Robert Graves style overview of British mythology (tell the myth then explore what if anything we know of the real story) covering the foundation legeRobert Graves style overview of British mythology (tell the myth then explore what if anything we know of the real story) covering the foundation legends for all four nations and going up to, roughly, Beowulf. Majors on Arthur, obv. Interesting and comprehensive if a little dry, though satisfyingly sarcastic about ley lines....more
A terrific attempt at a history of some of the kingdoms that rose and fell in Britain between the Romans and the Vikings. I say attempt because the whA terrific attempt at a history of some of the kingdoms that rose and fell in Britain between the Romans and the Vikings. I say attempt because the whole point is the incredible paucity of evidence: a lot of kings and some kingdoms may not have existed at all.
It's written with a sceptical and historical eye so there's a lot of 'perhaps' in here, which is better than false certainty. They style is great too, very lively, with a couple of exceptionally good jokes including one that had me swearing and posting on Bluesky.
What I really liked, though, was how he deals with the feel of it all. We really get an impression of the weirdness for the people of the time, living through the collapse of Roman civilisation, abandonment, cities falling into ruin, roaming gangs, the rise and fall of warlords, and then the period when the country was full of remains of a magnificent past, monuments so sophisticated they must have been left by wizards or giants. Bleakness, fear and yearning sweep the pages in true Old English poetic style, with clever, subtle use of alliteration and the sort of phrasing those poems might use. In particuular there's a spectacular passage where he writes about the demolition of a 1970s university building where he used to drink in 'gone are the halls of merriment' type terms, which really brought the feeling into focus.
Thoroughly interesting, well written stuff. I am side eyeing the Venerable Bede a lot now.
Extremely interesting book on two Merovingian queens. If you don't have a clue what a Merovingian might be, don't worry about it, nor did I. All becomExtremely interesting book on two Merovingian queens. If you don't have a clue what a Merovingian might be, don't worry about it, nor did I. All becomes clear. It's well explained despite the complex rats-in-a-sack politics of the time, and it's also very vividly told. The author has used a lot of imagination/empathy/let's be honest guesswork, since the primary sources are incredibly limited, so it's somewhere between history and narrative non-fiction.
It's also a tremendous story of two women who came on the board as pawns (one a slave), became queens, and wrested power from the men for years. (It's possible that the next time there were two women simultaneously in equivalent positions of power in Europe was the Queen/Margaret Thatcher, or Theresa May/Angela Merkel, which says a bundle.) Fredegund in particular is pure Game of Thrones, cheerfully murdering her way through difficulties. Nasty and brutish story well told; fascinating stuff....more
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