Oh, this is such a well-written, thoroughly researched book. I'd been familiar with the story of the brother of the subjects of this book, Edward II, Oh, this is such a well-written, thoroughly researched book. I'd been familiar with the story of the brother of the subjects of this book, Edward II, but knew absolutely nothing about his 5 sisters, each of whom had an important role in late 13th and early 14th century European history and their families place at the top of a powerful and unwieldy kingdom.
The eldest, Eleanor, had a long betrothal go awry for political reasons, and ended up marrying the Count of Bar well after some of her younger sisters had already married. Strong-willed Joanna married a Marcher lord on the Welsh border and held a very powerful position as the countries wealthiest landowning woman, as well as being the king's most defiant daughter. Mary was taken by her grandmother to become a nun at the tender age of six, yet still managed to spend time with family, reap the benefits of vast estates, and indulge her gambling habits. Margaret spent the least time in England, married earlier to the Count of Brabant and living in her husband's court in Brussels, in a strategic alliance against her father's French opponents. And lastly, Elizabeth, married to the Count of Holland and widowed at a young age, remarried one of her father's most trusted knights.
One of the things that Wilson-Lee does so well is dispel the trope of the medieval princess locked away in a tower. These women are involved in international affairs, are highly educated, and spend much of their lives training for the dual diplomatic roles they will assume as liaisons between their husbands' courts and that of their father. They have to tread carefully around a very complicated political landscape and for the most part are successful.
It was interesting to me how much of what was gleaned about their lives comes from the records of the royal wardrobe, records of the clothes and gifts they had made and received around weddings, holidays and family get-togethers. And letters from the king granting (and in some cases reclaiming) lands, titles loans and gifts among his daughters also reveal much. It is clear from the record that Edward I wanted the best for and did all he could to support his daughters. But he also expected much in return.
Still, for all the importance of their roles, it is sad that none of the monuments erected to honor these women after their deaths have survived.
Wilson-Lee does such a good job of revealing their influential lives and bringing forward their personalities. A family tree in the front was helpful in keeping everyone straight, although the names of their own children would have been helpful - family name recycling was very popular and it was a bit of a chore to keep up with all the Eleanors and Margarets. I hope she writes more history books. I'll read them....more
Although this book bills itself as a biography of Francis Willughby as an ornithologist, it's more about his scientific partnership with fellow naturaAlthough this book bills itself as a biography of Francis Willughby as an ornithologist, it's more about his scientific partnership with fellow naturalist John Ray, their travels, and their efforts toward scientifically describing and categorizing the natural world around them, notably birds, fish and insects.
As an ornithologist himself, the author has a tendency to get a bit sidetracked with the minutiae of descriptions of various species. It's understandable, but not the most interesting for this reader. I was more intrigued with Willughby's personal life and travels.
The later chapter about Willughby and Ray's legacy is really quite well written and made me thoughtful of the way people's legacies are interpreted and change over time. Overall, the book was a bit of a slog, but I did learn quite a bit about a scientist I had known nothing about, and that's what counts. Also, I learned that modern bird watching is much less gruesome than 17th century specimen collection.
[I liked the fleurons that marked sections within chapters -- three soaring birds -- likely European Honey Buzzards, which Willughby first described scientifically]...more
I love reading well-written histories, especially ones that look at events from a different angle and have a sense of humor. I really enjoyed this oneI love reading well-written histories, especially ones that look at events from a different angle and have a sense of humor. I really enjoyed this one.
The title, though, is a bit of a stretch. While the Winter Queen (Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I and thus the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots) is a central character, and the author really tries to make her daughters the focus of the story, it's really about all of her children and grandchildren and the ties they had to just about every 17th and early 18th century famous European you've ever heard of: Louis XIV, Descartes, William Penn, James the Pretender, the 30 Years War, Oliver Cromwell, Leibnitz, and many more.
Elizabeth was called the Winter Queen because she and her husband reigned over Bohemia for a brief season before being ousted by the Holy Roman Emperor. She spent much of the rest of her life in exile in Holland, scheming to get her huband's kingdom back and placing her children strategically around Europe to eke out any political advantage she could -- nieces married into the French royal family, a nephew on the throne of England, a daughter to a Prince of Transylvania, sons sent to fight others' wars. Much of these machinations pivoted around religion, trying to keep her children in the Protestant fold, and only being slightly successful. Two of her daughters became abesses - one Catholic (and quite an artist) and one Protestant.
