NetGalley ARC | Clan Battles: Warfare in the Scottish Highlands in the Late Middle Ages

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one is sort of unusual for me because I am typically bored to tears by any kind of warfare or military history. It's not interesting to me, I don't care about battle tactics, artillery, or anything having to do with that aspect of wars. I am far more interested in societal and cultural impacts of said wars.

That being said, I love Scotland so much, my daughter's middle name is Edin, (pronounced phonetically), because I love Edinburgh also SO MUCH (and naming her Eleanor Edinburgh seemed kind of mean). So, yes, I will read about clan battles in the Middle Ages because who wouldn't be interested in that kind of history?

I was familiar with most of the clans that the author discussed, but was delighted to get so much more detail than I expected, given the time period these battles occurred in (1430s-1540s). We see the Mackays, Sutherlands, MacDonalds, Mackenzies, Maclains, MacLeods, and Frasers at various times in that 100+ years, all vying for glory, dominance, land, revenge, and recognition.

The battles themselves were described in intense detail and at times you feel like you're there on the battlefield. We get all the things that typically do not interest me - strategies/tactics each clan employed, as well as their weapons and armor of choice. Not only are the battles recorded here for us, but so are the eventual fates of the clans as a whole and their eventual loss of independence, though the land had been theirs for hundreds of years in some cases.

The book runs a bit under two hundred pages, but the author has packed tons of research into it. Definitely recommended for those with an interest in the subject.

Book Review | Heroines of the Medieval World

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another essential read from the author on one of the most extraordinary periods in history, showcasing  a wide variety of women who were just as extraodinary. Connolly introduces many women both famous and obscure and shares their stories. Despite the fact that it was supposedly men who ruled the world, these women prove time and again that they were not merely subservient to the men in their lives. The choices these women make not only alter their own paths, but the wider world around them, some even changing so far as to change the course of history.

Connolly has organized the women by theme and I really liked this approach. I like that this lead to some overlap sometimes, because it shows how so many were connected. Themes include Heroines in Religion, the Medieval Mistress, Scandalous Heroines, Women Who Ruled, Captove Heroines, and the Survivors. There are others as well that I will leave you discover, just as I will let you discover these heroines and who Connolly chose to include. There were many women I was unfamiliar with, or only knew of in passing where they fit into someone else's larger story. As a result there are many more women I will seek out further books about.

Connolly is incredibly knowledgeable of the women and their world. This is a well-researched text with notes and references to back up her work. Despite not being organized by woman, there is still so much depth here that we get to know the women very well. She brings the women to life and does so in an informative but still accessible way.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's a fantastic read and I hope that Connolly at some point produces a second volume because there are so many more women who also deserve their moment in the spotlight.

Highly recommended.

Book Review | Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Really liked this one a lot, which will come as no surprise to those who knows my reading habits. Yeah, fiction is great, but the REAL stories behind those figures is SO much more interesting. Like, Game of Thrones is fine, but the Plantagenets are absolutely batshit bananas and way more fun to read about.

The title is 100% spot-on and the author does a fantastic job presenting evidence of all the faces Vlad showed to the world, and how the world perceived him - and continues to perceive him to this day. He is one of the most intriguing figures of the middle ages.

I appreciated how the author presented warfare at the time. I am not terribly interested in military history, even in medieval times, but that makes up a huge part of who Vlad Dracul was and why he was so loved by his people. The author was able to present that information in context, but did not overload the reader. There is also much about the politics of the time, and if you consider what was going on in eastern Europe and Asia at the time, those politics are incredibly important.

There is no doubt that Vlad Darcul was an absolutely brutal and cruel leader. But so were many other rulers in the middle ages. This period of history is littered with all kinds of atrocities, but for some reason Dracul is identified as being worse than all the others. And okay, yeah, being impaled on a giant wooden pole would be an agonizing and horrible way to die, but there was a plethora of torture going on all over Europe and Asia. Not to mention the world as a whole was filled with endless misery - constant violent warfare and everything associated with moving armies, boughts of plague, and in general for peasants, short lives, often puntuated by starvation, deaths of children, and so on. But the book does not gloss over how the victims died, so consider this your warning.

Vlad Dracul was a product of the time and place he existed in, and needs to be considered in that context.

Much of Vlad's life, and thus the book, revolved around warfare and the reasons for his brutal campaigns. Given the horrific murders of his father and brother at the hands of the Boyers, Vlad doesn't really have a choice but to employ the tactics he does while consolidating power and shoring up support from the people. He also has to contend with the Ottoman Turks banging on the door of medieval Transylvania and specifically Wallachia so to speak. Even though he did not in the end completely repel the Turks, he fought ruthlessly to keep his country free.

