Book Review

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Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule

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Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule

“History is dangerous.”

This refrain repeats throughout Ty Seidule’s autobiographical history of the Lost Cause and it is a fitting chorus. The Lost Cause is testament to how dangerous history, or in this case the distortion and denial thereof, can be. The Lost Cause has long since collapsed within the halls of academia but it continues to hold significant sway in popular memory and there’s plenty of work to be done still to fight against its sway in politics and wider American society. While plenty of authors have broken down the specifics of the distortions and horrors of the Lost Cause, what Dr. Seidule does in this book is a more personal account of neo-Confederate mythmaking. I found this to be a highly valuable approach, but I have to acknowledge that it may not work for everyone. Still, I think this is a valuable addition to the corpus of literature combating the Lost Cause in the 21st century.

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Henry VI by David Grummitt

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Henry VI by David Grummitt

Henry VI often comes across a as almost a secondary character in his own life, which has made him a challenging figure for biographers to approach. He ruled disastrously during a particularly pivotal moment in medieval English history, a time that has been famously captured in some of Shakespeare’s more boringly titled plays - yet another element that has bolstered his name recognition while pushing the real person further away. David Grummitt's very approachable biography of the king does not overcome this challenge, in fact it does almost the exact opposite and embraces a perspective of Henry VI that largely holds the person at arms length to examine the systems and culture that shaped him. This makes for an engaging account of not only the life of Henry VI but also of the broader Lancastrian era of the English monarchy: its goals and its failings, and how they shaped and were shaped by the dynasty’s longest ruling monarch.

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The Hundred Years War by Anne Curry

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The Hundred Years War by Anne Curry

I want to say at the start that I think Anne Curry is one of, if not the, most important scholars working on the Hundred Years War. Her work on the prosopography of medieval soldiers is truly astonishing and she has collaborated with many excellent scholars to put out an amazing body of work. That all having been said, it is a black mark on her record that she has written two different books titled The Hundred Years War. I am of the opinion that authors should entirely cease titling their books The Hundred Years War, it is becoming impossible to find them among the sea of identically titled books, but to have one author write two such books is beyond the pale.

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Review - Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

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Review - Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

The historiography of the American Civil War is challenging, to put it lightly. A major event like a civil war, especially one on this scale, is almost always a recipe for a complex and controversial historical memory as the violent reckoning echoes through subsequent generations. The history of the American Civil War is even more fraught than most and perhaps the single greatest rebuttal to the notion “History is Written by the Victors”. For a century after the war’s conclusion in 1865 the history of the war was primarily written by the losers - ex-Confederates and their sympathisers crafted a narrative known as The Lost Cause that largely shaped the public understanding of the conflict. Flying in the face of basic fact this narrative discarded vast amounts of evidence in favour of a story that made the Confederacy sympathetic, a nation suffering for its freedoms against an oppressive industrialist neighbour. The Lost Cause had counternarratives that pushed back against it but it really took until the mid-20th century for its status to start cracking. Even still, though, it is still hanging on with surprising tenacity. Attending school in central Virginia in the early 2000s I was taught Lost Cause myths as history, although thankfully a better teacher later undid that work.

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My Favourite Books 2022 Edition

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My Favourite Books 2022 Edition

For the last few years I've set myself a goal of reading 50 books a year. While initially pretty achievable, since becoming a parent the challenge of reaching that target has escalated significantly. Last year I barely crept over that line with 51 books read in 2022. While I am pleased to have reached the target, upon reflection I’ve decided to reduce my target to just 40 books in 2023. I read a lot of good books in 2022 but one thing that was clearly missing was big doorstoppers, the kind of books that take me weeks to read. I spent too much time picking books based on reaching my target and not allowing myself to sit and enjoy a book over a longer period. I’m hoping the reduced goal will give me that time while also keeping me motivated and reading every day! Enough musings about my reading habits, though, let’s get on with the list!

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Searching for Black Confederates by Kevin M. Levin

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Searching for Black Confederates by Kevin M. Levin

I had heard good things about Kevin Levin’s Searching for Black Confederates from people whose knowledge of the American Civil War and its legacy I hold in high regard, so I was very excited this past December to finally read it. I grew up in central Virginia and the memory of the Civil War was never particularly far away. I remember being taught Lost Cause myths about the Civil War’s origins in school (and then later, thankfully, being un-taught them by a better teacher). I even remember coming across the Black Confederates myth a few times on the Internet in my 20s. That said, while I have strong cultural association with the American Civil War and have picked up a lot of details about it through my childhood and early adulthood, I am not very well read in terms of books on the subject. I read Ron Chernow’s biography of Grant a few years ago and probably read one or two entry level histories in school years ago, but I would not consider myself an expert. In particular, one area I’m hoping to learn more about is the Lost Cause myth and its structure. I know the broad outline, but I’d like to fill in the details and that’s where books like Searching for Black Confederates come in.

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Life in a Medieval City by Frances and Joseph Gies

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Life in a Medieval City by Frances and Joseph Gies

You don’t come across popular history quite like this very often. Frances and Joseph Gies produced some of the most popular medieval history of the mid-20th century, and reading it now I can see why. I have previously read their book Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel which was about medieval technology and quite enjoyed that - the scholarship is a little dated in places but it’s a good overview of the subject. I had meant to pick up another one of their books but never quite got around to it until now. I saw a copy of Life in a Medieval City in my local library and took it as a sign. I’m glad I did because this is a great introductory history and I’d definitely recommend it.

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Siege Warfare During the Hundred Years War by Peter Hoskins

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Siege Warfare During the Hundred Years War by Peter Hoskins

It’s a point of general agreement among medieval military historians that it was sieges and not battles that were the dominant form of warfare. This is generally contrary to the popular depiction of the period, where battles draw far more attention than sieges. Arguably no historical topic has been as dominated by narratives of great victories in the field of battle as the Hundred Years War. The stories of Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt overshadow the sieges of Calais, Harfleur, or Orleans, among others. I am definitely in the camp who believe that sieges have often been neglected in favour of the dramatic battles so I was very excited to pick up a copy of Peter Hoskin’s book which examines the Hundred Years War through its sieges rather than its battles.

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Charles VII by M.G.A. Vale

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Charles VII by M.G.A. Vale

I was a little shocked when I found out that the most recent English language scholarly biography of King Charles VII of France was published in the 1970s. Charles’ long reign had a notoriously tumultuous start as King Henry V of England (about whom many biographies are available) arranged to have him disinherited in hopes of passing the claim to the English line. Henry died before the reigning French monarch, Charles VII’s father Charles VI, which meant that the dispute over who was truly king of France passed to his infant son, Henry VI, who also happened to be Charles VII’s nephew. Henry V’s brothers, acting as regent, would fight for control of France on behalf of their nephew against his other uncle, but it was Charles who would ultimately emerge triumphant. This is a critical period in Anglo-French history and Charles VII one of the central protagonists so it seems very odd that he has received only a fraction of the attention of his English counterparts - in English anyway, the French have understandably paid him a little more attention.

A Fistful of Shells by Toby Green

A Fistful of Shells by Toby Green

All too often African history is treated as a topic either entirely divorced from the rest of global history or one that is entirely determined by forces beyond the continent. Older scholarship notoriously labeled Africa a continent “without history” and even more recent studies have at times viewed it entirely through the lens of colonialism and the slave trade - not allowing for any agency on the part of Africans themselves. Obviously this is a very limited way of viewing an entire continent’s history - lots happened in Africa before the arrival of Europeans and plenty happened there besides exploitative actions taken by those Europeans once they arrived. I found Toby Green’s book an engaging antidote to old fashioned views of African history that still persist in popular understanding of the continent.

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England, France and Aquitaine: From Victory to Defeat in the Hundred Years War by Richard Ballard

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England, France and Aquitaine: From Victory to Defeat in the Hundred Years War by Richard Ballard

I have lamented before about how there aren’t enough histories of the end of the Hundred Years War (in English anyway). That was why I was particularly excited to discover Richard Ballard’s history focusing on just Aquitaine over the Hundred Years War. Aquitaine was one of the main theatres of the Hundred Years War and most relevant was the location of its dramatic conclusion in 1453. This is not the first book to cover this subject but Malcolm Vale’s classic English Gascony, 1399-1453: A Study of War, Government and Politics During the Later Stages of the Hundred Years' War is both 50 years old and decidedly out of print so I was hoping for a newer volume covering similar ground. I have to confess, though, that I had an altogether uneven experience with Ballard’s book. It covers an interesting period and is well researched, but I would have reservations in recommending it to anyone but the most diehard of Hundred Years War enthusiasts.

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The Hundred Years War by Desmond Seward

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The Hundred Years War by Desmond Seward

It may be damning with faint praise, but I expected Desmond Seward’s The Hundred Years War to be worse. Don’t misunderstand me, I didn’t think it would be terrible, but it was first published in 1978 which is a long time ago given how much has been written on the Hundred Years War since. On the whole I weas pleasantly surprised by my experience with Seward’s history. I probably still wouldn’t recommend it to most people, it has some glaring problems mostly derived from its age, but on the whole, it was a lot better than I expected!

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Conquest by Juliet Barker

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Conquest by Juliet Barker

There aren’t a lot of books in English that focus on the end of the Hundred Years War. I suppose there has generally been little interest in revisiting the collapse of English rule in France when there are more glorious times to focus on. Most histories tend to skip forward abruptly after the arrival of Joan of Arc directly to the end of the war, skipping over many important developments in the process. Thankfully there are a few historians that have decided to make a closer study of the period from 1417-1453. Conquest by Juliet Barker focuses just on the war in Normandy, covering the period from Henry V’s conquests starting in 1417 until the collapse of English rule in the Duchy and it’s total reconquest by the French monarchy in 1450. It is well researched and is a much-needed study of this period, but I have mixed feelings on the book as a whole.

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White Mythic Space: Racism, The First World War, and Battlefield 1 by Stefan Aguirre Quiroga

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White Mythic Space: Racism, The First World War, and Battlefield 1 by Stefan Aguirre Quiroga

I think some people might see the title of this book and think it does not have any relevance to them or their interests and that’s too bad because White Mythic Space offers a valuable framework for countless situations beyond just those explored within its pages. This is the kind of book that, if there is any justice, will be referenced for decades to come. It’s a fascinating, well written, and approachable work that expanded my understanding of more subjects than I can readily count. I’m going to try, though, because if I just continue sing it vague praises that do it an injustice and wouldn’t make for a very interesting review.

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[Malta Month] The Great Siege of Malta by Bruce Ware Allen

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[Malta Month] The Great Siege of Malta by Bruce Ware Allen

I am enthralled by the Great Siege of Malta. It is one of the most engaging historical narratives I’ve ever come across, the kind of story that feels too exciting to be even remotely true. Too long to really work as a movie, it feels perfectly suited to a high drama HBO series – except probably lacking in sufficient opportunities for gratuitous female nudity. It is a story full of sudden dramatic changes in fortune, deaths, betrayals, desperation, and dramatic last stands against all odds. An underdog story of resistance against an unstoppable foe that somehow also manages to show how much that massive foe is struggling against their own difficulties. It is easy to see why it captured imaginations at the time and within months of its conclusion some commentators described it as the greatest siege that ever was.

Mary Rose: King Henry VIII’s Warship 1510-45 by Brian Lavery

Mary Rose: King Henry VIII’s Warship 1510-45 by Brian Lavery

It’s impossible to study medieval archery without talking about the Mary Rose. The flagship of Henry VIII’s fleet, it sank in 1545 and took nearly its whole crew with it. It’s subsequent rediscovery, first in the nineteenth and then in the late twentieth centuries, was one of the most exciting discoveries in undersea archaeology. For historians of the longbow, it was even more important because several chests full of longbows were discovered amidst the wreck. These remain the only surviving English longbows from its period of dominance in the English armies. 1545 is late in the longbow’s life, over a century after the glory of Agincourt and only a few decades before it was officially retired by Queen Elizabeth I. Still, the hundreds of surviving bows on the Mary Rose have fuelled decades of debate and discussion in the history of archery and the longbow’s role in it.

Up until very recently that was most of what I knew about the Mary Rose. I’m a historian who has generally specialised in the history of archery so while I knew the big picture of the Mary Rose and how it sank, I was mostly interested in the bows (and arrows) that were recovered from the wreck. That made Brian Lavery’s book an interesting read, as Lavery is first and foremost a naval historian and the book emphasises the Mary Rose as a ship and its importance in the history of shipbuilding and development rather than just what was found on it.

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Trial by Battle by Jonathan Sumption

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Trial by Battle by Jonathan Sumption

Jonathan Sumption’s history of the Hundred Years War is nothing short of epic. This volume is 600 pages long and only covers the first ten years of the war, ending with the Siege of Calais in 1347. For the rest of the war, you’ll need to read the next four volumes, all equally massive, the final of which is still not finished. Research projects of this scale are exceedingly rare these days, and that makes this a particularly interesting and important book, but there are also reasons people rarely tackle projects this large. It’s hard to know where to begin when tackling something as enormous in both scope and impact as Sumption’s series and there’s a lot to talk about with this book, both its context and its contents, so let’s jump into it!

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River Kings by Cat Jarman

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River Kings by Cat Jarman

I have often felt like a fake archaeologist. I did my PhD on the development of the bow and the crossbow in the later Middle Ages and for much of my evidence I used surviving medieval weapons. I took measurements of five-hundred-year-old crossbows in a Swiss castle and examined an early 15th century crossbow in the basement of the Met in New York. This was, by any reasonable measure, an archaeological study. However, I’ve never been to a dig site or participated in any of the usual archaeologist activities most people picture when they hear the word. I kind of regret that I’ve never been hanging around when someone pulled something old and cool out of the ground and I am a little jealous of those who have. I really enjoy archaeology and I’m fascinated to learn what interesting nuggets of information have been dug out of the earth. That is roundabout way of saying that I really enjoyed how deep into the archaeological woods Cat Jarman’s River Kings goes in places and reading it reminded me a lot of my time as a PhD student – where I was surrounded by people doing Viking age archaeology in Ireland.

A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain

A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain

I first became acquainted with Anthony Bourdain while flying Jet Blue between New York and Washington, DC. I was in college at the time and the recession had meant that the direct flight from Dublin to Washington had been cancelled, so now I had to travel via JFK. Jet Blue had (and presumably still has, not that I’ve checked) screens for every seat that played network TV broadcasts in flight. Usually there wasn’t much on, but while flicking through channels I would usually settle on the Travel Channel to watch this rude New Yorker get wildly inebriated in a series of gorgeous locales. The scene from this era that sticks with me the most is Bourdain getting tipsy in the early morning at a stall that sold a fortified beverage in Lisbon, Portugal. It was not the sort of travel programme I was used to seeing from my childhood.

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Knights and Peasants: The Hundred Years War in the French Countryside by Nicholas Wright (Boydell Press, 1998)

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Knights and Peasants: The Hundred Years War in the French Countryside by Nicholas Wright (Boydell Press, 1998)

Military history often has the bad habit of overemphasising the generals and commanders that lead armies to glorious victory or disastrous defeat in climactic battles or sieges. While these stories are interesting and often significant, telling them can come at the cost of neglecting the impact that these campaigns had on the people who happened to have the misfortune of living between the army and its goals. That’s not to say that the existence of the common people is entirely ignored in the study of military history, few modern histories would go that far, but they rarely receive an equal level of attention and what they do receive can often be overly simplistic. Nicholas Wright’s book on the effects of the Hundred Years War on the peasantry and communities in rural France does an excellent job of balancing this narrative, leaving aside the battles and putting the people front and centre.