The Middle Ages by Hourly History - Book Review

This is a short take on the Middle Ages by Hourly History, compiling most of the major events that took place during this era. The Middle Ages comprises the period from the fall of the Roman Empire till the European Renaissance.

This book is structured sequentially, going on from early Middle Ages, how Christianity was a unifying factor in Europe and the actions of the Charles Martel fending off the Moors at the Battle of Tours and the subsequent success of his grandson, Charlemagne. The book also focused on the other major events during the time, such as the Black Death.

I would say that this book was a noble attempt considering, the Middle Ages is not talked about and the book did pick up some of the major events, some of which has a whole book by Hourly History such as The Black Death and Charlemagne, eventually the Crusades and signing of the Magna Carta, during the later part of Middle ages.

However, the book seemed to focus more on the spread of Christianity in Europe than the society, governing structure (no word on serfdom, for instance) and the various internal squabbles that took place during the year. The Middle Ages is incomplete without a mention of the advent of Islam and how it reached Iberia and the advancement of Iberia scientifically and culturally under the Moors. Agreed, the book did touch upon the Spanish Moors and how Islam reached till Hungary through the Turks but that was about it. The crux of the problem was that the Middle Ages was too long a period, squeezing nearly ten centuries into one book was definitely going to compromise the quality and that was the problem with this book.

Based on the shortcomings, I would award the book a rating of three on ten.

Rating - 3/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Dwight Eisenhower: A Life from beginning to end by Hourly History - Book Review

This is a short biography of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces during the Second World War and the subsequent US President, Dwight Eisenhower.

This book focuses on what made an average student, a pacifist by nature who joined West Point only for the sake of a free college education ended up as one of the most talked about military generals in modern history. It then shifts to his tenure as the President and his achievements, how he drew the ire of ultra conservative Republicans by pledging to end segregation and his policies towards Soviet Union.

The book, maintained the balance; the first half was on his military career and the second half was on his political career. It talked about how he rose to power in the military during peace time; a fact I knew from a lot of Second World War novel I have read wherein the soldiers often make a remark saying 'Eisenhower has never faced a real combat and so, he gives us impractical commands'. However, this book talked about the various strategic moves of Eisenhower which led to the eventual victory of the allies in the Second World War and then moves on to his political career; as to how he was able to mobilise votes for himself though not for his party and his relations with the Soviet Union and escalation of the Cold War (though, Eisenhower, personally, was still the pacifist).

The only downfall of this book is probably the fact that the book wasn't exactly hourly and it was quite long, would have taken me around hundred minutes to cover the whole book but it is good that the book had an equal focus on both aspects; unlike their book on Ulysses S. Grant.

I would award the book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating - 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

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Charlemagne: A Life from Beginning to End by Hourly History - Book Review​

This is a short biography on the 9th Century Frankish King, the First Holy Roman Emperor (the first Emperor in Europe since the fall of Rome) and the first person who had attempted to unify all Germanic people under one kingdom.

The book starts with his early life and how his family was committed to the spread of  Christianity throughout Europe, especially in the central regions such as Saxony and Bavaria and there was also the mention of the famous Battle of Tours led by his grandfather Charles Martel in which he defeated the Saracens, leading to a stop in spread of Islam in Europe beyond the Iberian peninsula. It the talks about how Charlemagne systematically established alliances with the clergy, his focus on having a learned kingdom and also, how he helped spread Christianity, often by allowing his vanquished to retain power and convert or lose power and retain their religion. The book then talks about his various conquests, and his expansion to the extent of the Slavic Kingdoms. The book then talks about his personal life, his interests, habits and his eventual death and a word on his successors.

To say it in a sentence, I would say that this was the dullest biography from Hourly History that I have read so far and in fact the first Hourly History book which has taken me more than an hour. The book, lacked a sequence, for instance, while mentioning about Charlemagne's family, the book already mentions what happened post his death and then, eventually gets back to what he did during his life. Moreover, I felt, the campaigns against Saracens in Iberia were given very little/ negligible focus in the book.

I am fairly read on history post industrial revolution and with Charlemagne being a personality nearly eight centuries ago, I expected to return with considerable knowledge post the read but then, instead, I got very little. There was excessive focus on how he spread Christianity rather than how he built the society or controlled the army and led campaigns.

To conclude, I would rate the book a four on ten.

Rating - 4/10

Have a nice day,

Andy 

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Black Easter by James Blish - Book Review

Note: This Review considers the sequel, The Day of Judgement as a part of the same book.

Publisher's write-up:

'A gripping story of power, politics, modern theology and the dark forces of necromancy, in which an arms dealer hires a black magician to unleash all the Demons of Hell on earth for a single day.'