In the end the author presents us with three options for how we can view Vlad Dracul: a literal blood-thirty tyrant, a cruel but justified ruler, or a hero who fought for the freedom of his land and people. It is not wrong to believe that all three views can be correct, but you will have to decide for yourself.

Recommended.

Excuse Me While I Brag...

Isn't it so pretty? And it is ALL MINE!

A couple days ago on his Facebook page Dan Jones posted that Essex Dogs was available on NetGalley.

I thought, "FINALLY!" and went to request it.

Silly me, it is on the UK site but not the US one.

I told Dan this on the post in a reply to his post...

...And now I have a digital copy of my very own!

(I did already pre-order it anyway, but I am not patient and want to read it NOW.)

I know you're thinking, "But Sarah! It's HISTORICAL FICTION! You HATE that nonsense!"

That's true.

However, I heart Dan Jones more, and I trust that he will be as authentic in his portrayal of these lives and events as he is thorough in his research and writing of his non-fiction texts.

Happy Reading!
Sarah

NetGalley ARC | The Brothers York: An English Tragedy

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Despite the claims of this bringing new information to light, or being a new look at the House of York, I don't think that is accurate. There was not really anything new here for me. Nevertheless, it is a fantastic look at the lives of the men who would practically tear England apart in order to claim the throne.

In the beginning Edward (IV), George (Duke of Clarence), and Richard (III) looked invincible. Brothers who would fight for one another in order to secure the crown. The House of York appeared unstoppable. Yet within a span of approximately thirty years it would all come crashing down. Everything we would expect in the fifteenth century played out in real life - rebellions, usurpers, executions.

The dynasty they'd attempted to carve out lasted but one generation before coming to a bloody end at Bosworth when Henry Tudor would emerge victorious. That in itself is the real tragedy. I enjoys the what-ifs and there are plenty to think about when it comes to this branch of the family. However, it also must be remembered that Edward IV took what was not his to begin with - Henry VI was the rightful ruler. Going back in time even further, what might England have looked like had Henry VI not been murdered, and his son eventually come to power?

Unfortunately we will never know, but it's fun to think about.

Despite not really giving new information, this is an incredibly in-depth analysis of the three brothers who would all come to untimely ends. The research is impeccable and the author plays it straight I felt, not biased in one way or another. A good 15% or so of the book is sources in fact, so the time spent on that part of the writing process is obvious. The facts are the facts, regardless of the motivation behind them. He presents those facts here and the reader may do with them what they wish.

My only real issue with the book is that it is not entirely about the three brothers. Edward consumes much of the book. George shines brightly for a time and is just as swiftly snuffed out. And then there's Richard. Ugh.

Side note: I think I have a bigger issue with certain Ricardians than I do Richard himself - looking at you, Philippa Langley. Getting all emotional and weepy just because it was discovered that he did in fact have scoliosis is fucking ridiculous. Ranting about him being treated unfairly for his supposed role in the murders of his nephews is also ridiculous. It is awful, and if he ordered it, he deserved his death at Bosworth. BUT. He was also a product of his time. Violent overthrow of a rightful king was no unheard of. What makes it so ugly was that they were children. Stop embarrassing yourself.

I do think Richard had them killed. The majority of Londoners thought the same thing once the princes were no longer seen. Richard would have heard these rumors. All he had to do was trot the boys out to show they were alive and well. He never did, because he couldn't. The Tudor propaganda machine was strong, but was not in high gear until later, long after people already believed Richard had ordered it. So, whatever.

Anyway.

As I was saying, much of the book is focused on Edward IV. This makes sense, as he ruled the longest. George and Richard are there in the thick of it, but never the focus until Edward's death when Richard made a play for the throne and it worked. I don't consider that much of an issue, as he was king for twenty years compared to George's zero years and Richard's two. On the other hand, Richard's reign is complex and deserves thorough examination. The death of the princes is touched on, but barely. They simply disappear. I feel like this is the defining thing, what people always associate with Richard, and should have been given more room. We truly do not know what happened despite dozens of theories, but it is possible to explain the events and still conclude we will likely never know.

The book does get slow; it took me months to read. Part of that is due to the fact that this is one of my least favorite eras in England's history. The Wars of the Roses in simplest terms is a bunch of jerks trying to steal something that is not theirs. And everyone dies.

The other part is that there is SO MUCH information, and so many important people to talk about in their relation to the three brothers.

This period was complex and complicated. The book can be dense at times. It is incredibly in-depth and you will be reminded of details you may have forgotten. So even though there is not necessarily any new content, it is still a very worthwhile contribution to books on this time and place.

Recommended.

Marco Polo

Rating: 3 Stars

My main issue that stopped me from rating this book any higher was the appearance that the author was not able to look at Marco Polo's original manuscript for himself and glean information from there. Instead, there are three books listed as sources, and they are all works by writers with the last 60 years or so. It is really important that we writers go back to the original source material as often as possible, otherwise we would all be writing the same book over and over, just stealing from each other and rewording things.

That is really the only concern I had with this one. The text is not long, but it must be remembered that Polo was a merchant, not a writer himself. As such, he gives almost no personal information or private thoughts in any of his work, so we have no idea what he thought of the grand spectacles he witnessed in all his time at the court of Kublai Khan. The book was concise and clear, and does address the doubt cast by Polo's supposed exaggerations of things that he recorded as he witnessed.

I knew very little about Marco Polo prior to this, just that he traveled to China as a young man and stayed for roughly three decades. I knew of Kublai Khan, but only that he was the emperor at the time. I actually found quite a bit of new information here about China at that time, when it was part of the Mongolian Empire. Because of his grandfather, Genghis Khan, I kind of assumed he was cut from the same cloth, a ruthless warrior. While that aspect is true, Kublai Khan also comes across as an open-minded, accepting ruler who wanted to know everything there was to know about the world, and one who allowed people within his borders to worship their gods as they saw, with no interference from the government, and no insistence on only one religion being allowed.

Overall, I probably learned more about the period as a whole, specifically daily life in Venice, and China under the Mongol rulers, but that is actually kind of what I expected. So little is really known about Marco Polo's life that there are some who questioned whether or not he even existed, while others strongly try to refute the fantastical claims Polo wrote in his travel journal. But...what if he wasn't exaggerating? Why couldn't those numbers have been accurate? Or, at least fairly close to the actual numbers he gave? It's obvious that while most of Europe plummeted into at least some decline with the fall of the Roman Empire (let's stop calling it the Dark Ages though, okay? Plenty was still happening), the far East experienced no such turmoil. There was no comparison at that point between China and much of Europe, as the former was far richer and far more advanced (paper money, anyone?), simply because Western Europe had more catching-up to do. Even into the 1200s/1300s in Venice, where Polo was from, life was not easy. "Life in Venice could be very hard, especially for women, the poor, and anyone who was out of favor with the authorities. Slavery was common, and master frequently abused their female slaves. Women were second-class citizens, and social customs underscored their status" (7%).

I really appreciated the specific look at merchants and how they conducted business. Typically I am reading about the royal families of the period, so I have little background knowledge of how various merchants carried on their business, so I found that knowledge helpful. The author looks at Venetian merchants specifically, and notes that, "Of necessity, the merchants had to deal with a variety of currencies...The Polos and their friends often preferred to convert coins into pearls, rubies, and other gems, but the Venetians also developed the most advanced banking system in the Western Europe, along with sophisticated contracts, a precise accounting system, and even insurance" (9%).

We finally meet a couple of the Polos around 12%. I learned that it was actually Marco's father and uncle who traveled to China first and spent several years with Kublai Khan. They were gone so long that within that time, young Marco's mother died and he was sent off to live with an aunt. Though we know almost nothing about his childhood, that would not be an easy situation for any child - especially not knowing if your father was still alive or not, given the amount of time he had been gone. This is the part that weighs down any biography of an important historical figure whom we know almost nothing about. All any author can do in these cases is explain what would have been customary for a person of that rank, in that time, and be done with it. That is exactly what the author does here. "Little is known of his childhood. Because the average Venetian youth barely spent any time in school, Marco probably wandered about the city, and he cam to know it as only a curious boy could" (13%).

By the time Marco's father and uncle returned, Marco was a young man of about 17. One could imagine the shock of family members finally coming home, after fifteen long years away. If possible, even less is known about the brothers than of Marco. "All that is know of their long, arduous journey eastward comes from the few details that Marco Polo included in the introduction to the story of his own later travels. But it is certain that the mountains, deserts, rivers, and gorges that they crossed still remain among the most rugged and perilous in the world" (20%). I also found it really interesting that author's perspective on Marco's fame vs that of his father and uncle. "Marco's father and uncle actually deserve much of the fame that Marco received over the years. After all, it was the two elder Polos who made the first great trek to Kublai Khan's court; Marco went with them on their second journey. But it was his account of their years in the Far East that dazzled the world, and it is his name that endures" (12%).

