Genre: History

The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel

Hitler is claiming the great works of history. As World War II booms, mens lives are ripped away and the world hangs on the edge, wondering if the world of Nazism has yet been destroyed. One of the most notorious aspects of the German Reicht has been its dissolution of cultures – most famously and horrifyingly seen in its “death camps”. As terrible and tragic and unforgivable as this is, there is another aspect of culture that the Germans are gobbling up: art. The great works of the masters are being torn from walls, brought to the Reicht headquarters. Sometimes, […]

Posted December 8, 2017 in Reviews // 0 Comments //

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

I finally finished this book and I wish I had more. I’ve been slowly making my way through this book all year and I want everyone who reads this review to know: it’s not because of the book. I struggle through essays and short story collections. This isn’t because they are horrible. It’s because they’re missing a consistent plot line. As far as short stories go? Rejected Princesses is awesome. I want to throw a little love at Jason Porath. Jason Porath is, in his own words, “A straight white dude from Kentucky.” He’s not a likely candidate to […]

Posted October 12, 2017 in Reviews // 16 Comments //

Myth in Human History by The Great Courses

I feel like I’ve been talking about Myth in Human History in my catch-up posts forever! I finally listened to the final lecture last night and I’m excited to bring you my conclusion. I really, really enjoyed this lecture series. This is the second one I’ve tried – the first was “The Origin of Evil” and while the subject was incredibly interesting, I just has trouble listening to the lecturer. This was such a different experience, and I’m really glad I gave The Great Courses another try. Delivery ❤︎ Voth is detailed, passionate, and organized. He goes through the lectures […]

Posted July 28, 2017 in Reviews // 2 Comments //

Pistols & Petticoats by Erika Janik

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Beacon Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Erika Janik seems to me like the type of person who learns a fact, then gets really excited about it and learns everything possible about the subject. She is clearly enthusiastic and while I found Pistols and Petticoats interesting, it was a little too ambitious and scattered for my tastes. Delivery There are several ways to format any non-fiction work. My experience in historical works is that they […]

Posted July 17, 2017 in Reviews // 2 Comments //

Dynasty by Tom Holland

I’m very picky about my non-fiction. I know that as a history nut, I should gobble up whatever I can get, but it nonetheless remains true that written accounts of history can be very boring. I don’t know what it is about many historians, but it’s almost as though if it’s interesting, they’re not doing it right. That is not the case with that book. When Holland took on the House of Caesar, he took on a very broad subject, with much presumption and conjecture. He took on a family of cruel secrets. In the course of a single book, […]

Posted January 4, 2017 in Reviews // 0 Comments //

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

Where I loved The Constant Princess, it took me a little while to get into The Boleyn Inheritance. Part of my problem with this was the separation of narrative – I was immediately drawn to three different characters, none of whom I found immediately interesting. It was not until about halfway through the book, after Kitty Howard was already on the throne, that I began to care in the least about Anne of Cleves, whose fight to survive entrapped me, and I knew already Kitty’s fate (even though I have not thoroughly studied the Tudor dynasty, there was really […]

Posted January 13, 2012 in Reviews // 0 Comments //