Subjects:  1. Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066    2. Anglo-Saxons    3. England    4. Europe - General    5. Europe - Great Britain - General    6. Great Britain    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Medieval    11. Northumbria (Kingdom)    12. Northumbria (Region)    13. Western Europe - General    14. Archaeology by period / region    15. British & Irish history: c 500 to c 1000    16. History / Great Britain    17. Northumberland   

Reviews (1)

Three fascinating lives
Davis takes the reader deep into the lives of three quite different European women of the 1600s, showing how they courageously face family and career challenges.Each story is amazing.Catholic widow Marie Guyart goes to the wilderness of Canada to help found the Quebec branch of the Ursuline teaching order.Jewish mother of 14 children, Glikl von Hameln is a successful business woman, both as her husband's chief assistant and as a widow.Divorced Protestant Maria Merian supports herself and her daughters through her engravings based on her own ecological observations of caterpillars native to Europe and northern South America. I particularly enjoyed learning about Merian because I have been impressed by her elegant work which I have seen in a number of museums including the National Museum of Woman in the Arts in Washington, D.C. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. History - General History    3. History: World    4. Reference    5. Social Science    6. Women's Studies - General    7. Women's Studies - History    8. Biography: general    9. History / Europe / Western    10. Women's studies    11. c 1500 to c 1600    12. c 1600 to c 1700   

Editorial Review

Jongleurs performing troubadour poetry in fields and groves frequently dominate our images of Medieval Southern France. While the 12th century reveled in songs of deferred pleasure and adulterous fulfillment, the 13th, as Stephen O'Shea makes clear, took a marked turn toward the violent and intolerant. Read more

Reviews (38)

Revelation Seventeen Laid Bare For Your Inspection!

The Title IS Correct
Actually this is one of my all-time favorite books.It is one of the few histories I have read where even the notes pages are interesting to read.He also ENCOURAGES you to look into it more on your own and includes an annotated bibliography in the back.The previous reviewer is WRONG about the title.The book IS about the LIFE and DEATH of the Medieval Cathars and NOT their theology.It goes over the contextual culture and history of the area where Catharism took hold, it goes over the various events that shaped what happened to the Cathars.The title does NOT imply that it is going to be about the theology of the Cathars although he touches on that in a basic form too.This is not a book written in an academic style (admittedly so by the author himself) but designed as a version written for a larger audience than just an academic with his nose up in the air at anything that doesn't read like a lab report.This is actually a fun read.I happen to be Catholic and this is NOT a biased book I felt.O'Shea is honest about what issues the Catholic Church had at the time (and continues to have in many aspects).Although I don't agree with one reviewer that the Papacy is the Anti-Christ (what some extreme Protestant sects hold that are the inherents of the Cathars), I do think some Catholics might find the information in this book challenging depending on their knowledge of the church and its history and thier experience with it.O'Shea does miss some important facts about the Cathars - what possibly happened within their ranks that might have contributed to their demise along with the crusade; the competition with the Spiritual Franciscans and the Waldensians who shared some of their views (extreme poverty for example).Their origins are more uncertain than he puts across as far as many academics are concerned but I don't find O'Shea's speculations (and there are some leaps he makes in the book) far off from being possible.Many Catholics (depending on how conservative and maniacally orthodox they are) might be offended by this book but the truth sometimes does that to people who put dogma before facts.This book doesn't bow down to either in my view - dogma or facts but does present the facts in a novel like way.For indepth academic interest in this area - both theologically and historically, follow O'Shea's advice in the bibliography section after reading the book.But this is a very good introductory book (as was intended by the author) into a period and an event most people don't know about (or very much about) and it is vitally important to the future of Western Europe and the missionary world that later came in the 1500 and 1600s and after.Very readable and actually, for the genre of audience it is intended for, quite a good scholarly bit of info.

Revelation Seventeen Laid Bare For Your Inspection

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Subjects:  1. Albigenses    2. Christianity - History - General    3. Church history    4. Europe - France    5. France    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Languedoc    10. Languedoc (France)    11. Medieval    12. Medieval Church (476-1517)    13. Western Europe - History    14. Blasphemy, heresy, apostasy    15. Religion / Church History    16. Western Continental Europe   

Reviews (8)

"Resurrection Men"
This book, in alternating chapters, tells the true tale of a murder trial, and also a brief history of "resurrection men", grave-robbers who supplied boldies to anatomists for dissection in the early part of the 19th century in England. It's a gruesome job, and the details given in the book don't help to engender any sympathy for those who practice this trade. The story concerns the body of a young man, known to the press as "The Italian Boy", who was murdered to be sold to the doctors by two resurrection men. The author points out that this was not necessarily the normal way the process worked, for the vast majority of bodies were exhumed, and not freshly killed. The book shows that doctors in those days had to resort to unlawful means to increase their knowledge of human anatomy. That still doesn't make what happened right, but the book also shows that the doctors were never charged with a crime, only those who provided them the bodies. It was just another aspect of the working of the class system in old England.

Real Historical event reconstructed, London 1831 - The Story of the Italian Boy.
The Italian boy was one of a thousand of orphans living on the London streets in 1831, amongst the poor in company of con artist, beggars and prostitutes. The Italian boy's body was sold to a London medical college and the suppliers of the body were caught and arrested for murder. When this high profile court case took place it was unravelled there was a London trade in human corpses. These men hid behind the complete chaos of a growing city. Choosing their prey amongst low lives whose bodies would never be missed.These Murderous thieves two in particular John Bishop and Thomas Williams were known to the City of London as the Body Snatchers (The London Burkers) a third was arrested soon after James May, they killed to satisfy their market demand. All three was charged with the murder of Carlo Ferrari. Words spoken in court at the Old Bailey, "The fresher the body the higher the price". Demand was coming from Doctors looking to make a break through in science of the human anatomy fresh dissection was needed.
A fascinating story presented in an uniteresting format
The murder mystery of the Italian boy and other victims of 19th century "burking" (body snatching) should be a suspenseful, Grand Guignol true-crime fest for readers.But author Sarah Wise, whose research seems largely reliant on descriptive passages from Charles Dickens' work, writes a slow moving, tedious account of facts and figures infused with very little of the human element that would make it interesting.
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Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Body snatching    3. Case studies    4. England    5. Europe - Great Britain - General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. London    10. Murder    11. Murder - General    12. Poor    13. Western Europe - General    14. History / General   

Subjects:  1. History - General History    2. Political Process - Political Parties    3. Political Science    4. Politics/International Relations    5. Western Europe - General    6. British & Irish history: c 1500 to c 1700    7. History / Great Britain    8. United Kingdom, Great Britain    9. c 1700 to c 1800    10. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Feminism & Feminist Theory    2. History    3. History: World    4. Sociology    5. Western Europe - General    6. Women's Studies - General    7. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    8. European history: from c 1900 -    9. Family welfare    10. Feminism    11. Western Continental Europe   

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Infectious Diseases    6. Medieval    7. Western Europe - General   

Subjects:  1. History    2. History: World    3. Western Europe - General   

Reviews (2)

Spanish Inquisition
Even the Introduction was terrific.I have heard many stories about the Inquisition but I gained so much more knowledge while being very well entertained.A great book

Terror is frequently correlated with envy and religion
Discussion of the Spanish Inquisition usually invokes emotions of disgust or anger, but also an appreciation of how precious it is to be able to pick up a book or express an opinion without fear of being either tortured or killed by government authorities. Therefore reading a book on the topic can be difficult at times, if one focuses on the brutality of the methods used and the zeal in which they were. This book, by comparison with most others on the Spanish Inquisition, is very short, but it does introduce the reader to the reasons for it and its historical legacy.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Spain & Portugal    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Western Europe - General    7. History / General   

Reviews (3)

Torturous Text Makes Fascinating Subject Less Exciting
(This refers to the Softcover Edition, which I bought at a bookstore but notice is not currently offered on Amazon.Much more affordable---)
Tactical and strategic
Diarmaid MacCulloch should have a well merited following by now. His extremely readable books finally made Church History a fascinating subject. His mastery of theology, ecclesiology, iconography, architecture, ceremony, and other dimensions of Tudor England are unrivalled, and he weaves them into a comprehensive whole. The depth and quality of his research are exemplary, and his prose is very good literature. Being the Boy-King
In the years since publication of his award-winning biography of Thomas Cranmer, one cannot stop marveling at the scholarship of Prof MacCulloch, at his indubitable talent of an author, and at how deftly and effortlessly he adapts it to the restrictions of an academic narrative. `The Boy-King: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation', published in 2001 in hardback and in 2002 in paperback, has been a definitive treat for many Tudor students, providing them with an engaging story of the English Reformation in the years between 1547 and 1553, as well as containing references to a mesmerising range of archives, from the good old British Library to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
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Subjects:  1. 1537-1553    2. Christianity - History - General    3. Christianity - Protestanism    4. Edward    5. Edward VI, 1547-1553    6. England    7. Europe - Great Britain - General    8. General    9. Great Britain    10. Great Britain - History - Tudor And Stuart (1485-1714)    11. History    12. History - General History    13. History: World    14. King of England,    15. Reformation    16. Reformation (1517-1648)    17. VI,   

Reviews (1)

The "Age of Reason" never happened
In the first edition "English Society, 1660-1832," J.C.D. Clark took aim at the Whig interpretation of England's eighteenth century as dominated by rationalism, Lockean individualism, and emerging capitalism, yet with its politics stubbornly mired in the "Old Corruption" of rotten boroughs and electoral fraud. He challenged this interpretation by documenting how Anglican, how Tory, how deferential, how honor-bound, and monarchical English society remained, up until the great reforms of 1832. The hackneyed contrasts of divine right vs. social contract, reason vs. revelation, commerce vs. aristocracy were foreign to the way most eighteenth century Englishmen in the supposed "Age of Reason" actually thought.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. History    3. History & Theory - General    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Social History    7. Western Europe - General    8. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    9. Great Britain--Politics and government--1660-1714    10. History / Great Britain    11. Political science & theory    12. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Reviews (1)

A History...
The richness and variety of the history of the British Isles could well deserve (or rather demand) several books to be explained. Jeremy Black, however, in A History of the British Isles has managed to elaborate a single-volume history that widely covers all the relevant aspects of the history of the island group, from Pre-Roman Britain to the twentieth century.It can be argued, however, that many writers before him did successfully manage to do so. The distinctive feature of Black's work is that he places the right weight on each separate constituent that coalesces to form Britain. As the author himself claims, the history of Britain has been too often understood as the history of England, as dominant political element within the islands. In the introduction to the book, Black highlights that "the history of Britain is the history of the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh". It is also mentioned the relatively short period of time of Britain as a united estate (or rather, as a United Kingdom), and that still there are lots of localised feelings of separate and diverse national identities. If we have a look at related books with the same challenging aim, we will appreciate in all its worth Black's effort. The textbook-like An Illustrated History of Britain (David McDowall, 1995) it is a well structured book that however fails to make a fair appreciation of Britain cultural diversity, focusing mainly in the English experience. It accounts for the history of the `other' three nations, but always in relation to England. Fernandez-Barrientos's British Civilization: Impressions of the United Kingdom and Ireland (Universidad de Granada, 1990) seems to be an attempt to present Britain as multicultural and diverse through a collection of travel experiences around the islands. Again, unlike Black's History, it ends up focusing mainly in England and its culture and traditions.A History of the British Isles paid especial attention to the history of Wales, for the author thinks that this nation has been neglected in former accounts of British history. Black points out that the interest of Wales lies in the fact that " it was the `Celtic' area most exposed to English pressure and rule". Nevertheless, the reader might have the feeling some times, that Ireland and Scotland are a bit left aside if we compared the amount of detailed information about Wales with that regarding the other two nations. In fact, many times Ireland and Scotland are put together under a same headline, while Wales seems to deserve a single section for itself, especially in the first chapters. Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Great Britain - General    2. Great Britain    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Ireland    7. Western Europe - General    8. British & Irish history    9. British Isles   

Reviews (13)

Dave Kopel is an idiot.
It's unfortunate if people are dumb enough to be pursuaded by the type of crap that Dave Kopel writes.5 minutes of research exposes his cause, and yet years of research probably wouldn't determine how and why it is his cause. Nevertheless what he writes here is insulting to most Swiss and to most Jewish people.Any idiot who's seen a war movie with even a hint of military strategy would know why the Nazis didn't bother to steamroll the Swiss whenever they wanted.And any idiot who knows anything about WWII would know why the Nazis were less than hostile towards the Swiss. One figure which Dave neglects is that the Jewish population in Switzerland in 1933 was 18000, versus its comparably sized neighbors Austria which had 250000 and Hungary which had 445000. When it secretly holds your money, poses no threat, is aryan, is completely surrounded, has no strategic resources or ports, and can be taken at any time, why on Earth would you waste time taking it when your military is literally racing towards Moscow?That is, Swiss neutrality has nothing to do with farmers having muskets in their barns.And Sweden maintained neutrality for exactly the same reasons as Switzerland.

A spirited defense of a nation and its traditions
At one point in his narrative, Stephen Halbrook quotes Philipp Etter, a Swiss federal counselor from the 1930s through the 50s. In 1937, Etter wrote, 'The armed defense of the country is a primary and substantial task of the state. The mental defense of the country falls primarily not on the state but on the person, the citizen. No government and no battalions are able to protect right and freedom where the citizen himself is not capable of stepping to the front door and seeing what is outside.' No one familiar with Halbrook's other works should be surprised that this seems to be one of the key lessons Halbrook wants us to learn from his history of Switzerland in World War II. David and Goliath
I am a history buff and have always been interested in World War II, especially in Europe.In TARGET SWITZERLAND,Stephen P. Halbrook gives a fascinating explanation of Switzerland's role in that epic conflict.Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. Military    4. Military - World War II    5. Neutrality    6. Switzerland    7. Western Europe - General    8. World War II - Europe    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. European history: Second World War    11. Second World War, 1939-1945    12. Warfare & Defence   

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Civilization    3. Europe    4. Europe - General    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History Of Civilization And Culture (General)    8. History: World    9. Western Europe - General    10. Western Europe - History    11. Cultural studies    12. Language & Linguistics    13. Literature: History & Criticism    14. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    15. Psychology    16. Western Continental Europe   

Subjects:  1. 1068-1135    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Great Britain    5. Henry    6. Henry I, 1100-1135    7. Historical - British    8. History    9. History: World    10. King of England,    11. Kings and rulers    12. Medieval    13. Royalty    14. Western Europe - General    15. Biography: general    16. Europe    17. History / Great Britain    18. United Kingdom, Great Britain   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. General    3. Higher    4. History    5. Individual Institutions Of Higher Education    6. Photo Essays    7. Pictorial works    8. Public Buildings Architecture    9. University of Cambridge    10. University of Oxford    11. Western Europe - General    12. British Isles    13. History / Great Britain   

Reviews (8)

Best of its kind
Both scholarly and entertaining, this is one really really fun read.
First-rate history, exceptionally clear analysis.
This is an unusually good, short, very readable history of a difficult and contentious event, to which justice has not previously been done.I have read the usual accounts in the general histories (Churchill, Liddell Hart, Keegan and others) of the Second World War, as well as Shirer's "The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940", and none of them compare with Jackson's book.He has a very clear and precise writing style and tells the story in a well-organized manner.His citations of French, British, and German sources are very complete and to the point.His conclusions and the evidence he bases them on are very clear, leaving one free to agree or disagree as one wishes.He seems to have no agenda other than the desire to fulfill the historian's first obligation, which is to tell us WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.He also gives a rather complete discussion, for such a short book, of previous accounts and interpretations of The Fall of France.
The final Fall of the Third Republic
The collapse of France in 1940 was the last in the chain of political and military defeats. First it was lost "the battle of Czechoslovakia" (politicaly) and then the campaign in Poland. Unfortunately, the author don�t give a fair evaluation of this events. On the contrary. He quoted Marshall Petain (and agree with him), who after the disaster in 1940 maintained that one of the reasons of the collapse were "too few allies". Sorry, but the reality was completely "the other way round". It were French, who let down first Czechoslovakia in Munich and then, one year later, Poland. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - France    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Military    5. Military - World War II    6. Western Europe - General    7. European history: Second World War    8. France    9. History / Military / World War II    10. History, Other | Military History | WWII    11. Western Continental Europe   

Editorial Review

Military historianGunther Rothenberg provides a detailed account of the Napoleonic Wars in this installment of Cassell's multivolume series covering the history of warfare. The treatment is predominantly military rather than social. The matter-of-fact, dispassionate text is rich in tactical details and statistics, augmented by contemporary paintings, well-designed maps, and diagrams. The actions of the protagonists' commanders are also critically assessed, with much attention given to Napoleon himself, stressing the power of his charisma but showing that his insistence on sole control ultimately proved a weakness. Significantly, Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent introduction to the Napoleonic Wars
This is a neat little book, with a nice variety of illustrations and a compact but very readable text.In only 217 pages, the author cannot and does not get bogged down in details.The work is intended only as an introduction and overview of the wars, which is all most American readers need.Personally, I knew almost nothing about the Napoleonic wars, and was just looking for some background in order to better enjoy novels and movies set during the period.This work met that need admirably, and I plowed through it in a couple of evenings.
Brief Overview of the wars of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte influenced warfare more than any other figure of his age, and arguably more than any other figure of history. He almost conquered Europe, and his influence spread through society in a myriad of ways, from sugar beet production (which he stimulated) to tactics (which he influenced but did not reinvent). This book concentrates on the military aspects of his influence, and the wars he beget over the last dozen years of his influence, 1803-15. Beautiful maps, Great Overview!
As a sort of arm chair historian I found this book a little disapointing. It provides an overview of the Napoleonic Wars, but doesn't touch on the sociopolitical climate at all. It follows a chronological organization, but doesn't repeat dates often enough to a reliable timeline. On the other hand the maps are a treasure well worth the expenditure. I've found better timelines on websites, better overviews of the era at the library, and there are many more detailed sources available. Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. Military    4. Military - Napoleonic Wars    5. Military - Other    6. Military - Strategy    7. Military History - Modern    8. Western Europe - History    9. History / Military / Other   

Reviews (2)

a worthy read, detailed
A very easy-to-read biography, well written and researched - you will not, by any account, be bored reading it. A good introductory idea about Philip, although I'm waiting to read Henry Kamen's work on Philip to compare the two. I any case this book will not be a loss of your time. It's really nice!

Don't bother to read the review, just buy the book !!
For anyone with an interest in Philip II of Spain or the convulsive times Europe was going through in his age, this is an absolute must. The author's mastery of the subject is obvious and his writing is never heavy or boring. The book is superb, simple, clear,discretly erudite. Mr. Williams writes to please and interest the reader, not to impress the world with his knowledge. His book should be compulsory reading for French historians, most of whom are pompous bores. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1527-1598    2. Biography    3. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    4. General    5. History    6. History - General History    7. II,    8. King of Spain,    9. Kings and rulers    10. Philip    11. Philip II, 1556-1598    12. Philosophy    13. Royalty    14. Spain    15. Biography: historical    16. Biography: royalty    17. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    18. c 1500 to c 1600