The medical detective by Sandra Hempel – John Snow, cholera, and the mystery of the Broad Street pump is meant to be a biography of John Snow. It was published also by the University of California Press, making me assume that the work is academic.…
I bought Brunel by Steven Brindle – The Man Who Built the World – with an introduction by Dan Cruickshank from Brunel museum in London. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was one of the greatest minds of the 19th century. This short book tells his story, starting…
Josephine by Kate Williams – desire, ambition, Napoleon is a good book, very easy and pleasant to read, just like a novel. The only thing that annoyed me, so much that I took a star out of the rating was the amount of assumptions she…
Elizabeth I by Wallace MacCaffrey is an extensive biography. At over 400 pages, the book is not exactly short, but it does make for an easy read. He starts from her childhood and goes all over until her death. I made a lot of notes…
Elizabeth I by Christopher Haigh is the second book I read by him, first being English Reformations (see review linked at the end of the post). He says that this book is not a biography as it deals with different aspects of her reign, but…
Mary Tudor by Judith Richards is a Routledge Historical Biography I have on my recommended reading list for British History, year 1. Even today Mary Tudor is often described as an embittered Queen, who tried unsuccessfully to restore the Catholic Church and who sent many…
The Reign of Henry VIII by David Starkey – Personalities and Politics might be a short book, but it offers an interesting perspective on the politics of Henry VIII’s reign. I can’t say that I share his views on how much impact the factions had…
Henry VIII by Lucy Wooding is one of the books I was recommended for my studies. I loved her writing style and her ideas are new, as she looks at Henry VIII from a different perspective. Furthermore, she holds lectures on Early Modern History for…
Henry VII by Sean Cunningham is a biography filled with facts. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, unless you are very interested in Henry VII’s reign. The book deals with all his reign, how he ran the government and how…
The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es – A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found. It won The Costa Book of the Year 2018. In 2014, he began to look into his family’s wartime history, as he was aware that his grandparents…
On my trip to London last month, I went to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and there I’ve discovered The Comet Sweeper by Claire Broke in the gift shop. I bought the book, as I wanted to read more about Caroline Herschel. Funnily enough, three…
With April approaching, I’ve read Avignon to Croxteth by Maureen Lavelle. I’m volunteering at Croxteth Hall, a lovely historic house in Liverpool. This book is about Raymond Lempereur, Chef to the last Earl of Sefton. He lived at Croxteth for many years and, when I…
Matilda by Tracy Borman – Wife of the Conqueror, First Queen of England. It’s not the first book I read by Tracy Borman and surely it will not be the last. Soon I’m getting another one of her books from the library, because I like…
The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman. I’ve read a recommendation for this book and I was intrigued. I found it at the library and borrowed it. The Zookeeper’s Wife is the real story of Polish zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski, written by Diane Ackerman, a…
I saw the book Walter Rothschild by Miriam Rothschild – The Man, the Museum and the Menagerie. When I visited Waddesdon Manor a couple of months ago. I didn’t buy it then, but when I found it at the library, I though I should get…