Life in a Tudor Palace and Life in a Medieval Castle

Rating: 4 Stars each

Review:

These are such brief reads (and both part of the Life series) that I can hardly write a full review, so I am reviewing them together. That is not meant to be disparaging however, because these are simply slim volumes that focuses on a very specific part of history - Tudor palace life and medieval castle life. I really enjoyed these one for what they were, brief glimpses at history. One of the only things I will say negatively is that both books would have done better had there been illustrations to go along with. This would have been helpful for those of us not familiar with the layouts of the buildings.

I took issue also with a statement from the medieval castle book where the author said reading and writing were typically left for girls. This seems strange, as men were expected to be able to do those things in order to conduct their business. Some educators even thought that reading was too taxing on the brain for women, so...

Ending on a positive note, I love that this short little medieval castle book gives a shout out to William Marshal, one of my medieval heroes. Lately I have read much longer books dealing with that period of time and this great knight gets no mention at all. Yet here his name pops up and I was glad to see it.

Recommended for anyone even with a slight interest. These are quick reads, still packed with tons of interesting information.