Black Easter is a novel written by the science fiction novelist James Blish, well known for writing the text adaptation of Star Wars. In Black Easter, he creates no new world; but just one additional element being, the method to summon and command demons as given in Grimoires actually work.

The book starts with a weapons manufacturer - Dr. Baines, approaching a black magician Theron War; asking him to murder two well known personalities being the Governor of California and then, later on a physicist who is a threat to his own business. Finally being convinced of Ware's abilities, Baines' reveals his ultimate aim, that is, releasing all demons and seeing what happens. However, there are rules to performing black magic in this; that is, the practitioner of black magic has to inform the white magicians (who happen to be the clergy) who observe what the black magicians do, but they are not supposed to interfere. So, this book deals with the consequences of Baines' task; what leads to the eventual Day of Judgement.

I felt the premise of the book was really brilliant, merging elements of Black Magic in the normal world. I also liked how the author gave detailed descriptions of the various demons summoned and how they behaved and how they reacted; certainly a lot of research has gone into it. Additionally, the book dealt with the interaction between good and evil quite well - with Theron Ware representing the evil side and Father Domenico from the clergy representing the good side (the observer for Ware's rituals) and yes, the book intends to touch upon the fact that in the real world, there is always interaction between good and evil and both go hand in hand.

But then, the book had too much focus on the rituals that was performed to summon the demons and the concept of good and evil that the characters turned out quite flat; none of them had any decipherable personality; they were just mere names. Moreover, I felt that while the start to the book was brilliant, I felt Theron Ware carried out all his tasks too easily, only that his success in his last task created havoc and when the principal character is too powerful, that reduces the excitement from the novel.

I would say that this book had an excellent premise which could have easily been built upon to craft a really good story but then, the story seemed to focus more on the author's research and philosophies than the story itself, beyond a point and that is where I felt this book fell short and at the end of the day; story is the most critical part in any work of fiction. Considering that, I would award the book a neutral rating of five on ten.

Rating - 5/10

Have a nice day,

Andy 

Erwin Rommel: A Life From Beginning to End by Hourly History - Book Review

This is a short biography of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who served under the Nazi German army during the Second World War; popularly known as the Desert Fox for his North African exploits.

The book starts with his early life and how he went on to develop a liking towards the Nazi ideology primarily owing to his hatred towards the Treaty of Versailles, a feeling shared by many Germans. It then talks about Rommel's very quick rise in the army during peace time, his exploits in North Africa and then talks about the amount of faith Hitler had in him and then, eventually moves on to describe his shift in ideology and his failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler, leading to his eventual downfall.

I felt the book was a well structured biography and I am glad that the Hourly History team chose to present a book on him considering we know a lot about Allied Generals, be it Alan Brooke or Douglas McArthur or Dwight Eisenhower but I am unsure whether in case of Axis Generals, we'd be able to go beyond Himmler or Emp. Hirohito. The book also brought out the reasons for his success in North Africa, the reasons for his eventual shift in ideology quite well. My favourite part was the conclusion, where the book presented all points of view surrounding Rommel as to whether he was merely Hitler's stooge or a genuine rebel who started the crumbling of the Third Reich or a mere opportunist who claimed to follow the right ideology at the right time.

What I expect from a biography on a controversial figure is usually the ability to pass judgements as to which side of history whether I wish to put them and in this case, the book helped me do that. Considering that, I would award the book a rating of seven on ten.

Rating - 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Horrible Histories: The Woeful Second World War by Terry Deary - Book Review

Publisher's write-up:

'The Woeful Second World War tells you the foul facts about the worst war ever - from snow-bound cities under siege and fly-infested jungle trenches to Mrs Higginbotham's house two doors down - nowhere was safe.

Want to know:

• who made a meal out of maggots?
• which smelly soldiers were sniffed out by their enemies?
• why white knickers could kill you?

Read on for outrageous rumours that everybody believed and wicked weapons that nobody would believe. Find out about 80-year-olds who lied to join 'Dad's Army' and 12-year olds who died defending Berlin to the bitter end. History has bever been so horrible!'

This is part of the Horrible Histories series written by Terry Deary giving an insight into the Second World War. The book is meant for young readers and thus, like any other book in the series, it also illustrated.

The book starts with the timeline of the Second World War, going on to talk about the British Home Guards, certain acts of espionage by spies, the actions of the Soviet and German troops and eventually about how animals were used and finally, the holocaust. The book was filled with lots of interesting facts and illustrations on the war (including the cover photo!).

