Kevin Phillipson (10072 KP) rated Doctor who the crusade in TV
Jul 17, 2023
Acting wise there are good performances from the main cast plus the great guest performances starting with Richard the lion heart played by Julian glover more famous for playing villians plays it straight and there's jean marsh plays his sister and won't be her last appearance on the show overall good story
Truth Be Told: The Incident at Bravo Checkpoint
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This true story is told first-hand by the author, a U.S. Army Military Police Boat Patrol Commander...
military
Merissa (13432 KP) created a post
Oct 28, 2025
Katherine of Aragon, the True Queen
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*A Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller* Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen by bestselling historian...
Deborah (162 KP) rated Daughters of Rome (The Empress of Rome, #2) in Books
Dec 21, 2018
Many of the characters in this novel did exist historically. Obviously the further back in time you go, the less information there is generally available about what actually went on, which I suppose is a good thing for the historical novelist! The novel centres around four female cousins; two sisters and their two first cousins to be precise. The sisters really did exist, although more is known about one than the other (this is clear when you have read the book and read the historical note at the end). The cousins are invented to drive the plot along; Lollia starts off almost like a WAG - seemingly a bit empty headed and marrying whoever is in favour that month, but she does develop into a more likeable, rounded character. While Diana is difficult to dislike she is a pretty flat character; she's beautiful and completely obsessed with horses and 'The Reds' chariot racing team - a bit like a football bore today I suppose! The sister-in law, Tullia, is another very one-dimensional character, probably best summed up as 'fishwife'.
Many events are based on historical fact, but there are some bits, like the cousins escaping from Rome, that seems a bit unrealistic.
Overall, I found this quite a quick (for a 400 page novel) and entertaining read, but I suspect that like Quinn's Mistress of Rome, I may well be pushed to remember any plot details in a few months time and I probably wouldn't read it again.
ClareR (6001 KP) rated The Lady of the Ravens in Books
Jan 7, 2020
Joan and her mother are taken in to the care of Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother, during the end years of the Wars of the Roses. She becomes a good friend to Princess Elizabeth in the time before she marries Henry, and goes on to be a Lady in Waiting and eventually the Lady Governess to the Princesses Margaret and Mary.
I really enjoyed all of the historical detail and what life was really like in Tudor England: the preoccupation with death and the many ways that a woman especially, could die, and the precariousness of children’s lives.
I had never really thought about the Ravens in the Tower of London (you’re never interested about the places that are on your doorstep as you’re growing up, I fear 🤷🏼‍♀️), assumed they’d always been there and that they’d always been seen as important to the realm. But in this novel, we learn that they were actually seen as vermin by the nobility and soldiers stationed there, until Joan and her servant looked after them, convincing others - royalty especially - of their significance to the safety of England and the Royal Family.
I haven’t read Joanna Hickson books before, but I really enjoyed the characters, the insights into the royal family, the uncertainty around the possible sons of York (Perkin Warbeck for one), the descriptions of everyday life - and just the evocative styled her writing.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my copy of this great book to read and review.
Carriages and Clocks, Corsets and Locks: The Rise and Fall of an Industrial City - New Haven, Connecticut
Marjorie B. Noyes and Preston Maynard
Book
In Carriages and Clocks, Corsets and Locks, the editors and contributors trace the rise and decline...
Desegregating the Past: The Public Life of Memory in the United States and South Africa
Book
At the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, visitors confront the past upon arrival. They...
The Bible and the Believer: How to Read the Bible Critically and Religiously
Marc Zvi Brettler, Peter Enns and Daniel J. Harrington
Book
Can the Bible be approached both as sacred scripture and as a historical and literary text? For many...
The Oxford History of Anglicanism: Establishment and Empire, 1662 -1829: Volume II
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The Oxford History of Anglicanism is a major new and unprecedented international study of the...