But her youngest daughter, Sophia, was the true politician, working behind the scenes to have herself declared the heir to the British throne throne after the reigns of William & Mary and Queen Ann. Indeed, if she'd just lived a few more months, she would have been queen. As it was, her son became George I, whose line still holds the crown today.
I felt that the trope of making this all about the daughters was a bit of a stretch -- all of the Winter Queen's children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews were involved in the complicated intermarriages and intrigues of the day. And some chapters, while ostensibly about one of the daughters, were really about history in general.
But overall, I really enjoyed this book about powerful women I never knew existed. I have a feeling I'd like Goldstone's other works as well.
Jacobs looks at all aspects of genealogy and human interconnection, all with the goal of trying to set a record for the world's largest family reunionJacobs looks at all aspects of genealogy and human interconnection, all with the goal of trying to set a record for the world's largest family reunion. The whole reunion aspect felt a little gimmicky, and I'm not sure it was necessary -- unless it was something that got his publisher on board.
But, along the way, he, and we, learn a lot about genealogy, family history, surnames, multiple births, family scandals, religion, immigration, genetics, cemeteries and more, all in short little chapters. Jacobs also looks into some of the motivations and psychology behind family history, what people are trying to prove, find out or validate, and the shear randomness of our individual ancestry.
It's a fun little book and Jacobs is a very funny writer. A helpful appendix offers hints for getting started with your own family history research....more
I read a review of this in Library Journal and thought I'd give it a try. I can't believe I'd never heard of these six interesting and enigmatic womenI read a review of this in Library Journal and thought I'd give it a try. I can't believe I'd never heard of these six interesting and enigmatic women from the Mitford family.
But then it turned out I had. Middle sister Jessica was the author of The American Way of Death, a book I haven't read but have heard much about. And youngest sister Deborah was the Duchess of Devonshire, whose husband's home, Chatsworth House, features prominently in stories about stately homes and landscape architecture and whose family was intertwined with the Kennedys. And eldest sister Nancy was the author of famous books The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. Who knew they were all related? Apparently a lot of people did. But not me.
The book is written from a British perspective, and the author makes a lot of assumptions about the reader's knowledge of 20th century British history and it's primary figures. I had to stop from time to time to look people and events up. Because these sisters were everywhere and knew everyone -- and had constantly shifting alliances among each other, and with their parents.
The writing is based on documentary evidence: interviews, newspaper items, an unending stream of letters and even the novels and books that the sisters wrote. There is also much speculation on the author's part about the nature of the sister's relationships and their motivations in how they acted with each other. It was interesting, but sometimes I felt the author went a bit far with her theories. It felt a bit prying and uneven, especially since the author had met a few of the sisters and not the others.
Imagine a family in which one sister lunches with Adolph Hitler on multiple occasions, while another just a few years later, already a widow in her early 20s, meets with her husband's uncle, Winston Churchill, during a visit to the White House. The mind reels at all the complicated relationships between The Six -- the author, the countrywoman, the fascist, the nazi, the communist and the duchess. ...more
A sprawling epic involving two intertwined families over centuries? I'm in.
I really did enjoy this story of two French indentured servants in New FranA sprawling epic involving two intertwined families over centuries? I'm in.
I really did enjoy this story of two French indentured servants in New France and their descendants. Centered around the timber industry of eastern Canada and the northeast U.S., the story deals with the changes in these families as well as the environment around them, and how they affect each other. The descendants of one immigrant become captains of the timber industry, holding vast regions of timber and controlling related industries. The other family intermarries with native groups and ends up working in and living with the environmental and economic consequences of these same industries.
As with many stories like this, I grew to like some of the characters more than others. I found the early lives and stories very compelling. I got confused at first, thinking that there should be a family tree to explain all these relationships. I was a hundred pages in before I discovered just that at the back of the book. But as the families and their businesses sprawled out through time, the story seemed to lose focus -- and so did I. By the final few chapters, I'd started to lose interest. Characters didn't have time to be developed and I found I didn't care about them as much. This novel felt like it just stopped rather than ended, to me.
I love Annie Proulx as a writer and am amazed at the beautiful writing she can create. But I think I prefer her short stories to her novels. Still, there is a lot of beauty here....more
A well-written history of the Julio-Claudian rulers who were among Rome's first emperors -- Augusta, TIberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. There's a A well-written history of the Julio-Claudian rulers who were among Rome's first emperors -- Augusta, TIberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. There's a lot to keep track of here, but Hollands clear writing and strategically placed family trees help.