The book fulfilled what was expected out of a Horrible Histories novel, giving a broad picture of the war, several interesting facts surrounding it, bringing out the lifestyle of people during the war (with particular focus on children, considering they are the target audience of the book) and finally, also debunking certain myths surrounding the war and the practices of various belligerents, British, Soviets and the Germans alike. What I also particularly liked about the book was also the illustrations and yes, a lot of it were genuinely funny, while actually telling quite a serious event. One of the pitfalls of a Horrible Histories book is that the focus on Britain is a little too high, including the book on First World War from Horrible Histories but then, this book managed to go beyond that, covering the British, Germans and the Soviets.

However, I felt that at times, the book focused more on certain obscure facts surrounding the war rather than the war itself; after all, the entire timeline was closed out in a matter of two pages. Additionally, I also felt that Japan was barely mentioned, even though they were quite an active belligerent during the war on the eastern front.

This book is meant for school children and yes, I read it first when I was in school, back in 2008 and I really loved it back then and whatever shortcomings I am quoting right now are things that I noticed after my second reading, right now. So yeah, considering that, I would award the book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating - 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Ancient Egypt by Hourly History - Book Review

This is a short summary of Ancient Egyptian history (before the Roman Empire) by Hourly History focusing on the lifestyle, the structures they left behind and the type of rule in Egypt.

The book starts with the Egyptian mythology - the story of Isis, Osiris and Set and eventually, how these led to a lot of their traditions such as mummification and the importance they gave cats in their society. The book also touched upon the importance of the Nile River and also, about the structures that they built.

The book picked out some of the most popular aspects of Ancient Egypt, being the mummification, the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx and the various possible purposes why they might have been built (no, it was not necessarily a tomb, contrary to popular belief). The book also elaborately explained Ancient Egyptian mythology and the reasons as for the traditions of Ancient Egyptians. It also talked about some of the popular pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and even talked about a less known fact of his birth name being different; which he changed to end the legacy of the unpopular previous pharaoh.

However, while the book covered the well known facts about Egyptian history, it hardly touched upon the less known facts, such as their conflicts with the Hittites. The book also tried too hard to connect the events in Ancient Egypt to biblical references which I felt was not necessary (for instance, the story of Moses during the reign of Ramesses II was mentioned at least thrice).

This book is good for those who wish to know about the some well known facts of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation and yeah, it is not exactly the author's fault that a lot of the mysteries surrounding the civilisation is yet to be discovered. On the whole, I would award the book a six on ten.

Rating - 6/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Dead Famous: Horatio Nelson and his Victory by Philip Reeve - Book Review

This is about the British Admiral of the 18th and early 19th century, Horatio Nelson, best known for leading the British fleet to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar (the origin of the name Tragalgar Square in London, with a huge statue of Nelson) against the fleet of the Spanish and the French.

The book starts with his early life, being from an ordinary family in Norfolk with influential relatives; especially his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling because of whom young Horatio was interested in joining the navy; eventually going as a midshipman during his uncle's campaign in Falklands. The book then goes on to talk about his various campaigns; such as the one in Nicaragua, France, Italy and Spain (where he loses an eye and an arm) and the successes which made him a national hero back at home. The book also focuses on his personal life, his marriage and eventual affair with Emma Hamilton which received him negative publicity from the British public. The book then goes on to talk about his rivalry with the French icon Napoleon, and how he ended up foiling various plans of his at Egypt, Italy and finally, at the Battle of Trafalgar, where Nelson was killed in action, only to become a national symbol of the UK in future.

This book brought out the various characteristics of Nelson's personality; such as his extreme confidence in himself destined for something great, his absolute lack of modesty about his abilities, his highly conservative views such as opposition to Jacobin clubs and any rebellion against kings, and also, his love affairs. The book could also effectively be seen as a Horrible Histories book on British naval campaigns from 1780 to 1806 covering various wars that Britain was involved in during the period. I felt the illustrations in this book were particularly good, be it the depictions or the diary where Nelson records 'events' - especially where they change the handwriting to a really bad one after the loss of his right hand.

However, I felt that the book could have focused a little more on his journey till he became a captain; which was covered in a single page where it merely mentioned his involvement in Kandyan wars in Ceylon and the Anglo Mysore war in India.

On a side note, this is the second time I am reading this book and the last time I read it was seven years ago, when I was quite impressed by Nelson mainly for his determination, courage and confidence in his abilities even after his disability. However, now when I read it, what actually stood out were his extreme conservative views and his utmost regard for the king (upto which I don't have a problem) and his absolute hatred towards revolutionaries and now, apart from the other qualities, what I feel is that Nelson was part of the snobbish aristocracy in Europe who were delaying the much needed societal reform. But with all this said, I really appreciate the book for bringing out all these details and helping me form an opinion on Nelson.

On the whole, I really enjoyed reading the book, despite it being the second time and I would award the book a rating of eight on ten.

Rating - 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy