I really loved this book. It started a touch slow to set the scene of the Crusades and build the characters, but once it got going with Reynald's lifeI really loved this book. It started a touch slow to set the scene of the Crusades and build the characters, but once it got going with Reynald's life, it really took off. My history classes always touched on the Crusdaes (impossible not to) but I never took a class which really dived into them or what happened after the famous crusaders (the kings and queens of Europe) left the Middle East. I found it fascinating to learn more about the politicking and battles I never knew happened. Plus the fact that 800 years laters, bombs are being addressed to someone most people in the US don't even know. The history of the Crusades is still more relevant than most people realize....more
Really loved this book, maybe not quite as much as other Dan Jones books I've read, but I definitely recommend him when it comes to history. He's veryReally loved this book, maybe not quite as much as other Dan Jones books I've read, but I definitely recommend him when it comes to history. He's very good at finding the storyline in order to make it an entertaining read for nonfiction....more
This book is hard to place on a scale. At times, it’s a 5 and other times it’s a 2 or even a 1. After some debating in my head I’m going to give it a This book is hard to place on a scale. At times, it’s a 5 and other times it’s a 2 or even a 1. After some debating in my head I’m going to give it a 3.5, but it’s not enough to round it up to a 4.
This book started off as a 5 and I loved it. The story of Catherine (then Sophia) growing up, being picked as the bride for the heir to the Russian Empire, and her years spent in Russia was great. Massie interspaced entries from her own memoirs into these years and it really added a great personal flavor to the history. Granted I didn’t know that story going into this book but it’s a very interesting look at a girl getting out from under her family and turning into a strong woman.
Then Catherine becomes Empress and the book takes a huge nose-dive. Just when I thought it was going to really get interesting. Instead of continuing the solid chronological narrative, the author suddenly decides to tackle broad topics related to Catherine’s reign – her legal code book, her various lovers, Poland, philosophy, art etc. All important things to her rule but it’s a very jarring switch. Plus he bounces around in the timeline until I have no real sense of when these things are happening. The crème de la crème occurs when suddenly there’s a chapter on the French revolution and the death penalty.
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The author eventually jumps back towards a chronological narrative but he never recovers the strength of the beginning. There’s still a lot of year jumping so that it feels like you learn about something only to go back in time and build the years up to it. Not the smoothest read for sure and while I was more interesting in the historical events, I never felt like I got a solid look at Catherine’s full reign as Empress.
Before you know it, Catherine is an old woman. Like I really had a holy shit moment of why is her health failing suddenly?! What do you mean she’s in her 60s and her grandson is like 17 and people think she wants him to be heir?! HE WAS JUST BORN?! Then she’s gone and that’s the book. I really could have used a legacy chapter here or even a little bit of what happened next to the family.
Honestly I think Massie tried to tackle too much in one book. It’s understandable given her amazing life and the interesting journey she took to the Russian throne. It was definitely a 5 star read for me. I wish he would have sorted out her life as Empress and folded broad issue topics into the narrative as they occurred as a second book. I can recommend the first part of this book. If you want to learn about Catherine pre-Empress, it is definitely an intriguing story. Just don’t expect to be too excited about her life as Empress....more
I was really excited about the approach to this book. It's a look at the royal women during the War of the Roses and the impact they made on the war. I was really excited about the approach to this book. It's a look at the royal women during the War of the Roses and the impact they made on the war. While I was interested enough in the subject to keep going, I thought the book fell a little flat. At times it lacked a solid narrative direction which made the reading confusing. This mostly happened in the beginning when there were a lot more people to address and introduce. Unfortunately, the book bounced from woman to woman without a lot of clarity and it was a struggle to keep everyone straight. I know part of that is the downfall of the time and important people sharing the same name, but I've read other nonfiction books without the same struggle.
Most importantly for me, I just never thought the book really made the women come alive. It was dry and I don't feel anything was really offered up about the women that I haven't gotten in a book focusing on the war overall except to tell me what they spent on clothes and servants. Nothing new was presented to really give me a sense of these women; just facts and events. I'm not saying I want fiction, but I really thought a book focusing on the women would do more to dig into their lives and actually focus on them. I'm still wondering what the book thought their impact on the War of the Roses was. Honestly I think the book might have been better served to take a look at each woman one at a time rather than trying to go through a timeline of the war.
Overall it's probably 2.5 stars. At the very least it is very readable which doesn't always happen with nonfiction books. I think the turmoil of the times and all the events/action helps with that. I really don't think I would have made it through this book if work hadn't been so slow....more
I've gotten interested in the Titanic again after visiting Belfast this summer and going to the spectacular new Titanic museum. It really is worth theI've gotten interested in the Titanic again after visiting Belfast this summer and going to the spectacular new Titanic museum. It really is worth the trip and you can easily spend the whole day there and not get bored. But this is about the book not the museum!
Very very concise recalling of what happened the night the Titanic sank, but I ended up loving that part of this book the most. It's not James Cameron fluff even if I love that movie for different reasons. This book is pretty strictly the "facts" from the survivors as they remember that night and it's interesting to see the strange details people remember about things like the carpet or the way people stepped up to handle such a tragedy such as the Countess of Rothes who stepped up to help steer a lifeboat and years later had a flashback only to remember the band was playing the last after-dinner song she heard on the Titanic. I really liked how the different levels of passengers and crew members were all put together to get a feel for everything happening across the boat. It's astonishing the faith everyone had in the Titanic being "unsinkable" even after something had obviously gone wrong and it's crazy how that whole night was just a culmination of terrible moments.
"If the Titanic had heeded any of the six ice messages on Sunday....if ice conditions had been normal...if the night had been rough or moonlit...if she had seen the berg 15 seconds sooner--or later...if she had hit the ice any other way...if her watertight bulkheads had been one deck higher...if she had carried enough boats...if the Californian had only come. Had any one of these "ifs" turned out right, every life might have been saved. But they all went against her--a classic Greek tragedy."
This is probably 3.5 stars for me. At times it does get a little confusing/disjointed jumping from name to name and this deck to that deck but recommended if you're curious about the Titanic at all and its a pretty short read. ...more
This book is fantastic. I love when someone can take nonfiction and make it read like fiction. It's definitely not an easy task but this book has a loThis book is fantastic. I love when someone can take nonfiction and make it read like fiction. It's definitely not an easy task but this book has a lovely strong narrative to carry it through all the different kings and dates. If you have any interest in the period (and it does span quite a length of time), then I highly recommend this book.
I will say though that this is not a hardcore academia book, so please don't pick it up if that's what you're looking for. It has a handful of pages in the back of recommended further reading, but the book itself is not full of footnotes. I didn't mind though. It was nice to have a broad sweep through the years as more of an introduction book even if I already know the subject. ...more
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