Tag: Harper Collins

Book Review: “Oathbreakers: The Wars of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe” by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

The life of an empire is very cyclical: the birth of a people group united under one ruler, the empire’s expansion through conquest, and ultimately its demise. When we think of empires, we often think about the Roman and British empires, but another significant one in medieval Europe is the Carolingian Empire. It was an empire that hit its zenith with the reign of Charlemagne in the 9th century, but within two generations, it fell due to forces inside its court. What happened to this once glorious empire that fell after the Carolingian Civil War? Matthew Gabrielle and David M. Perry tell how a once glorious empire fell quickly after its height in their latest book, “Oathbreakers: The Wars of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe.”

I want to thank David M. Perry and Harper for sending me a copy of this book. I don’t know much about the Carolingian Empire other than Charlemagne and his coronation on Christmas day in the year 800, so when I saw the premise of this book, it was intriguing to me.

Before we have the fall of an empire, we must understand the rise of the empire and how the empire worked. Gabriele and Perry begin their book by explaining the origins of the empire starting with the Franks and how they gained power. It starts with a legendary hero named Merovech, the Merovingians, and his grandson King Clovis I who converted to Christianity around the year 500. The Merovingians did not last long because Charles Martel would begin the reign of the Carolingians with a battle, which is almost a bit of foreshadowing of how the Carolingians fell. After Charles Martel came Pepin III and after the death of Pepin III, the kingdom was split between two co-emperors, Carolman and Charlemagne; ultimately Carolman died leaving Charlemagne to be the sole Roman emperor and was crowned on Christmas Day in the year 800.

Charlemagne’s reign was by no means perfect as his son Pepin I the Hunchback, staged a failed rebellion. Like Pepin III before him, Charlemagne decided to divide the empire between his three legitimate sons because sharing is caring. His son Louis the Pious would succeed his father and this is where the troubles ramped up to a civil war between Louis’s sons, Lothar I, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald. It was a time full of chaos, revolts, the Battle of Fontenoy, and oaths that could not save an empire.

As someone relatively new to this subject material, I thought it was a decent read. It took me a while to figure out which Pepin was which (because, shockingly, there are multiple Pepins as well as Louises and Charles all in one family, not confusing at all). I think it was interesting to read about a dynasty that I have heard mentioned in passing in other historical books about great kings, but I never personally dived into until now. In short, the Carolingians were a messy empire and I think they should get more attention. If you want a solid nonfiction book that tells the tale of one of the major empires of Europe, I suggest you read, “Oathbreakers: The Wars of Brothers that Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe” by Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry.

Book Review: “Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History” by Philippa Gregory

On By hmalagisiIn Book ReviewsLeave a comment

Normal WomenThe field of history for centuries has been focused on men and the struggles that mankind has had to endure for society to survive. We tend to get only a mere glimpse at the lives of women when they are next to powerful men. Some will write about women, mostly royal women, who lead extraordinary lives and left an imprint on the past. But what about those who lived ordinary lives? What about the women who lived daily, fighting to survive every obstacle? What can we learn about history through the eyes of ordinary women? Philippa Gregory has taken on the mammoth task of trying to answer these questions and more with her tome, “Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History.”

I would like to thank Harper Collins and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I have had an interesting background regarding Philippa Gregory’s books. When I was in middle school/ high school, I started reading novels by Gregory and I became fascinated with the stories that she was weaving. It was only when I read other books that disproved some of the things that Gregory had included in her novels that I stopped reading them. When I saw this book and its praise, I decided to give Gregory another shot because, in the end, I enjoyed her writing style.

As the title suggests, Gregory covers over nine hundred years of English women’s history, from the Norman Conquest to the modern day. It is a daunting undertaking, but the way Gregory presents the information is so easy to follow that it allows the depth of the subject material to sink in without it being too overwhelming. Each part of this book focuses on a different era in the history of England and has segments that highlight important developments during the era when it comes to women’s roles in society. As readers, we can see changes in society like how the church accepted women, how society accepted women, what kind of rights women had, what jobs women could do for money, how women viewed relationships with men as well as other women, and how men viewed women’s nature.

Unlike Gregory’s previous books and novels, the focus of this book is not the women who wore crowns, but women who lived everyday lives and survived whatever life handed them. Mothers, wives, daughters, soldiers, protesters, doctors, factory workers, Suffragettes, guild widows, pirates, highwaywomen, and women husbands are all represented in this book. By including small snippets of stories from women of every walk of life over centuries, Gregory allows her readers to discover more about these women for themselves, which is an exciting prospect.

I am so glad I read this book and gave Philippa Gregory a second chance. This book was fresh, innovative, challenging at times, and overall a fascinating read. By letting the facts and the stories of these women speak for themselves, Gregory presents the past in a way that is both inspirational and heartbreaking, raw and real. If you want to learn more about English women’s history or you are a fan of Philippa Gregory, I highly suggest you read, “Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History” by Philippa Gregory.