The Tragedy of the Templars: the Rise and Fall of the Crusader States by Michael Haag

Following my historical fiction primer in my last post “The Land Beyond the Sea” about the Crusades of the late 12th century, I was ready to learn more about the actual city states and fate of Jerusalem after the momentous capture by Saladin’s forces in 1187. “The Tragedy of the … Continue reading

The Black Prince: England’s Greatest Medieval Warrior by Michael Jones

The Black Prince: he sounds like a super-villain guilty of oppression and vile deeds; or a shadowy figure of mystery lost in the mists of time; but in this case he was the very opposite of those things. What kind of man could earn a moniker as awesome as that … Continue reading

Resistance: A Woman’s Journal of Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France: by Agnes Humbert, translated by Barbara Mellor

I haven’t had anything to read in weeks which is torture – the first phrase that came to my mind, commonly used by us for things like being thirsty or wanting a burger. However, what Agnes Humbert went through was real torture, and shed light on the little known perils … Continue reading

The Archer’s Tale: by Bernard Cornwell

For a brief period of time in medieval Europe, the archers of England were a powerful foe unrivaled in battle by any other country. Boys took up archery at a young age enabling them to become excellent and strong archers who gave the English an advantage in warfare, especially during … Continue reading

Désirée: The Bestselling Story of Napoleon’s First Love by Annemarie Selinko

I was excited to learn about Desiree, Napoleon’s first love as described by himself in his memoirs. Do his memoirs actually exist? I haven’t checked. Like many fictional historical novels it was a bit disappointing to wonder how much was real and how much imagination. I had to refer to Wikipedia a lot, and I wanted to just enjoy the book. So I only peeked three times.
Eugenie Desiree Clary began as a silk merchant’s daughter in the southern French city of Marseilles near the end of the 18th century, and ended as a Crown Princess, then a Queen in her own right who started a dynasty in Scandinavia. Continue reading