Holland's writing evokes moods so well, especially when describing moments of terror. His discription of the German massacre of the Roman legions at the Teutoborg Pass was chilling, indeed. Throughout the book, Holland brings forward each emperor's motivations and sense of his role in maintaining the empire, preserving (or changing) Roman culture, and, through carefully plotted marriages, divorces and adoptions, keeping the dynasty in power. The things these people did too and for each other...
Makes me want to watch the 1976 BBC production of I, Claudius again....more
Anyone who knows me knows that a sure-fire way to get me to read a book, fiction or non-fiction, is to paste a family tree somewhere near the front. AAnyone who knows me knows that a sure-fire way to get me to read a book, fiction or non-fiction, is to paste a family tree somewhere near the front. And although after the first 100 pages or so, it wasn't really necessary, it was quite helpful.
Huguette Clark was an interesting person due to her wealth, longevity, interests, and family ties. The early part of the book that described her father's rise to fame and fortune, and her early years, was quite good indeed. But as her life became less public, the story of her life began to take on a salacious quality. Not a strong one, but I felt ickier and ickier as the book went on. As this eccentric woman's circle of friends and contacts diminished, the book focuses more on her money and the people around her who wanted it and got it.
The book points out that she wasn't a sad character, and I suppose that is true, but it's a cautionary tale indeed about becoming shut off from the world around you. Because even if you have $300 million in the bank, you might still end up being a 104-year-old 84-lb. woman living out the final two decades of your life in a hospital....more
I always enjoy a sweeping family epic featuring generations of characters who are deeply connected to and in conflict with a particular place. These cI always enjoy a sweeping family epic featuring generations of characters who are deeply connected to and in conflict with a particular place. These characters are the McCullough family and the place is Texas, spanning from the days of The Republic up to the present.
The story is told from the point of view of three primary characters: Patriarch and dynasty-founder Eli, his troubled son Peter, and Eli's great-granddaughter, Jeannie. Their stories cover a range of Texas history, from frontier Cherokee kidnappings, to cattle ranching, through the booms and busts of the 20th-century oil business. The family's complex relationships develop and are interwoven with episodes of pretty extreme violence -- this is not a book for the squeamish.
The main characters stories are told in different forms -- Eli's via a WPA oral history project recorded near the end of his long life, Peter's through a journal kept during the Mexican Revolution, and Jeannie's in memory flashbacks. They all start at the beginning of their stories and move forward alternating from character to character, so that the reader doesn't really have the full story of any one character until the very end. It's quite cleverly done, and had me constantly re-evaluating my sympathies toward each of them.
I couldn't help but think about how parts of my family fit into the time frame of this novel, having ancestors that lived in some of the same areas, worked as temporary Rangers along the 1850s frontier, and participated in the cattle drives of the 1870s. My hope is that they weren't faced with making some of the harsh choices that the McCulloughs did.
This one of those quirky little books that I put in my "to read" queue, wondering whether I would actually ever get around to reading it. While it souThis one of those quirky little books that I put in my "to read" queue, wondering whether I would actually ever get around to reading it. While it sounded interesting from the review I read, I thought it had the potential to be a slog. But I really did get a lot out of it.
Sarah Losh didn't leave behind much in the way of documentation, so this "story of Sarah Losh" is an attempt to figure out this enigmatic woman by looking at her works and accomplishments, and those of her large family. Sarah and her sister were the grand dames of their little Cumbrian village of Wreay, running their estates, managing their interests in local industries, looking out for the poor, and building -- additions to their house, a local school, monuments to their parents, and, most fascinatingly, a strange little church, filled with symbolism that reflects all the new thinking on the origins of life.
I enjoyed this little window into Late Georgian / Early Victorian life, as lived by an unusual woman. Much of the book spends time discussing the business and political ventures of Sarah's fathers, uncles and cousins, but do stick with it. Although Uglow doesn't seem to have a lot to work from, I think she creates a fine portrait of this woman and her times....more
I love the way this focuses its topic, European great power diplomacy from the mid-19th century through World War I, through the lens of family relatiI love the way this focuses its topic, European great power diplomacy from the mid-19th century through World War I, through the lens of family relationships. What would make for some pretty dry reading about international talks and intrigue is spiced up by by looking at the personal relationships amongst George V of the British Empire, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany -- plus their parents and nearly ever 19th-century European royal's grandmother, Victoria.
