Round About A Pound A Week is an in-depth record of how low-income families in Lambeth managed to keep house and home together with only about £1 a week. It follows a four-year study by the Fabian Women’s Group which recorded the daily budgets of about 30 families between 1909-1913. As a book, it is … Continue reading
Moby Dick is a classic story of heroism, mental anguish and disaster on the high seas. In this beauti fully researched book, Philbrick follows the history of the Essex, the original whaler that the Moby Dick story was based on. I loved this book because as well as following the story of the ship it … Continue reading
I loved this book. You’ll know by now that my inner history geek is strong, but this really is fascinating. Worsley takes us on an entertaining walk around the history of the home starting with the history of the bed and ending with the history of the washing up, via the wonders of sewers, a … Continue reading
Pandora’s Breeches is a brilliant study of women in science during the Enlightenment. Fara effortlessly dismantles the ‘great man’ approach to scientific history by introducing the women, and for that matter all the other people, who were involved in the scientific breakthroughs of the Enlightenment. From the glittering intellectual Emelie du Chatelet to the painfully self-abnegating … Continue reading
Sisters in Arms tells the story of women who joined the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service in the Second World War. Generally known as ‘QAs’ these women were selected from the higher ranks of society, considered part of the military, held officer rank and nursed on the front line Europe, Africa, the Far East, … Continue reading
Little blog, are you ok? It has been so long since your last post you probably thought I had entirely forsaken you. I can only apologise and, to be honest, tell you that I ran off with Neal Stephenson and was then seduced by the Easter sunshine. I’m sorry your writer is so fickle. But, … Continue reading
Well, this book does exactly what it says on the tin. It is a workmanlike job, but for me it lacks the enthusiasm I look for in a great history book. There is little joy here in the interesting quirks and tidbits of life that make history so interesting, and consequently, it was a bit … Continue reading
This is a fascinating history set at the fall of the Roman empire when barbarian hordes swept through Europe destroying everything before them. As scholars fled the chaos, and priests sought safer land, one of the few places that they could go was Ireland. So, this book begins in Rome, but soon we meet St … Continue reading
Few industries can rival the antiquity of Cornish mining, and still fewer have excited such fascination among economic and social historians. I do love a bold claim and a niche history book. Here we are with both! This is the start of a two part in-depth look at Cornwall. Today we focus on history, and … Continue reading
Fear not, dear reader, this blog is not descending into a pit of depravity. I can assure you that despite the salacious title of this book it is a bonafide history, and one that tells a fascinating story of women and colonialism in the 18th century. 1789, the first settlers at Sydney Cove are desperate … Continue reading
I’m not generally one for military history, but this is a little gem of a book. It charts the development of photographic intelligence in World War II and is chock-full of anecdotes that take it beyond the usual “and then we went here and killed people, then we developed new ways of killing people, and … Continue reading
My New Year’s Resolution for 2015: I will read every unread book on my bookcase. It was a challenge easily set and accepted, but at the time I did not realise that this would involve 250 books, nor that Father Christmas had already ordered me another 10ish to add to the list. So, here are … Continue reading
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