death in the Spanish Civil War. Manuel Mena, Cercas' great uncle, is the figure who looms large over the book. He died relatively young whilst fighting for Francisco Franco's forces. Cercas ruminates on why his uncle fought for this dictator. The question at the centre of this book is whether it is possible for his great uncle to be a hero whilst having fought for the wrong side. Full Review

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Review of

How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship by Ece Temelkuran

4.5star.jpg History

A little while ago a friend asked me if I thought that we were living through what in years to come would be discussed by A level history students when faced with the question Discuss the factors which led to... I agreed that she was right and wasn't certain whether it was a good or bad thing that we didn't know what all 'this' was leading to. I think now that I do know. We are in danger of losing democracy and whilst it's a flawed system I can't think of a better one, particularly as the 'benevolent dictator' is as rare as hen's teeth. Full Review

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Review of

The Fraternity of the Estranged: The Fight for Homosexual Rights in England, 1891-1908 by Brian Anderson

5star.jpg History

Originally passed in 1885, the law that had made homosexual relations a crime remained in place for 82 years. But during this time, restrictions on same-sex relationships did not go unchallenged. Between 1891 and 1908, three books on the nature of homosexuality appeared. They were written by two homosexual men: Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds, as well as the heterosexual Havelock Ellis. Exploring the margins of society and studying homosexuality was common on the European Continent, but barely talked about in the UK, so the publications of these men were hugely significant – contributing to the scientific understanding of homosexuality, and beginning the struggle for recognition and equality, leading to the milestone legalisation of same-sex relationships in 1967. Full Review

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Review of

Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins

5star.jpg History

This incredible graphic novel is a love letter to the Moon landings and the passion for the subject drips off every Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins. This is a story we know well and because of this, the authors take a few narrative shortcuts knowing that we can fill in the blanks. These shortcuts are the only downside to the book. If you've ever read a comic book adaptation of a film you will be familiar with the slight feeling that there are scenes missing and that dialogue has been trimmed. This is a graphic novel that could easily have been three times as long and still felt too short. Full Review

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Review of

The Race to Save the Romanovs: The Truth Behind the Secret Plans to Rescue Russia's Imperial Family by Helen Rappaport

5star.jpg History

The basic facts about the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra, some of which were deliberately obscured at the time for various reasons, have long since been established. For the last few months of their lives in Russia the former Tsar and Tsarina, their children and few remaining servants were held in increasingly squalid, humiliating captivity. To prevent them from being rescued, in July 1918 the revolutionary regime had them all shot and bayoneted to death in circumstances which, once the news was confirmed beyond all doubt, horrified their relatives in Europe. Full Review

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Review of

The Great Horizon: 50 Tales of Exploration by Jo Woolf

3.5star.jpg History

Jo Woolf has compiled a brilliant set of fifty short insights into the lives and achievements of some amazingly brave people. Their fearless journeys have helped us unlock many of the mysteries of the wildest parts of our world, and also given us an understanding of what it is like to be faced with the most terrible conditions and still have the determination and grit to carry on. This book could be viewed as a taster which encourages us to seek out and read more about some of the most iconic explorers. Their stories are pretty incredible and Woolf does them justice. Full Review

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Review of

Rooms with a View: The Secret Life of Great Hotels by Adrian Mourby

4star.jpg History

Adrian Mourby has given us a flying visit to each of fifty grand hotels, from fourteen regions of the world, with the hotels in each section being arranged chronologically rather than by region, which helps to give something of an overall picture. So what makes a hotel 'grand'? The first hotel to call itself 'grand' was in Covent Garden in 1774 and it ushered in the beginning of a period when a hotel would be a lifestyle choice rather than a refuge for those without friends and family conveniently nearby. The hotels we visit all began life in different circumstances and each faced a different set of challenges. We begin in the Americas, move to the United Kingdom, circumnavigate Europe, briefly visit Russia and Turkey then northern Africa, India and Asia. Australia, it seems, does not go for the grand. Full Review

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Review of

Berlin in the Cold War: 1959 to 1966 by Allan Hailstone

4star.jpg History

Berlin in the Cold War: 1959-1966 contains almost 200 photographs taken by author/photographer Allan Hailstone in his visits to the city during this period. The images provide an insight into the changing nature of the divide between East and West Berlin and a glimpse into life in the city during the Cold War. Full Review

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Review of

The Russian Revolution by Alan Moorehead

[[image:The author was writing from a slightly different stance from most other historians. Only a decade after the end of the Second World War, he was basing his account on the premise that the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was connected with the heritage that Lenin had left behind, and that without Stalin's assurances of support Hitler would never have dared to plunge the world into such a devastating global conflict. It was his belief that America's post-war commitments in Europe and the Far East, and other post-1945 developments, could also be traced back to the events of 1917. Much of his material came from German archives which were saved from destruction when the Third Reich was on the brink of collapse. These documents that the German government would have kept private had they won the war provided full detail on the attempts of their forebears to pave the way for chaos and revolution in their Asiatic neighbour.star.jpg|link=Category:The author was writing from a slightly different stance from most other historians. Only a decade after the end of the Second World War, he was basing his account on the premise that the Nazis' rise to power in Germany was connected with the heritage that Lenin had left behind, and that without Stalin's assurances of support Hitler would never have dared to plunge the world into such a devastating global conflict. It was his belief that America's post-war commitments in Europe and the Far East, and other post-1945 developments, could also be traced back to the events of 1917. Much of his material came from German archives which were saved from destruction when the Third Reich was on the brink of collapse. These documents that the German government would have kept private had they won the war provided full detail on the attempts of their forebears to pave the way for chaos and revolution in their Asiatic neighbour. Star Reviews]] History

Full Review

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Review of

Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen

4star.jpg History

Fantasyland covers the history of America from 1517 to 2017 in awesome detail. Covering five centuries of tempestuous history, Andersen paints the conjuring of America in vivid relief. Discussing everything from pilgrims to politicians, the exhilarating gold rush to alternative facts, seminal episodes are explored in forensic detail with razor-sharp wit. Full Review

{{Frontpage |isbn=Way_Tea |title=Tea Gardens (Britain's Heritage Series) |author=Twigs Way |rating=4 |genre=History |summary=Tea Gardens really began in London in the late 18th century: a trip to Kings Cross or St Pancras was effectively a trip to the country in those days. Men had their coffee houses, but they were not places where women could or would be seen. Tea was introduced to England in the 17th century but it was not until 1784 that the high duty was reduced from 119% to 12½% and tea became the drink of choice for the nation. Until then the working classes had been fuelled largely by cheap gin. Only, where would this beverage be drunk? One answer was the pleasure gardens where the fashionable went to see and be seen: by the mid-1600s tea was also being served in places such as Ranelagh Gardens.

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