Tag Archives: Britain

Cruel as the Grave

Posted on April 28, 2020 by smellincoffee

Cruel as the Grave: A Medieval Mystery © 1998 Sharon Kay Penman 274 pages Justin de Quincy has a problem. Several problems, actually.   Chiefly, there’s the fact that his king is presumed captured overseas, and possibly dead, while the king’s … Continue reading →

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An English shield-maiden and England’s army

Posted on April 20, 2020 by smellincoffee

Time for two mini-reviews! First up, The Making of the British Army.   Retired brigadier Allan Mallinson  traces the history of Britain’s army to the creation of the New Model Army during the English civil war. Unlike armies of old, the … Continue reading →

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The White Horse King

Posted on April 8, 2020 by smellincoffee

© 2009 Benjamin Merkle 272 pages It reads like the best of high-stakes adventure stories: a young,  conscientious king watches as his neighbors fail to unite to the creeping threat of the Norsemen, and fall in their time, one by by … Continue reading →

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Second Sleep

Posted on February 23, 2020 by smellincoffee

Second Sleep © 2019 Robert Harris 302 pages Sometimes, readers, it pays not to read anything about a book before you start it. Take Second Sleep, for instance, which I picked up purely on the strength of its author (Robert … Continue reading →

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The Sea Wolves

Posted on October 1, 2019 by smellincoffee

© 2014 Lars Brownsworth 300 pages “Deliver us, Lord, from the hands of the Northmen!”    While that exact prayer may be apocryphal,  the sentiment certainly resounded in communities from Ireland to Cordoba to Constantinople.  In two of the final centuries … Continue reading →

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Scarlet

Posted on May 8, 2019 by smellincoffee

Scarlet © 2007 Stephen Lawhead 443 pages Young William Scatlock has been reduced to a landless vagrant, courtesy of  malevolent Norman lords and their toadies.  It seems as good an occasion as any to trek west and join forces with … Continue reading →

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English broadside

Posted on May 1, 2019 by smellincoffee

Well…this has been the saddest Read of England, and the saddest reading month, since my college days.  At least the few I read were all fairly good! Read of England isn’t quite over, as I’ll be working on a few … Continue reading →

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War of the Wolf

Posted on April 30, 2019 by smellincoffee

War of the Wolfpub. 2018 Bernard Cornwell333 pages Uhtred of Bebbanburg is called a priest-killer, a chief of devils. And yet when a distressed and scarred monk came to his gates and begged that he send help to Mercia, beset … Continue reading →

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The Time Traveler’s Guide to Restoration Britain

Posted on April 10, 2019 by smellincoffee

Having previously guided readers through the Medieval and Elizabethan eras, Ian Mortimer now welcomes intrepid travelers to the Age of Restoration. The tyrant Oliver Cromwell is dead, and with him went his grim police-state ‘republic’ and the armed doctrine of … Continue reading →

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Alone

Posted on May 19, 2018 by smellincoffee

Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat Into Victory© 2017 Michael Korda544 pages Judging by most World War 2 histories, the war only heats up once Hitler’s rapid takeover of northern and western Europe is accomplished in the spring of 1940, … Continue reading →

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