The books starts with a Europe filled with kings and emperors and ends 50 years later with pretty much George left after all the dust has settled. The contrasts and similarities amongst these three mens' personalities is striking. Wilhelm craves attention and power. George and Nicholas shun both, although Nicholas' position as an absolute autocrat requires that he use the power he has -- yet he prefers to avoid conflict. All these men are born with rights and privileges, yet Wilhelm uses his for foolish projects and a military fetish, Nicholas uses his to avoid the people of his country who so desperately need leadership, and George struggles to assert himself within his nation's constitutional limits.
Throughout the book Carter provides letters, telegrams and memoirs of eyewitnesses that testify to the relationships among these three cousins -- warm, often rocky and sometimes bizarre. It's interesting to watch how the ability of these three personalities to affect the world around them wanes just as the whole idea of absolutely monarchy is all but abandoned in Europe. If you like this period of history and have any interest in these men, you'll enjoy this....more
This book combined so many interests of mine, I don't see how I couldn't have liked it. Exploration, maps, history, travel, mountains, archaeology, faThis book combined so many interests of mine, I don't see how I couldn't have liked it. Exploration, maps, history, travel, mountains, archaeology, family trees -- all that was missing was polar exploration, but since much of it took place at chilly altitudes, I'm still a pretty happy reader.
Thomson masterfully interweaves his own personal experiences as an explorer with accounts of colleagues, historical information and cultural observances in a way that seems effortless. His sympathy with the peoples of eastern Peru, both ancient and modern, comes through readily. I really appreciated the way the book was laid out. He starts in Cuzco, the likely cradle of Incan civilization and works his way chronologically toward this empire's sad end, using various ruins and historical sites to illustrate this historical path. Thomson's gives deference to this order in the book over the order in which he visited these areas, and I think that was a good choice.
His knowledge of the history of Incan civilization is apparent, as well as his familiarity with the history of how that civilization has been, and continues to be, discovered....more
An excellent overview written by a thoughtful, but easily readable historian. I got a little lost with some of the descriptions of how Greek and EgyptAn excellent overview written by a thoughtful, but easily readable historian. I got a little lost with some of the descriptions of how Greek and Egyptian dieties, pharaohs and kings were intermingled and associated, but I got the feeling that there are precious few people who have a handle on all of that. I also found the interrelationships amongst the Ptolemaic kings, and their lack of imagination in the child-naming department fascinating.
I appreciated how Tyldesly introduced several of the legends (actual and Hollywood-ized) surrounding Cleopatra, discussing the sources and likelihood of each (eg., appearing before Caesar wrapped in a rug, dissolving a pearl in wine and drinking it, being bitten on the breasts by two asps), without ridiculing or poo-pooing various scenarios. The result is a balanced introduction to a very intriguing personage about whom we know very little.
Throughout the book I was reminded how much I think of this time period in terms of movies I've seen. I kept thinking of Elizabeth Taylor and Rex Harrison and the cast of HBO's Rome. I had to keep reminding myself to get those images out of my head. This book helped....more
This moving book is unlike anything I've ever read.
The author writes of her family's English manor home and it's presence in the life her family. The This moving book is unlike anything I've ever read.
The author writes of her family's English manor home and it's presence in the life her family. The focus is on her father's obsessive love of the house and how this devotion effects his relationship with his family.
I found the early parts of the book, which describe her parents' aristocratic families and their bizarre interactions fascinating, but I was also taken later when the attention narrowed to her immediate family. Often, when books shift like this, one side or the other get sort shrift, or the shift is awkwardly abrupt. Seymour skilfully weaves all of these threads quite successfully.
As much as this book is about her father's relationship to his home, it's also about the the author' relationship with her father, and, more subtly, her relationship with her mother. Little conversations he has with her mother are sprinkled into the narrative at pertinent points, as if her mother were reading over her shoulder as she wrote, correcting, confirming or arguing about how events unfolded. I found her mother to be the most intriguing person in the book.
The family's story takes an odd turn as her father goes into extreme midlife crisis mode and begins riding motorcycles around the countryside at all hours of the night with younger men that he takes in as friends. The denial on the part of all the family members, and the pressures and conflicts this causes, made me squirm as I read them. I don't want to say too much about this, but a funeral scene near the end of the book left me stunned in a weird place between weeping and laughing hysterically.
Another aspect of the book that brought me in was the author's access to her father's diaries, which he kept off and on throughout his life. What a gift (or a curse?) to be able to compare your memories of events in your life with the version written down at the time by a parent with whom you had a love/hate relationship....more
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