Search
Search results
Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages
8.0
Rate It
Book
Extraordinary women have held positions of power throughout history. But, aside from the select few,...
Non Fiction History Medieval
Deborah (162 KP) rated Queen's Gambit in Books
Dec 21, 2018
This wasn't a bad début novel by any means and it seems that lots of people really enjoyed it. I didn't dislike it, I actually found it a pleasant read, but it was also fairly undemanding. You might want that from a book sometimes or you may want something a bit more challenging. It may be that there are so many historical novels out there and of these ones about the Tudors top the leaderboard by a mile, so for me, a Tudor historical novel needs to really outstandingly good to make it stand out from the crowd. I also read a fair bit of 'proper' history (i.e. non-fiction books), so perhaps I know too much for there to be any surprises awaiting me? I do tend to get riled by bizarre deviations from historical fact.
Anyway, the novel deals with part of the life of Katherine Parr, last wife of Henry VIII, starting with the death of her second husband and continuing just past her own demise. I suppose an historical novel will give the author more leeway to explain real events and there is a sort of expectation that a book should be a nice tidy package, explaining everything within its covers. I don't really feel that Fremantle does this with the Parr/Seymour relationship. It's not easy to see why an intelligent woman could be taken in by a man like this anyway, but in the book it was as if Katherine actually was attracted to him against her will, so the relationship never sat quite happily for me. The other main protagonist is a woman called Dorothy (Dot) Fownten, who acts very much as a maidservant to Katherine, and her stepdaughter, Meg Neville. I was interested to learn that Dot was a real historical character, but so little is known of her that Fremantle has had the liberty of embroidering her story.
As I said, not a bad book. Good if you want something fairly undemanding, such as a beach read. I suspect it will appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, but those who prefer Penman may find it a little lacking.
Anyway, the novel deals with part of the life of Katherine Parr, last wife of Henry VIII, starting with the death of her second husband and continuing just past her own demise. I suppose an historical novel will give the author more leeway to explain real events and there is a sort of expectation that a book should be a nice tidy package, explaining everything within its covers. I don't really feel that Fremantle does this with the Parr/Seymour relationship. It's not easy to see why an intelligent woman could be taken in by a man like this anyway, but in the book it was as if Katherine actually was attracted to him against her will, so the relationship never sat quite happily for me. The other main protagonist is a woman called Dorothy (Dot) Fownten, who acts very much as a maidservant to Katherine, and her stepdaughter, Meg Neville. I was interested to learn that Dot was a real historical character, but so little is known of her that Fremantle has had the liberty of embroidering her story.
As I said, not a bad book. Good if you want something fairly undemanding, such as a beach read. I suspect it will appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, but those who prefer Penman may find it a little lacking.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) in Movies
Aug 9, 2017
A historically beautiful film
This film should be seen in its historical context, how Che Guevara became the man that he was. A young Guevara decided to travel across the country in his bike, after becoming a doctor, and understanding the problems that locals in the rural areas faced. It's subtle, poignant and rather beautiful. Gael Garcia Bernal is wonderful.
Dean (6927 KP) rated Bathory (2008) in Movies
Aug 16, 2017
What should have been a very interesting story on a historical figure becomes quite a slow and boring story. A lot of it is folktale but it centres on the story of a Countess who liked to bathe in blood to keep her youthful looks. She might have been responsible for the disappearance of hundreds of young women.
Assassin Mark (2 KP) rated Sword and Scimitar in Books
Feb 7, 2019
A Brilliant Read
Aside from the romance and the fairly surprising twist this book is a brilliantly written historical fiction based around real life events, the main characters are interesting and the action is fantastically written, this is a book I have read several times and is still very much a page turner for me.
Trish (4 KP) rated Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children in Books
Feb 8, 2018
Interesting concept. Its like a fantasy novel for children. Historical references were neat. Read an interview with the author and he used the pictures to build the story around them. Thus, they fit into the story perfectly. At times, they seemed forced upon the story though. Kept my attention and was pretty light reading. The movie version will be interesting also.
Irene M (130 KP) rated Crafting with Feminism: 25 Girl-Powered Projects to Smash the Patriarchy in Books
Dec 7, 2018
When I saw this book was under the Humour tag I opened with fingers crossed that it would be more tongue-in-cheek girl-power humour, than towards the radical side. I wasn’t wrong.
Some lovely historical snippets are strewn between a good mixture of easy to follow craft projects. I nearly wee’d laughing at the Tree Decorations and the “Monster” Pouch.
Some lovely historical snippets are strewn between a good mixture of easy to follow craft projects. I nearly wee’d laughing at the Tree Decorations and the “Monster” Pouch.
JUMPCUT ONLINE (77 KP) rated The Current War (2017) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
The Current War is a visually enthralling historical drama that sometimes gets a bit lost in its cinematic experimentation, but its efforts are greatly commendable. It’s innovative like the pioneers it depicts, daring to take risks within a genre whose films can all too easily fall back on tried-and-tested tropes.
FULL REVIEW: https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/review-the-current-war-2019/
FULL REVIEW: https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/review-the-current-war-2019/
AliPrice - AliExpress Assitant
Shopping
App
1. Track historical price of any AliExpress products. 2. Find the same products from AliExpress. 3....
Frantz Fanon: A Biography
Book
David Macey's biography of Frantz Fanon is acclaimed not only for its eloquence and its...