There are so many interesting quotes I want to share, but I am a bit more cautious in doing so for the rest that I highlighted, simply because again, the author only cites three sources for material for his own book. I have not read any of the three yet listed there, though two have been on my TBR for a while. In addition, the writing is not always great, so while I understand the gist of what the author was conveying, it does sometimes come across as very amateurish. And that might not even be the right word, because I know nothing about this author, aside from the fact he wrote this book.

I appreciate the factual information the author conveys; how China flourished during the Tang dynasty, achieving "new heights in education and the arts and also in industry, commerce, and invention" (22%). I learned that the subsequent Song dynasty saw further achievements, and within those years. "They invented firearms, built libraries, and developed architecture into an art" (22%). If anything, the book also showed me just how little I recall about Asia in this time period, and has piqued my interest enough to find further reading material on that subject. I also found the idea of Kublai Khan as a generous benefactor rather fascinating. I feel like we learn about the Mongols as this terrifying marauding tribe of warriors (which they were), but Kublai Khan went beyond that and wanted prosperity for the lands he controlled, not just himself. We find out quite a bit about the grandson of the fierce Genghis Khan, and I am now anxious to read some of the books on my TBR of the Mongols and Genghis in particular. "Kublai ascended the throne only thirty-three years after the death of Genghis Khan, but during those years there was a profound change in the character of the Mongol rulers. Where the first great Khan had been a barbaric nomad as well as a ruthless conqueror, the new emperor was a highly civilized man who would develop into a shrewd ruler who loved refinement, elegance, and luxury...Kublai Khan also understood that his most potent weapon was not armed conquest but commerce with the outside world. The Mongols had created a new world order; to thrive in it, they needed to exchange goods, technology, and knowledge with the Arabs, Europeans, and Persians. Thus, Kublai enforced his Pax Mongolica along the Silk Road and welcomed not only the goods but the ideas and creeds of Buddhist monks, Christian missionaries, and Arab, Genoese, Jewish, and Venetian merchants who trudged along it" (53%).

The younger Polo recorded so much in his journal, but almost nothing of what he thought of his time so far from home. He wrote of the goings-on at Kublai Khan's court, traveling freely around the empire once he had earned the emperor's trust. Without those opportunities, the curtain between the East and West might have hung far longer. Something Polo completely overlooked, the author points out, is the idea of print. He finds it baffling that while Polo marveled at the paper currency used within the empire, the least interesting aspect of said currency was the fact that it was printed. "The use of this money enchanted Marco so much that he didn't recognize the overwhelming importance of printing itself" (60%). I personally think that is kind of a stretch to say he did not recognize it. Perhaps it was still inconceivable in the West to even think of such a thing. Or perhaps Polo did think of quite a bit, but again chose not to write about his own personal thoughts on it.

Eventually their time in China would come to an end; Marco, his father, and uncle would return home. As one might expect after seventeen years, Kublai Khan did not approve of this idea and it took a long time for the Polos to convince him that it was time for them to go.Kublai Khan had lived a long, full life, and was entering his last years. The younger Polo would remember their benefactor kindly, and do wonders for rehabilitating the rulers of the Mongol empire. "According to Marco, Kublai was a kindhearted ruler, less concerned with principles than with the overall good of the empire. When storms, blights, or locusts ruined farmers' crops, he excused victims from paying taxes and game them grain for sowing as well as for food to keep them healthy and productive. To provide for periods of scarcity, he stored huge quantities of grain in times of plenty. When a family had bad luck, he would insist that the family receive as much food and clothing that it had the year before. He made certain that homeless children received care and education. He also established many hospitals" (62%). Now, we must remember of course that Polo was a quest in the khan's court, so it is no surprise that he has such wonderful things to say about the emperor. On the other hand, Polo did not seek someone to write of his journey until he had been back in Venice some years, and was captured during a battle between Venice and Genoa. It's not as though he wrote his memoir while still at the grand and glittering court that so fascinated him for years. It is hard to know what is fact and what is embellishment, and further reading will be necessary to sift that out.

When Polo returned to Venice, he was 41 years old. He was married at some point in the ensuing years and his wife gave birth to three daughters. Aside from his capture during the war, little else is known about the man who pulled back that curtain between East and West. We know he was modestly successful in his trade, and died in January of 1324. In that time since returning from China, Polo often found himself on the receiving end of ridicule, for what people perceived as grossly exaggerated sites that he recorded. Fellow Venetians were quite skeptical of Polo's reports and it is reported that on his death bed his priest asked Polo if he wanted to take back some of his "far-fetched tales" from his travels. Polo's response is quite respectable, knowing his claims were often doubted (92%):

"I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed."