Sorry, but it falls short of the mark, 06 Oct 2008
Let me begin by saying that I really, really want to like this book. I am a Late Roman/Byzantine history enthusiast and have read no end of books on the subject over the last couple of decades. Any book attempting to bring this sadly neglected area of history into the wider public consciousness, as Herrin is trying to do with this account, is to be applauded. However for me this falls way short of the mark due to problems ranging from numerous annoyances through to inaccurate impressions given through to complete howlers.

I am only 30-odd pages in so far as I write this, but am moved to review already because of these problems. To mention already a few off the top of my head:

- The last Western emperor was NOT replaced by "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho" in 476, but in fact by the Scirian Odovacer. Stilicho, the power behind the throne during the minority of the Western emperor Honorius, was murdered in 408. This unbelievable howler from a professional historian is compounded by the fact that she again mentions "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho", this time in the correct context, just a couple of pages later. A switched-on proof reader even without the historical knowledge should query discrepancies like this, and I would have thought that numerous people in academia would cast their eye over it before publication. It's presumably not been corrected either from the hardback to this paperback edition.

- After incorrectly saying that no Germanic language had a written form in the late 4th century (in fact Gothic did so), a few pages later she does correctly mention that "Ulfila" (sic - it should actually be "Wulfila" in Gothic form or "Ulfilas" in Latin form) translated the bible into Gothic.

- Alaric was not "persuaded to move west" - apart from the fact that the empire had absolutely no bargaining chips to persuade Alaric to do anything whatsoever (the senseless murder of the aforementioned Stilicho two years earlier put paid to that), Alaric died while still in Italy in 410 after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Africa and before he could leave by the northern land route. It can't even possibly refer to the later Alaric II as he was already firmly ensconced in the West in a kingdom encompassing southwest France and northeast Spain.

- The phrasing used seems to imply that Julian attacked the Sassanian empire before becoming emperor (could hardly be so, since he died in the attempt). And despite the regular outbreaks of war between Rome and the Sassanian empire, Julian did not really have any kind of unfinished business to deal with in that regard. His disastrous expedition east was frankly nothing less than a war of aggression.

And so on. It's a real shame because outside of these kind of factual issues, this is a well-written, very readable and entertaining volume with some real insights. For example, the more I read about mediaeval history, the more it seems to me that there is some kind of real tripartite cultural/philosophical division of the former Roman Empire between Western-Latin-Catholic, Eastern-Greek-Orthodox and Southern-Arabic-Muslim; Herrin mentions the same idea.

For a peerless 'popular' account of Byzantium look at the John Julius Norwich trilogy Byzantium: The Early Centuries v. 1, Byzantium: The Apogee v. 2, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3. There is also a one volume abridgement of this, A Short History of Byzantium which I have not personally read but is undoubtedly of the same standard as the full version. For a discussion of the cultural legacy to wider European and Islamic civilisation, see Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World.

Good overview of Byzantium, 23 May 2008
By taking a thematic approach to the Byzantine Empire, Ms Herrin illuminates some interesting areas. However, you will need to have some background of the history of the Empire if you are to properly understand the points she makes.
John Julius Norwich's 3 vol history is the perfect place to start.

The death of a civilisation, 06 Feb 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, but as it drew to the end and the death of Constantine XI defending his city I realized what a loss of a civilisation, that it not taught about in our education systems.

BYZANTIUM: THE SURPRISING LIFE OF A MEDIEVAL EMPIRE, 30 Jan 2008
Nice to be in such august company when it comes to reviewing a book, especially when I find myself echoing the praise. I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge.
I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject.
The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think.
Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the mdern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner.
I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting off golden mosaics.


Sailing to Byzantium, 28 Sep 2007
Philip Pullman - of Dark Materials - has just written to me about Byzantium, the Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, saying:

"This most intriguing of empires is depicted so vividly and so clearly - not only by means of the author's arrangement of subject-based chapters, but also because of her deep scholarship and unobtrusive style - that it's the best introduction to Byzantine history I've seen. I can say with absolute certainty that I shall steal from it several times."

Happy declaration of interest: Philip wrote to me because I live with the author. He gave permission for his words to be used. He does not know and hasn't met Judith - yet!

Sorry, but it falls short of the mark, 06 Oct 2008
Let me begin by saying that I really, really want to like this book. I am a Late Roman/Byzantine history enthusiast and have read no end of books on the subject over the last couple of decades. Any book attempting to bring this sadly neglected area of history into the wider public consciousness, as Herrin is trying to do with this account, is to be applauded. However for me this falls way short of the mark due to problems ranging from numerous annoyances through to inaccurate impressions given through to complete howlers.

I am only 30-odd pages in so far as I write this, but am moved to review already because of these problems. To mention already a few off the top of my head:

- The last Western emperor was NOT replaced by "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho" in 476, but in fact by the Scirian Odovacer. Stilicho, the power behind the throne during the minority of the Western emperor Honorius, was murdered in 408. This unbelievable howler from a professional historian is compounded by the fact that she again mentions "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho", this time in the correct context, just a couple of pages later. A switched-on proof reader even without the historical knowledge should query discrepancies like this, and I would have thought that numerous people in academia would cast their eye over it before publication. It's presumably not been corrected either from the hardback to this paperback edition.

- After incorrectly saying that no Germanic language had a written form in the late 4th century (in fact Gothic did so), a few pages later she does correctly mention that "Ulfila" (sic - it should actually be "Wulfila" in Gothic form or "Ulfilas" in Latin form) translated the bible into Gothic.

- Alaric was not "persuaded to move west" - apart from the fact that the empire had absolutely no bargaining chips to persuade Alaric to do anything whatsoever (the senseless murder of the aforementioned Stilicho two years earlier put paid to that), Alaric died while still in Italy in 410 after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Africa and before he could leave by the northern land route. It can't even possibly refer to the later Alaric II as he was already firmly ensconced in the West in a kingdom encompassing southwest France and northeast Spain.

- The phrasing used seems to imply that Julian attacked the Sassanian empire before becoming emperor (could hardly be so, since he died in the attempt). And despite the regular outbreaks of war between Rome and the Sassanian empire, Julian did not really have any kind of unfinished business to deal with in that regard. His disastrous expedition east was frankly nothing less than a war of aggression.

And so on. It's a real shame because outside of these kind of factual issues, this is a well-written, very readable and entertaining volume with some real insights. For example, the more I read about mediaeval history, the more it seems to me that there is some kind of real tripartite cultural/philosophical division of the former Roman Empire between Western-Latin-Catholic, Eastern-Greek-Orthodox and Southern-Arabic-Muslim; Herrin mentions the same idea.

For a peerless 'popular' account of Byzantium look at the John Julius Norwich trilogy Byzantium: The Early Centuries v. 1, Byzantium: The Apogee v. 2, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3. There is also a one volume abridgement of this, A Short History of Byzantium which I have not personally read but is undoubtedly of the same standard as the full version. For a discussion of the cultural legacy to wider European and Islamic civilisation, see Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World.

Good overview of Byzantium, 23 May 2008
By taking a thematic approach to the Byzantine Empire, Ms Herrin illuminates some interesting areas. However, you will need to have some background of the history of the Empire if you are to properly understand the points she makes.
John Julius Norwich's 3 vol history is the perfect place to start.

The death of a civilisation, 06 Feb 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, but as it drew to the end and the death of Constantine XI defending his city I realized what a loss of a civilisation, that it not taught about in our education systems.

BYZANTIUM: THE SURPRISING LIFE OF A MEDIEVAL EMPIRE, 30 Jan 2008
Nice to be in such august company when it comes to reviewing a book, especially when I find myself echoing the praise. I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge.
I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject.
The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think.
Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the mdern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner.
I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting off golden mosaics.


Sailing to Byzantium, 28 Sep 2007
Philip Pullman - of Dark Materials - has just written to me about Byzantium, the Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, saying:

"This most intriguing of empires is depicted so vividly and so clearly - not only by means of the author's arrangement of subject-based chapters, but also because of her deep scholarship and unobtrusive style - that it's the best introduction to Byzantine history I've seen. I can say with absolute certainty that I shall steal from it several times."

Happy declaration of interest: Philip wrote to me because I live with the author. He gave permission for his words to be used. He does not know and hasn't met Judith - yet!

A true survival story, 17 Nov 2008
If any book captures the spirit of human survival it is this one by Douglas Mawson.It is the story of an Antarctic expedition that went horribly wrong and tells how Mawson had to deal with the death of his colleagues.How he survived is a minor miracle and it is hard to believe that he came out of his horrible situation alive.

Mawson tells his story in a professional and unemotional way and this is always a compelling read.It shows just how deep a person can dig down within his soul in order to survive.It isn't the best book I have read about polar exploration,that is probably 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing but it is very good effort indeed.Recommended.

And then there was one, 31 Dec 2007
What is just as unbelievable as this truly remarkable story itself is that Mawson has never had the same recognition as his contemporaries, Scott and Shackleton.

The story is even more remarkable, not just because of the terrible deaths of his comrades or the near starvation or physical pain and mental exhaustion, but that Mawson is further tormented by his total isolation in a vastness unimaginable.

A grim tale with emotion, the reader will find Bickel's account vivid and moving.


Mawson's Will, 08 Dec 2007
Without being fully aware of the history of the polar expeditions or polar travel in general, I began this book expecting a great adventure story and nothing more. This book more than delivered in that respect. Not only is it immensely easy to read, but I found it difficult to put down and became completely engrossed in the story that unfolded. I got choked up a great deal towards the end and felt anxious and exhausted along with the people in the book. For the two days that it took to read, I lived the fears and exhaustion along with the author and finished the book feeling wrung out, yet strangely exhilarated. I can not imagine what it must be like to travel in such a hostile environment, but this book goes some way to helping you picture what it may of been like. It also has some great old photography. If you like survival stories or are interested in the polar expeditions you must add this book to your library, it is a superb read that will keep you gripped throughout. Highly recommended.

Bickel's Gift, 22 Oct 2007
Rarely has fiction served the truth so well. Rarely has the truth served fiction so well.

Mawson's own account of his ordeal, in "The Home of The Blizzard", seems relatively matter of fact. We may not have marvelled at Mawson's accomplishment in surviving if we relied only on his way of telling it. Although a good writer, his specialities were geography and exploration.

Bickel's presentation here in "Mawson's Will" makes Mawson's accomplishment more touching than Mawson's own presentation. But it took an extraordinary writing accomplishment by Bickel to convey Mawson's accomplishment. Poetic license? To fail to understand how much faithful art it took to go from Mawson's diaries and book to Bickel's account would be to not appreciate how much effort and skill it took for Bickel to bring Mawson's tale so fully alive. If Bickel hadn't taken poetic license, this tale may have been of more interest to the most purist historian but it would have been of far less human interest. Sensitive to our lack of understanding of the Antartic experience, Bickel put us there in a way we never could have gotten from Mawson's own account. The last one hundred pages of "Mawson's Will" are as riveting as anything I've read in years.

Bickel's faithfulness to Mawson has made this a special work of art. Because of Bickel, we can be amazed at how Mawson survived and understand something profound about the human will.

P.S. I wake up the next day to find the story is still strong on my mind. Mawson returned to Australia to find his beloved waiting, married her, in time actually returned to the Antartic for exploration, and lived til 73. While we may never face as extreme a challenge as he did, there seems lessons here in the value of perserverence, in the benefits of careful self-management, and in the role of loved ones in making life worth living. This is an unusual book and Mawson and Bickel have made a special contribution far beyond whether land was claimed through exploration.

Mawson's Will review, 19 Dec 2006
As a fan of real life tales of adventure, I loved this book. I found it gripping, the detail, the anguish, the physical and mental hardship, the historical detail - awesome read.
This is probably less of a good read for someone who isn't into the outdoors and so has no empathy with the situation.

Sorry, but it falls short of the mark, 06 Oct 2008
Let me begin by saying that I really, really want to like this book. I am a Late Roman/Byzantine history enthusiast and have read no end of books on the subject over the last couple of decades. Any book attempting to bring this sadly neglected area of history into the wider public consciousness, as Herrin is trying to do with this account, is to be applauded. However for me this falls way short of the mark due to problems ranging from numerous annoyances through to inaccurate impressions given through to complete howlers.

I am only 30-odd pages in so far as I write this, but am moved to review already because of these problems. To mention already a few off the top of my head:

- The last Western emperor was NOT replaced by "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho" in 476, but in fact by the Scirian Odovacer. Stilicho, the power behind the throne during the minority of the Western emperor Honorius, was murdered in 408. This unbelievable howler from a professional historian is compounded by the fact that she again mentions "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho", this time in the correct context, just a couple of pages later. A switched-on proof reader even without the historical knowledge should query discrepancies like this, and I would have thought that numerous people in academia would cast their eye over it before publication. It's presumably not been corrected either from the hardback to this paperback edition.

- After incorrectly saying that no Germanic language had a written form in the late 4th century (in fact Gothic did so), a few pages later she does correctly mention that "Ulfila" (sic - it should actually be "Wulfila" in Gothic form or "Ulfilas" in Latin form) translated the bible into Gothic.

- Alaric was not "persuaded to move west" - apart from the fact that the empire had absolutely no bargaining chips to persuade Alaric to do anything whatsoever (the senseless murder of the aforementioned Stilicho two years earlier put paid to that), Alaric died while still in Italy in 410 after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Africa and before he could leave by the northern land route. It can't even possibly refer to the later Alaric II as he was already firmly ensconced in the West in a kingdom encompassing southwest France and northeast Spain.

- The phrasing used seems to imply that Julian attacked the Sassanian empire before becoming emperor (could hardly be so, since he died in the attempt). And despite the regular outbreaks of war between Rome and the Sassanian empire, Julian did not really have any kind of unfinished business to deal with in that regard. His disastrous expedition east was frankly nothing less than a war of aggression.

And so on. It's a real shame because outside of these kind of factual issues, this is a well-written, very readable and entertaining volume with some real insights. For example, the more I read about mediaeval history, the more it seems to me that there is some kind of real tripartite cultural/philosophical division of the former Roman Empire between Western-Latin-Catholic, Eastern-Greek-Orthodox and Southern-Arabic-Muslim; Herrin mentions the same idea.

For a peerless 'popular' account of Byzantium look at the John Julius Norwich trilogy Byzantium: The Early Centuries v. 1, Byzantium: The Apogee v. 2, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3. There is also a one volume abridgement of this, A Short History of Byzantium which I have not personally read but is undoubtedly of the same standard as the full version. For a discussion of the cultural legacy to wider European and Islamic civilisation, see Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World.

Good overview of Byzantium, 23 May 2008
By taking a thematic approach to the Byzantine Empire, Ms Herrin illuminates some interesting areas. However, you will need to have some background of the history of the Empire if you are to properly understand the points she makes.
John Julius Norwich's 3 vol history is the perfect place to start.

The death of a civilisation, 06 Feb 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, but as it drew to the end and the death of Constantine XI defending his city I realized what a loss of a civilisation, that it not taught about in our education systems.

BYZANTIUM: THE SURPRISING LIFE OF A MEDIEVAL EMPIRE, 30 Jan 2008
Nice to be in such august company when it comes to reviewing a book, especially when I find myself echoing the praise. I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge.
I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject.
The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think.
Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the mdern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner.
I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting off golden mosaics.


Sailing to Byzantium, 28 Sep 2007
Philip Pullman - of Dark Materials - has just written to me about Byzantium, the Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, saying:

"This most intriguing of empires is depicted so vividly and so clearly - not only by means of the author's arrangement of subject-based chapters, but also because of her deep scholarship and unobtrusive style - that it's the best introduction to Byzantine history I've seen. I can say with absolute certainty that I shall steal from it several times."

Happy declaration of interest: Philip wrote to me because I live with the author. He gave permission for his words to be used. He does not know and hasn't met Judith - yet!

A true survival story, 17 Nov 2008
If any book captures the spirit of human survival it is this one by Douglas Mawson.It is the story of an Antarctic expedition that went horribly wrong and tells how Mawson had to deal with the death of his colleagues.How he survived is a minor miracle and it is hard to believe that he came out of his horrible situation alive.

Mawson tells his story in a professional and unemotional way and this is always a compelling read.It shows just how deep a person can dig down within his soul in order to survive.It isn't the best book I have read about polar exploration,that is probably 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing but it is very good effort indeed.Recommended.

And then there was one, 31 Dec 2007
What is just as unbelievable as this truly remarkable story itself is that Mawson has never had the same recognition as his contemporaries, Scott and Shackleton.

The story is even more remarkable, not just because of the terrible deaths of his comrades or the near starvation or physical pain and mental exhaustion, but that Mawson is further tormented by his total isolation in a vastness unimaginable.

A grim tale with emotion, the reader will find Bickel's account vivid and moving.


Mawson's Will, 08 Dec 2007
Without being fully aware of the history of the polar expeditions or polar travel in general, I began this book expecting a great adventure story and nothing more. This book more than delivered in that respect. Not only is it immensely easy to read, but I found it difficult to put down and became completely engrossed in the story that unfolded. I got choked up a great deal towards the end and felt anxious and exhausted along with the people in the book. For the two days that it took to read, I lived the fears and exhaustion along with the author and finished the book feeling wrung out, yet strangely exhilarated. I can not imagine what it must be like to travel in such a hostile environment, but this book goes some way to helping you picture what it may of been like. It also has some great old photography. If you like survival stories or are interested in the polar expeditions you must add this book to your library, it is a superb read that will keep you gripped throughout. Highly recommended.

Bickel's Gift, 22 Oct 2007
Rarely has fiction served the truth so well. Rarely has the truth served fiction so well.

Mawson's own account of his ordeal, in "The Home of The Blizzard", seems relatively matter of fact. We may not have marvelled at Mawson's accomplishment in surviving if we relied only on his way of telling it. Although a good writer, his specialities were geography and exploration.

Bickel's presentation here in "Mawson's Will" makes Mawson's accomplishment more touching than Mawson's own presentation. But it took an extraordinary writing accomplishment by Bickel to convey Mawson's accomplishment. Poetic license? To fail to understand how much faithful art it took to go from Mawson's diaries and book to Bickel's account would be to not appreciate how much effort and skill it took for Bickel to bring Mawson's tale so fully alive. If Bickel hadn't taken poetic license, this tale may have been of more interest to the most purist historian but it would have been of far less human interest. Sensitive to our lack of understanding of the Antartic experience, Bickel put us there in a way we never could have gotten from Mawson's own account. The last one hundred pages of "Mawson's Will" are as riveting as anything I've read in years.

Bickel's faithfulness to Mawson has made this a special work of art. Because of Bickel, we can be amazed at how Mawson survived and understand something profound about the human will.

P.S. I wake up the next day to find the story is still strong on my mind. Mawson returned to Australia to find his beloved waiting, married her, in time actually returned to the Antartic for exploration, and lived til 73. While we may never face as extreme a challenge as he did, there seems lessons here in the value of perserverence, in the benefits of careful self-management, and in the role of loved ones in making life worth living. This is an unusual book and Mawson and Bickel have made a special contribution far beyond whether land was claimed through exploration.

Mawson's Will review, 19 Dec 2006
As a fan of real life tales of adventure, I loved this book. I found it gripping, the detail, the anguish, the physical and mental hardship, the historical detail - awesome read.
This is probably less of a good read for someone who isn't into the outdoors and so has no empathy with the situation.

Breathless, powerful overview of the long 19th century in France, 20 Sep 2008
This is a major work of French history that follows on from the author's piecing anatomisation of the dynamics of the Occupation between 1940 and 1945. The subject matter here is considerably more substantial, the legacy of the French Revolution in the `long' nineteenth century, from the rise of Napoleon to the close of the `belle époque' Political overviews open both sections of the book, and are taken at the gallop. There is, it goes without saying, enough material between the covers for a dozen books, and it is to Gildea's credit that his singular command of detail saves the breathless overviews of complex political orientations. He (just) carries the uninformed reader through.

What a subject...it spans the collapse of France's Napoleonic dreams of European domination, and nothing less than the nation's wrestling with competing imperatives of revolution, democracy, monarchism, and the power of the Church. Understandably, certain sections stand out. The discussion of the changing position of women in French society was tantalising, as are the full implications and pervasive and caustic impact of the Dreyfus affair on every level of society. I could easily have read more on the confrontation with Britain over Fashoda in the upper Nile that so nearly led to war; and the chapter which showed how France viewed itself via comparison with other European powers particularly compelling. It's tempting to suggests that perhaps following a single family through the period might have humanised a mass of data a little more.

But Gildea is loyal to his aims, and communicates the huge cultural power of the belle époque period, the society that was the crucible of modernism, where Picasso painted, which invented the detective story and the comic strip; the image of the young Sartre running to buy his weekly comic as a schoolboy was particularly vivid. Gildea is unequivocal - maybe subtly ironic? - in his belief that the blood sacrifice of 1914-1918 (which eclipsed the British and Empire death toll by many millions), acted as the final test of a France which had struggled so intensely to achieve national self-realisation.

This is a breathless, at times intimidating compilation, a starting point for many years of reading, and wholly necessary in order to reach beyond the holiday home clichés to the resonant history of a major Western power.


French Impressionism, a cultural explanation, 07 Aug 2008
If I were offering "France: culture, politics and society 1800-1900" as my specialist subject on Mastermind, before getting into the black chair what main source would I depend on? Well you could do worse than read Robert Gildea's book but I would not make it my sole choice.

The book is in two parts, 1799 to 1870 then the Franco-Prussian war up to 1914. The chapters are pithy with a lot of detail. They read as self contained essays, or perhaps lectures. The long - apparently never ending - story of centrifugal and centripetal politics, Paris as the root of all division or the source of national unity is told. And the divided French left, an enduring legacy where the game seems more than the consequences. For me it was well written but, frustratingly, only as far as it went. Such a wide-ranging book is of necessity impressionistic. Adding little cameos, and employing literature to reinforce analysis added momentum.

The main limitation was that only political challenges and social change within France were dealt with but these were paralleled in other countries, or states forming nations. Although Professor Gildea does make some passing comparative reference, I was constantly wondering how Germany, or Britain, or Italy compared in many areas. What was specific, or special to France? Europe was changing massively, and was changing the world. France was part of this, not isolated, so comparisons beyond her borders are essential and relevant.

With this broad brush, he deals with themes, the ever-present challenge for the French - finding accommodation with themselves, how to employ the revolutionary ideals and live up to them, modernisation, industrialisation, class, religion, feminism, literature, coping with a superior culture that the world does not quite appreciate. The imposition of the French language and the invention of a French national identity, both occurring very late in the 20th century, were sketched. This is not a political or economic history, it is not a social history, it is an amalgam equating to a cultural explanation.

This is a book you can appreciate more than enjoy. It is for the curious, possibly the curious undergraduate, for those wanting orientation leading to specific political, social, diplomatic histories. It would have been helpful to have had a short bibliography. Having read Graham Robb's anthropology "The Discovery of France" and Rod Kedward's political history "La Vie En Bleu: France and the French Since 1900" Gildea's book fits well. Then there is Robert and Isabelle Tombs - "That Sweet Enemy." I would not sit in the Mastermind chair without having read all four.

Sorry, but it falls short of the mark, 06 Oct 2008
Let me begin by saying that I really, really want to like this book. I am a Late Roman/Byzantine history enthusiast and have read no end of books on the subject over the last couple of decades. Any book attempting to bring this sadly neglected area of history into the wider public consciousness, as Herrin is trying to do with this account, is to be applauded. However for me this falls way short of the mark due to problems ranging from numerous annoyances through to inaccurate impressions given through to complete howlers.

I am only 30-odd pages in so far as I write this, but am moved to review already because of these problems. To mention already a few off the top of my head:

- The last Western emperor was NOT replaced by "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho" in 476, but in fact by the Scirian Odovacer. Stilicho, the power behind the throne during the minority of the Western emperor Honorius, was murdered in 408. This unbelievable howler from a professional historian is compounded by the fact that she again mentions "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho", this time in the correct context, just a couple of pages later. A switched-on proof reader even without the historical knowledge should query discrepancies like this, and I would have thought that numerous people in academia would cast their eye over it before publication. It's presumably not been corrected either from the hardback to this paperback edition.

- After incorrectly saying that no Germanic language had a written form in the late 4th century (in fact Gothic did so), a few pages later she does correctly mention that "Ulfila" (sic - it should actually be "Wulfila" in Gothic form or "Ulfilas" in Latin form) translated the bible into Gothic.

- Alaric was not "persuaded to move west" - apart from the fact that the empire had absolutely no bargaining chips to persuade Alaric to do anything whatsoever (the senseless murder of the aforementioned Stilicho two years earlier put paid to that), Alaric died while still in Italy in 410 after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Africa and before he could leave by the northern land route. It can't even possibly refer to the later Alaric II as he was already firmly ensconced in the West in a kingdom encompassing southwest France and northeast Spain.

- The phrasing used seems to imply that Julian attacked the Sassanian empire before becoming emperor (could hardly be so, since he died in the attempt). And despite the regular outbreaks of war between Rome and the Sassanian empire, Julian did not really have any kind of unfinished business to deal with in that regard. His disastrous expedition east was frankly nothing less than a war of aggression.

And so on. It's a real shame because outside of these kind of factual issues, this is a well-written, very readable and entertaining volume with some real insights. For example, the more I read about mediaeval history, the more it seems to me that there is some kind of real tripartite cultural/philosophical division of the former Roman Empire between Western-Latin-Catholic, Eastern-Greek-Orthodox and Southern-Arabic-Muslim; Herrin mentions the same idea.

For a peerless 'popular' account of Byzantium look at the John Julius Norwich trilogy Byzantium: The Early Centuries v. 1, Byzantium: The Apogee v. 2, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3. There is also a one volume abridgement of this, A Short History of Byzantium which I have not personally read but is undoubtedly of the same standard as the full version. For a discussion of the cultural legacy to wider European and Islamic civilisation, see Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World.

Good overview of Byzantium, 23 May 2008
By taking a thematic approach to the Byzantine Empire, Ms Herrin illuminates some interesting areas. However, you will need to have some background of the history of the Empire if you are to properly understand the points she makes.
John Julius Norwich's 3 vol history is the perfect place to start.

The death of a civilisation, 06 Feb 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, but as it drew to the end and the death of Constantine XI defending his city I realized what a loss of a civilisation, that it not taught about in our education systems.

BYZANTIUM: THE SURPRISING LIFE OF A MEDIEVAL EMPIRE, 30 Jan 2008
Nice to be in such august company when it comes to reviewing a book, especially when I find myself echoing the praise. I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge.
I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject.
The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think.
Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the mdern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner.
I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting off golden mosaics.


Sailing to Byzantium, 28 Sep 2007
Philip Pullman - of Dark Materials - has just written to me about Byzantium, the Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, saying:

"This most intriguing of empires is depicted so vividly and so clearly - not only by means of the author's arrangement of subject-based chapters, but also because of her deep scholarship and unobtrusive style - that it's the best introduction to Byzantine history I've seen. I can say with absolute certainty that I shall steal from it several times."

Happy declaration of interest: Philip wrote to me because I live with the author. He gave permission for his words to be used. He does not know and hasn't met Judith - yet!

A true survival story, 17 Nov 2008
If any book captures the spirit of human survival it is this one by Douglas Mawson.It is the story of an Antarctic expedition that went horribly wrong and tells how Mawson had to deal with the death of his colleagues.How he survived is a minor miracle and it is hard to believe that he came out of his horrible situation alive.

Mawson tells his story in a professional and unemotional way and this is always a compelling read.It shows just how deep a person can dig down within his soul in order to survive.It isn't the best book I have read about polar exploration,that is probably 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing but it is very good effort indeed.Recommended.

And then there was one, 31 Dec 2007
What is just as unbelievable as this truly remarkable story itself is that Mawson has never had the same recognition as his contemporaries, Scott and Shackleton.

The story is even more remarkable, not just because of the terrible deaths of his comrades or the near starvation or physical pain and mental exhaustion, but that Mawson is further tormented by his total isolation in a vastness unimaginable.

A grim tale with emotion, the reader will find Bickel's account vivid and moving.


Mawson's Will, 08 Dec 2007
Without being fully aware of the history of the polar expeditions or polar travel in general, I began this book expecting a great adventure story and nothing more. This book more than delivered in that respect. Not only is it immensely easy to read, but I found it difficult to put down and became completely engrossed in the story that unfolded. I got choked up a great deal towards the end and felt anxious and exhausted along with the people in the book. For the two days that it took to read, I lived the fears and exhaustion along with the author and finished the book feeling wrung out, yet strangely exhilarated. I can not imagine what it must be like to travel in such a hostile environment, but this book goes some way to helping you picture what it may of been like. It also has some great old photography. If you like survival stories or are interested in the polar expeditions you must add this book to your library, it is a superb read that will keep you gripped throughout. Highly recommended.

Bickel's Gift, 22 Oct 2007
Rarely has fiction served the truth so well. Rarely has the truth served fiction so well.

Mawson's own account of his ordeal, in "The Home of The Blizzard", seems relatively matter of fact. We may not have marvelled at Mawson's accomplishment in surviving if we relied only on his way of telling it. Although a good writer, his specialities were geography and exploration.

Bickel's presentation here in "Mawson's Will" makes Mawson's accomplishment more touching than Mawson's own presentation. But it took an extraordinary writing accomplishment by Bickel to convey Mawson's accomplishment. Poetic license? To fail to understand how much faithful art it took to go from Mawson's diaries and book to Bickel's account would be to not appreciate how much effort and skill it took for Bickel to bring Mawson's tale so fully alive. If Bickel hadn't taken poetic license, this tale may have been of more interest to the most purist historian but it would have been of far less human interest. Sensitive to our lack of understanding of the Antartic experience, Bickel put us there in a way we never could have gotten from Mawson's own account. The last one hundred pages of "Mawson's Will" are as riveting as anything I've read in years.

Bickel's faithfulness to Mawson has made this a special work of art. Because of Bickel, we can be amazed at how Mawson survived and understand something profound about the human will.

P.S. I wake up the next day to find the story is still strong on my mind. Mawson returned to Australia to find his beloved waiting, married her, in time actually returned to the Antartic for exploration, and lived til 73. While we may never face as extreme a challenge as he did, there seems lessons here in the value of perserverence, in the benefits of careful self-management, and in the role of loved ones in making life worth living. This is an unusual book and Mawson and Bickel have made a special contribution far beyond whether land was claimed through exploration.

Mawson's Will review, 19 Dec 2006
As a fan of real life tales of adventure, I loved this book. I found it gripping, the detail, the anguish, the physical and mental hardship, the historical detail - awesome read.
This is probably less of a good read for someone who isn't into the outdoors and so has no empathy with the situation.

Breathless, powerful overview of the long 19th century in France, 20 Sep 2008
This is a major work of French history that follows on from the author's piecing anatomisation of the dynamics of the Occupation between 1940 and 1945. The subject matter here is considerably more substantial, the legacy of the French Revolution in the `long' nineteenth century, from the rise of Napoleon to the close of the `belle époque' Political overviews open both sections of the book, and are taken at the gallop. There is, it goes without saying, enough material between the covers for a dozen books, and it is to Gildea's credit that his singular command of detail saves the breathless overviews of complex political orientations. He (just) carries the uninformed reader through.

What a subject...it spans the collapse of France's Napoleonic dreams of European domination, and nothing less than the nation's wrestling with competing imperatives of revolution, democracy, monarchism, and the power of the Church. Understandably, certain sections stand out. The discussion of the changing position of women in French society was tantalising, as are the full implications and pervasive and caustic impact of the Dreyfus affair on every level of society. I could easily have read more on the confrontation with Britain over Fashoda in the upper Nile that so nearly led to war; and the chapter which showed how France viewed itself via comparison with other European powers particularly compelling. It's tempting to suggests that perhaps following a single family through the period might have humanised a mass of data a little more.

But Gildea is loyal to his aims, and communicates the huge cultural power of the belle époque period, the society that was the crucible of modernism, where Picasso painted, which invented the detective story and the comic strip; the image of the young Sartre running to buy his weekly comic as a schoolboy was particularly vivid. Gildea is unequivocal - maybe subtly ironic? - in his belief that the blood sacrifice of 1914-1918 (which eclipsed the British and Empire death toll by many millions), acted as the final test of a France which had struggled so intensely to achieve national self-realisation.

This is a breathless, at times intimidating compilation, a starting point for many years of reading, and wholly necessary in order to reach beyond the holiday home clichés to the resonant history of a major Western power.


French Impressionism, a cultural explanation, 07 Aug 2008
If I were offering "France: culture, politics and society 1800-1900" as my specialist subject on Mastermind, before getting into the black chair what main source would I depend on? Well you could do worse than read Robert Gildea's book but I would not make it my sole choice.

The book is in two parts, 1799 to 1870 then the Franco-Prussian war up to 1914. The chapters are pithy with a lot of detail. They read as self contained essays, or perhaps lectures. The long - apparently never ending - story of centrifugal and centripetal politics, Paris as the root of all division or the source of national unity is told. And the divided French left, an enduring legacy where the game seems more than the consequences. For me it was well written but, frustratingly, only as far as it went. Such a wide-ranging book is of necessity impressionistic. Adding little cameos, and employing literature to reinforce analysis added momentum.

The main limitation was that only political challenges and social change within France were dealt with but these were paralleled in other countries, or states forming nations. Although Professor Gildea does make some passing comparative reference, I was constantly wondering how Germany, or Britain, or Italy compared in many areas. What was specific, or special to France? Europe was changing massively, and was changing the world. France was part of this, not isolated, so comparisons beyond her borders are essential and relevant.

With this broad brush, he deals with themes, the ever-present challenge for the French - finding accommodation with themselves, how to employ the revolutionary ideals and live up to them, modernisation, industrialisation, class, religion, feminism, literature, coping with a superior culture that the world does not quite appreciate. The imposition of the French language and the invention of a French national identity, both occurring very late in the 20th century, were sketched. This is not a political or economic history, it is not a social history, it is an amalgam equating to a cultural explanation.

This is a book you can appreciate more than enjoy. It is for the curious, possibly the curious undergraduate, for those wanting orientation leading to specific political, social, diplomatic histories. It would have been helpful to have had a short bibliography. Having read Graham Robb's anthropology "The Discovery of France" and Rod Kedward's political history "La Vie En Bleu: France and the French Since 1900" Gildea's book fits well. Then there is Robert and Isabelle Tombs - "That Sweet Enemy." I would not sit in the Mastermind chair without having read all four.






A fantastic read!, 29 Sep 2008
I wanted to learn about China's modern political history in light of the fact that Beijing was hosting the Olympic Games this year. I stumbled across this book by Johnathan Fenby at my local library and was really quite impressed with what I read. Fenby has written the book in such a way that you can't put it down until you've read an entire chapter! I feel this book has a number of attributes which i'll speak of below:

1) This book is accessible to all: to academics and readers with a general interest in China. This is only the case because Fenby has got the balance right: key events in China's history haven't been talked about in vast amounts of detail to bore the reader, but at the same time the book isn't oversimplified (and in fact is highly informative, as Fenby employs a wide range of resources and statistics).
2) The book is up-to-date. Fenby talks about modern issues in China such as Hu Jintao's vision of a "Peaceful rise in a harmonious world" and China's absorption of huge quantites of metals and oil which is leading to price rises in these commodities. Up-to-date statistics from 2007 and 2008 are included.
3) I think the book is balanced: Fenby doesn't shy away from recounting the full extent of the horrors of the Great Leap Forward, but at the same time puts across clearly how proud Chinese people are today of their country's achievements which have come through economic reform with the CCP at the helm.
4) The book is complete: no major event is left out: Fenby talks about practically all the major events in China's modern political history (from the loss of Hong Kong in the Opium Wars of 1840 to the fall of the last imperial dynasty, to the rise of both Nationalism and Communism in China; China's brief experience of western-style democracy and elections in 1912; War with Japan; the ascendency of Mao and the CCP; economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989; and China under the leadership of modern CCP members such as Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao). Fenby also mentions how China's international relations with the West (namely the US), Japan and Russia have evolved since the fall of the Qing dynasty.

Before reading Fenby's book, I had read Jung Chang's "Mao The Unknown Story" and felt Fenby's book was an excellent accomplimant: Chang's book gives you a detailed insight into China under Mao, whilst Fenby's book informs the reader of China before Mao and what happened in China after Mao (which has brought China to where it is today: a global economic power).

A thoroughly good read, I look forward to finding books of such a high standard covering political histories for differnt parts of the world.


sorry but its not good enough, 31 Aug 2008
Studying History myself, I think the Penguin History completely lost the plot. I agree with other review. It gives me a feeling like 'handling in an essay by tomorrow. If you really want read something about Chinese History, I recommend 'The Rise of Modern China' by Oxford University Press. It is much much better, but a bit more expensive. I still think worth it, honestly.

A disappointment, and a rush-job., 12 Jun 2008
This is a disappointing book, and it needn't have been; Jonathan Fenby, while not a trained historian, is a strong and intelligent writer, and 'Generalissimo' was excellent. This, however, clearly shows signs of being a rush job done for the Olympic Year; for one thing, given how recently Fenby's other books came out, it seems extremely unlikely he had the time that a book of this magnitude requires. The writing is journalistic and in places glib, without the depth of sources or statistics that a book like this needs. Most bizarrely, there are no Chinese-language sources cited in the text! Despite ideological bias, good, interesting historical work is done on the mainland - never mind Taiwan and Hong Kong - and it seems odd to overlook it so completely.

It's still a decent introduction to modern China for someone new to the field, but it doesn't offer the depth or insight that other books in the Penguin History series have. The strongest sections are on the 1930s and 1940s, where Fenby has done previous work; others have been put together at some speed from other English books, most noticeably MAO'S LAST REVOLUTION for the Cultural Revolution sections. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; MLR, for instance, though a great book, is not that accessible, but the lack of original research or insight is noticeable. Ultimately, it's a weak entry in a normally great series of books.

Sorry, but it falls short of the mark, 06 Oct 2008
Let me begin by saying that I really, really want to like this book. I am a Late Roman/Byzantine history enthusiast and have read no end of books on the subject over the last couple of decades. Any book attempting to bring this sadly neglected area of history into the wider public consciousness, as Herrin is trying to do with this account, is to be applauded. However for me this falls way short of the mark due to problems ranging from numerous annoyances through to inaccurate impressions given through to complete howlers.

I am only 30-odd pages in so far as I write this, but am moved to review already because of these problems. To mention already a few off the top of my head:

- The last Western emperor was NOT replaced by "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho" in 476, but in fact by the Scirian Odovacer. Stilicho, the power behind the throne during the minority of the Western emperor Honorius, was murdered in 408. This unbelievable howler from a professional historian is compounded by the fact that she again mentions "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho", this time in the correct context, just a couple of pages later. A switched-on proof reader even without the historical knowledge should query discrepancies like this, and I would have thought that numerous people in academia would cast their eye over it before publication. It's presumably not been corrected either from the hardback to this paperback edition.

- After incorrectly saying that no Germanic language had a written form in the late 4th century (in fact Gothic did so), a few pages later she does correctly mention that "Ulfila" (sic - it should actually be "Wulfila" in Gothic form or "Ulfilas" in Latin form) translated the bible into Gothic.

- Alaric was not "persuaded to move west" - apart from the fact that the empire had absolutely no bargaining chips to persuade Alaric to do anything whatsoever (the senseless murder of the aforementioned Stilicho two years earlier put paid to that), Alaric died while still in Italy in 410 after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Africa and before he could leave by the northern land route. It can't even possibly refer to the later Alaric II as he was already firmly ensconced in the West in a kingdom encompassing southwest France and northeast Spain.

- The phrasing used seems to imply that Julian attacked the Sassanian empire before becoming emperor (could hardly be so, since he died in the attempt). And despite the regular outbreaks of war between Rome and the Sassanian empire, Julian did not really have any kind of unfinished business to deal with in that regard. His disastrous expedition east was frankly nothing less than a war of aggression.

And so on. It's a real shame because outside of these kind of factual issues, this is a well-written, very readable and entertaining volume with some real insights. For example, the more I read about mediaeval history, the more it seems to me that there is some kind of real tripartite cultural/philosophical division of the former Roman Empire between Western-Latin-Catholic, Eastern-Greek-Orthodox and Southern-Arabic-Muslim; Herrin mentions the same idea.

For a peerless 'popular' account of Byzantium look at the John Julius Norwich trilogy Byzantium: The Early Centuries v. 1, Byzantium: The Apogee v. 2, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3. There is also a one volume abridgement of this, A Short History of Byzantium which I have not personally read but is undoubtedly of the same standard as the full version. For a discussion of the cultural legacy to wider European and Islamic civilisation, see Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World.

Good overview of Byzantium, 23 May 2008
By taking a thematic approach to the Byzantine Empire, Ms Herrin illuminates some interesting areas. However, you will need to have some background of the history of the Empire if you are to properly understand the points she makes.
John Julius Norwich's 3 vol history is the perfect place to start.

The death of a civilisation, 06 Feb 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, but as it drew to the end and the death of Constantine XI defending his city I realized what a loss of a civilisation, that it not taught about in our education systems.

BYZANTIUM: THE SURPRISING LIFE OF A MEDIEVAL EMPIRE, 30 Jan 2008
Nice to be in such august company when it comes to reviewing a book, especially when I find myself echoing the praise. I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge.
I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject.
The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think.
Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the mdern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner.
I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting off golden mosaics.


Sailing to Byzantium, 28 Sep 2007
Philip Pullman - of Dark Materials - has just written to me about Byzantium, the Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, saying:

"This most intriguing of empires is depicted so vividly and so clearly - not only by means of the author's arrangement of subject-based chapters, but also because of her deep scholarship and unobtrusive style - that it's the best introduction to Byzantine history I've seen. I can say with absolute certainty that I shall steal from it several times."

Happy declaration of interest: Philip wrote to me because I live with the author. He gave permission for his words to be used. He does not know and hasn't met Judith - yet!

A true survival story, 17 Nov 2008
If any book captures the spirit of human survival it is this one by Douglas Mawson.It is the story of an Antarctic expedition that went horribly wrong and tells how Mawson had to deal with the death of his colleagues.How he survived is a minor miracle and it is hard to believe that he came out of his horrible situation alive.

Mawson tells his story in a professional and unemotional way and this is always a compelling read.It shows just how deep a person can dig down within his soul in order to survive.It isn't the best book I have read about polar exploration,that is probably 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing but it is very good effort indeed.Recommended.

And then there was one, 31 Dec 2007
What is just as unbelievable as this truly remarkable story itself is that Mawson has never had the same recognition as his contemporaries, Scott and Shackleton.

The story is even more remarkable, not just because of the terrible deaths of his comrades or the near starvation or physical pain and mental exhaustion, but that Mawson is further tormented by his total isolation in a vastness unimaginable.

A grim tale with emotion, the reader will find Bickel's account vivid and moving.


Mawson's Will, 08 Dec 2007
Without being fully aware of the history of the polar expeditions or polar travel in general, I began this book expecting a great adventure story and nothing more. This book more than delivered in that respect. Not only is it immensely easy to read, but I found it difficult to put down and became completely engrossed in the story that unfolded. I got choked up a great deal towards the end and felt anxious and exhausted along with the people in the book. For the two days that it took to read, I lived the fears and exhaustion along with the author and finished the book feeling wrung out, yet strangely exhilarated. I can not imagine what it must be like to travel in such a hostile environment, but this book goes some way to helping you picture what it may of been like. It also has some great old photography. If you like survival stories or are interested in the polar expeditions you must add this book to your library, it is a superb read that will keep you gripped throughout. Highly recommended.

Bickel's Gift, 22 Oct 2007
Rarely has fiction served the truth so well. Rarely has the truth served fiction so well.

Mawson's own account of his ordeal, in "The Home of The Blizzard", seems relatively matter of fact. We may not have marvelled at Mawson's accomplishment in surviving if we relied only on his way of telling it. Although a good writer, his specialities were geography and exploration.

Bickel's presentation here in "Mawson's Will" makes Mawson's accomplishment more touching than Mawson's own presentation. But it took an extraordinary writing accomplishment by Bickel to convey Mawson's accomplishment. Poetic license? To fail to understand how much faithful art it took to go from Mawson's diaries and book to Bickel's account would be to not appreciate how much effort and skill it took for Bickel to bring Mawson's tale so fully alive. If Bickel hadn't taken poetic license, this tale may have been of more interest to the most purist historian but it would have been of far less human interest. Sensitive to our lack of understanding of the Antartic experience, Bickel put us there in a way we never could have gotten from Mawson's own account. The last one hundred pages of "Mawson's Will" are as riveting as anything I've read in years.

Bickel's faithfulness to Mawson has made this a special work of art. Because of Bickel, we can be amazed at how Mawson survived and understand something profound about the human will.

P.S. I wake up the next day to find the story is still strong on my mind. Mawson returned to Australia to find his beloved waiting, married her, in time actually returned to the Antartic for exploration, and lived til 73. While we may never face as extreme a challenge as he did, there seems lessons here in the value of perserverence, in the benefits of careful self-management, and in the role of loved ones in making life worth living. This is an unusual book and Mawson and Bickel have made a special contribution far beyond whether land was claimed through exploration.

Mawson's Will review, 19 Dec 2006
As a fan of real life tales of adventure, I loved this book. I found it gripping, the detail, the anguish, the physical and mental hardship, the historical detail - awesome read.
This is probably less of a good read for someone who isn't into the outdoors and so has no empathy with the situation.

Breathless, powerful overview of the long 19th century in France, 20 Sep 2008
This is a major work of French history that follows on from the author's piecing anatomisation of the dynamics of the Occupation between 1940 and 1945. The subject matter here is considerably more substantial, the legacy of the French Revolution in the `long' nineteenth century, from the rise of Napoleon to the close of the `belle époque' Political overviews open both sections of the book, and are taken at the gallop. There is, it goes without saying, enough material between the covers for a dozen books, and it is to Gildea's credit that his singular command of detail saves the breathless overviews of complex political orientations. He (just) carries the uninformed reader through.

What a subject...it spans the collapse of France's Napoleonic dreams of European domination, and nothing less than the nation's wrestling with competing imperatives of revolution, democracy, monarchism, and the power of the Church. Understandably, certain sections stand out. The discussion of the changing position of women in French society was tantalising, as are the full implications and pervasive and caustic impact of the Dreyfus affair on every level of society. I could easily have read more on the confrontation with Britain over Fashoda in the upper Nile that so nearly led to war; and the chapter which showed how France viewed itself via comparison with other European powers particularly compelling. It's tempting to suggests that perhaps following a single family through the period might have humanised a mass of data a little more.

But Gildea is loyal to his aims, and communicates the huge cultural power of the belle époque period, the society that was the crucible of modernism, where Picasso painted, which invented the detective story and the comic strip; the image of the young Sartre running to buy his weekly comic as a schoolboy was particularly vivid. Gildea is unequivocal - maybe subtly ironic? - in his belief that the blood sacrifice of 1914-1918 (which eclipsed the British and Empire death toll by many millions), acted as the final test of a France which had struggled so intensely to achieve national self-realisation.

This is a breathless, at times intimidating compilation, a starting point for many years of reading, and wholly necessary in order to reach beyond the holiday home clichés to the resonant history of a major Western power.


French Impressionism, a cultural explanation, 07 Aug 2008
If I were offering "France: culture, politics and society 1800-1900" as my specialist subject on Mastermind, before getting into the black chair what main source would I depend on? Well you could do worse than read Robert Gildea's book but I would not make it my sole choice.

The book is in two parts, 1799 to 1870 then the Franco-Prussian war up to 1914. The chapters are pithy with a lot of detail. They read as self contained essays, or perhaps lectures. The long - apparently never ending - story of centrifugal and centripetal politics, Paris as the root of all division or the source of national unity is told. And the divided French left, an enduring legacy where the game seems more than the consequences. For me it was well written but, frustratingly, only as far as it went. Such a wide-ranging book is of necessity impressionistic. Adding little cameos, and employing literature to reinforce analysis added momentum.

The main limitation was that only political challenges and social change within France were dealt with but these were paralleled in other countries, or states forming nations. Although Professor Gildea does make some passing comparative reference, I was constantly wondering how Germany, or Britain, or Italy compared in many areas. What was specific, or special to France? Europe was changing massively, and was changing the world. France was part of this, not isolated, so comparisons beyond her borders are essential and relevant.

With this broad brush, he deals with themes, the ever-present challenge for the French - finding accommodation with themselves, how to employ the revolutionary ideals and live up to them, modernisation, industrialisation, class, religion, feminism, literature, coping with a superior culture that the world does not quite appreciate. The imposition of the French language and the invention of a French national identity, both occurring very late in the 20th century, were sketched. This is not a political or economic history, it is not a social history, it is an amalgam equating to a cultural explanation.

This is a book you can appreciate more than enjoy. It is for the curious, possibly the curious undergraduate, for those wanting orientation leading to specific political, social, diplomatic histories. It would have been helpful to have had a short bibliography. Having read Graham Robb's anthropology "The Discovery of France" and Rod Kedward's political history "La Vie En Bleu: France and the French Since 1900" Gildea's book fits well. Then there is Robert and Isabelle Tombs - "That Sweet Enemy." I would not sit in the Mastermind chair without having read all four.






A fantastic read!, 29 Sep 2008
I wanted to learn about China's modern political history in light of the fact that Beijing was hosting the Olympic Games this year. I stumbled across this book by Johnathan Fenby at my local library and was really quite impressed with what I read. Fenby has written the book in such a way that you can't put it down until you've read an entire chapter! I feel this book has a number of attributes which i'll speak of below:

1) This book is accessible to all: to academics and readers with a general interest in China. This is only the case because Fenby has got the balance right: key events in China's history haven't been talked about in vast amounts of detail to bore the reader, but at the same time the book isn't oversimplified (and in fact is highly informative, as Fenby employs a wide range of resources and statistics).
2) The book is up-to-date. Fenby talks about modern issues in China such as Hu Jintao's vision of a "Peaceful rise in a harmonious world" and China's absorption of huge quantites of metals and oil which is leading to price rises in these commodities. Up-to-date statistics from 2007 and 2008 are included.
3) I think the book is balanced: Fenby doesn't shy away from recounting the full extent of the horrors of the Great Leap Forward, but at the same time puts across clearly how proud Chinese people are today of their country's achievements which have come through economic reform with the CCP at the helm.
4) The book is complete: no major event is left out: Fenby talks about practically all the major events in China's modern political history (from the loss of Hong Kong in the Opium Wars of 1840 to the fall of the last imperial dynasty, to the rise of both Nationalism and Communism in China; China's brief experience of western-style democracy and elections in 1912; War with Japan; the ascendency of Mao and the CCP; economic reforms under Deng Xiaoping, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989; and China under the leadership of modern CCP members such as Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao). Fenby also mentions how China's international relations with the West (namely the US), Japan and Russia have evolved since the fall of the Qing dynasty.

Before reading Fenby's book, I had read Jung Chang's "Mao The Unknown Story" and felt Fenby's book was an excellent accomplimant: Chang's book gives you a detailed insight into China under Mao, whilst Fenby's book informs the reader of China before Mao and what happened in China after Mao (which has brought China to where it is today: a global economic power).

A thoroughly good read, I look forward to finding books of such a high standard covering political histories for differnt parts of the world.


sorry but its not good enough, 31 Aug 2008
Studying History myself, I think the Penguin History completely lost the plot. I agree with other review. It gives me a feeling like 'handling in an essay by tomorrow. If you really want read something about Chinese History, I recommend 'The Rise of Modern China' by Oxford University Press. It is much much better, but a bit more expensive. I still think worth it, honestly.

A disappointment, and a rush-job., 12 Jun 2008
This is a disappointing book, and it needn't have been; Jonathan Fenby, while not a trained historian, is a strong and intelligent writer, and 'Generalissimo' was excellent. This, however, clearly shows signs of being a rush job done for the Olympic Year; for one thing, given how recently Fenby's other books came out, it seems extremely unlikely he had the time that a book of this magnitude requires. The writing is journalistic and in places glib, without the depth of sources or statistics that a book like this needs. Most bizarrely, there are no Chinese-language sources cited in the text! Despite ideological bias, good, interesting historical work is done on the mainland - never mind Taiwan and Hong Kong - and it seems odd to overlook it so completely.

It's still a decent introduction to modern China for someone new to the field, but it doesn't offer the depth or insight that other books in the Penguin History series have. The strongest sections are on the 1930s and 1940s, where Fenby has done previous work; others have been put together at some speed from other English books, most noticeably MAO'S LAST REVOLUTION for the Cultural Revolution sections. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; MLR, for instance, though a great book, is not that accessible, but the lack of original research or insight is noticeable. Ultimately, it's a weak entry in a normally great series of books.


The big and the small prison zone, 03 Dec 2007
Anne Applebaum's deeply moving human document brushes a raw picture of an, unfortunately, often recurring human tragedy: the use of slave labor in `work' camps, here in their soviet version.
The Gulag system reflected the whole political and social climate in the USSR. The State was a big prison zone and the camps the small ones.
The system was an integral part of the soviet regime. Its role was to speed up industrialization and to excavate natural resources in barely habitable places. There were camps near gold, coal and nickel mines, near chemical, metal-processing, fish canning and electricity plants, near public works (airports, highways, water ways, apartment blocks) and that all over the country.

History
The gulag system was founded after the October 1917 revolution and came under the control of the secret service in 1929. Another pivotal year was 1937, the beginning of the Great Terror, when Stalin imposed quotas for indiscriminate arrests and executions beginning with the CP hierarchy. There was a partial amnesty during WW II, but the inmates were sent in the front line. After Stalin's death, the system was dismantled, but the camps continued to be used for common criminals and as `reeducation' centers for dissidents.

Who were the inmates?
There was always a mixture of common and `political' criminals.
In the beginning, the political inmates were `counter-revolutionaries', members of the non-Bolshevik revolutionary socialist parties. Afterwards, they were mostly peasants (after the collectivization), national minorities, CP and even Gulag officials (during the Great Terror), prisoners of war (during and after the war) and dissidents.
A total of about 30 million people passed through the camps, of which about 10 % died.

Why?
Except the common criminals, people were arrested for what they were, not for what they had done. Their - avowed or not - crimes were imaginary and nonsensical.

The system
Every camp has to be profitable; of course, they weren't.
They were generally run by dump and corrupt bureaucrats, who had absolutely no respect for individual lives. The working practices were very bad.
After three weeks people were turned into wild animals, fighting a naked struggle for survival in an overcrowded world of stench, vermin, filth, promiscuity, prostitution, epidemics, hunger, revolting food, informants, self-mutilation, murders, suicides, punishment cells, tortures and deaths by exhaustion. The `normal' inmates were terrorized by common criminal bands.
After release, the psychological and social integration into the big prison zone was extremely difficult.

Russia as a country has still not digested its past: `Society is indifferent to the crimes of the past, because so many people participated in them.' `Former communists have a clear interest in concealing the past.'

Anne Applebaum illustrates all aspects of Gulag life and its dehumanization process with moving tragic individual fates.
This book is a must read for all those interested in the history of mankind. `The more we are able to understand the specific circumstances which led to mass torture and mass murder, the better we will understand the darker side of our own human nature.'


Blood, toil, tears and sweat , 19 Nov 2007
What an epic! But so heavy (subject- and object-wise) and morbid. This book pulls you down after a while. For all those little human kindnesses that its protagonists encounter during their slavery are just tiny drops in an ocean of pointless suffering. This book paints a very bleak picture of human nature. After a while you get desensitized to all those numbers and statistics. Which is probably how it all started in the first place -- both people shuffling paper being removed from the reality those documents represent and others removed from the wider picture, just doing what they're told. Surely it's no coincidence that underneath the dustjacket this book's cover and endpapers are completely crimson? The colour of blood.

I didn't have any problems with anything the author wrote, any numbers or statistics she cited. As far as I could see they were all accompanied by the necessary caveats. In any case, it surely goes without saying that (1) the author's opinions are her opinions and she needn't state that obvious fact before every opinion, (2) the writings of the slave labourers are likely to be biased to some extent and show the author in a favourable light, and (3) the NKVD's documents are likely to be biased. But just in case the reader can't draw those conclusions for himself, Applebaum does it anyway. The only thing I would have liked a little more of is maps. I don't know who draws them, but I like the ones that appear in Beevor's "Stalingrad" and a few other history books.

Fantastic history of the Soviet Gulags, 16 Apr 2007
Anne has done a superb job of telling the story of the Soviet Gulags, and draws together from many sources the individual stories and experiences of those that suffered inside this system.
A great book - that is clear and well written - easy to read - easy to understand and follow - not like a heavy weight history book, but a pleasure to read and it enables you to have a clear understanding of this story.

interesting times, 09 Jan 2007
A fascinating , very readable history of the Gulag system of labour camps in the Soviet Union. I haven't read a great deal on this subject before but this book seems to be a balanced reasonable account. It is is well notated and referenced, with a large bibliography. Anne Applebaum has used archive material available since the break up of the Soviet Union as well as previous accounts and her own interviews with camp employees and survivors. Obviously the accounts of the suffering of prisoners are very moving and the numbers involved are horrific but what struck me most was the sheer stupidity with which the system was run.
And for the record, my own politics were very left wing in my youth and are less so in my middle age.

Harrowing, comprehensive in coverage, 18 Dec 2006
I have read a fair amount of material on Stalinism and the camps, including all three volumes of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, but this is particularly useful in being one of the very few post-Soviet works on this subject I have read. Of neccessity very harrowing at times, it is also comprehensive in its coverage from a variety of different angles.

Sorry, but it falls short of the mark, 06 Oct 2008
Let me begin by saying that I really, really want to like this book. I am a Late Roman/Byzantine history enthusiast and have read no end of books on the subject over the last couple of decades. Any book attempting to bring this sadly neglected area of history into the wider public consciousness, as Herrin is trying to do with this account, is to be applauded. However for me this falls way short of the mark due to problems ranging from numerous annoyances through to inaccurate impressions given through to complete howlers.

I am only 30-odd pages in so far as I write this, but am moved to review already because of these problems. To mention already a few off the top of my head:

- The last Western emperor was NOT replaced by "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho" in 476, but in fact by the Scirian Odovacer. Stilicho, the power behind the throne during the minority of the Western emperor Honorius, was murdered in 408. This unbelievable howler from a professional historian is compounded by the fact that she again mentions "half-Vandal, half-Roman Stilicho", this time in the correct context, just a couple of pages later. A switched-on proof reader even without the historical knowledge should query discrepancies like this, and I would have thought that numerous people in academia would cast their eye over it before publication. It's presumably not been corrected either from the hardback to this paperback edition.

- After incorrectly saying that no Germanic language had a written form in the late 4th century (in fact Gothic did so), a few pages later she does correctly mention that "Ulfila" (sic - it should actually be "Wulfila" in Gothic form or "Ulfilas" in Latin form) translated the bible into Gothic.

- Alaric was not "persuaded to move west" - apart from the fact that the empire had absolutely no bargaining chips to persuade Alaric to do anything whatsoever (the senseless murder of the aforementioned Stilicho two years earlier put paid to that), Alaric died while still in Italy in 410 after a failed attempt to cross the sea to Africa and before he could leave by the northern land route. It can't even possibly refer to the later Alaric II as he was already firmly ensconced in the West in a kingdom encompassing southwest France and northeast Spain.

- The phrasing used seems to imply that Julian attacked the Sassanian empire before becoming emperor (could hardly be so, since he died in the attempt). And despite the regular outbreaks of war between Rome and the Sassanian empire, Julian did not really have any kind of unfinished business to deal with in that regard. His disastrous expedition east was frankly nothing less than a war of aggression.

And so on. It's a real shame because outside of these kind of factual issues, this is a well-written, very readable and entertaining volume with some real insights. For example, the more I read about mediaeval history, the more it seems to me that there is some kind of real tripartite cultural/philosophical division of the former Roman Empire between Western-Latin-Catholic, Eastern-Greek-Orthodox and Southern-Arabic-Muslim; Herrin mentions the same idea.

For a peerless 'popular' account of Byzantium look at the John Julius Norwich trilogy Byzantium: The Early Centuries v. 1, Byzantium: The Apogee v. 2, and Byzantium: The Decline and Fall v. 3. There is also a one volume abridgement of this, A Short History of Byzantium which I have not personally read but is undoubtedly of the same standard as the full version. For a discussion of the cultural legacy to wider European and Islamic civilisation, see Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World.

Good overview of Byzantium, 23 May 2008
By taking a thematic approach to the Byzantine Empire, Ms Herrin illuminates some interesting areas. However, you will need to have some background of the history of the Empire if you are to properly understand the points she makes.
John Julius Norwich's 3 vol history is the perfect place to start.

The death of a civilisation, 06 Feb 2008
I enjoyed reading this book, but as it drew to the end and the death of Constantine XI defending his city I realized what a loss of a civilisation, that it not taught about in our education systems.

BYZANTIUM: THE SURPRISING LIFE OF A MEDIEVAL EMPIRE, 30 Jan 2008
Nice to be in such august company when it comes to reviewing a book, especially when I find myself echoing the praise. I'll lay my cards on the table and confess to having studied Byzantine History and have continued a lifelong fascination and love of the subject. Trying to explain what drives that interest as Prof. Herrin found herself trying to do to two working men however, has always been difficult to get across to others to whom it is a blank area of knowledge.
I've nothing but praise for the way she has distilled her professional knowledge into one of the more approachable books on the subject that I have read. Not decrying other books which on the whole are written for readers with at least a basic knowledge of the subject, this by and large succeeds in casting light on what is perceived to be an esoteric subject.
The maps, illustrations and tables are an excellent aid for this primer which seeks to explain on their terms what made the Empire tick without spoon feeding you. It makes you, the reader, think.
Arranged thematically, Icons, Monasticism, Economics, Warfare, Eunuchs, the Imperial Court, relations with the West, the Slavs and the Moslems, the place of women in society, its structure covers the Empires chronology. What to the mdern mind are barbarous practices such as castration and mutilation are placed in context . It looks at those puzzling practices of icon worship and explains the intent. Reaction to pressures such as the rise of Islam and relations with the West and its missionary work to the Slavs are explained together as a whole rather than in isolation in a very readable manner.
I would heartily recommend it to the general reader who wishes to know more and part of me likes to think that somewhere that those two working men are sitting somewhere over a pint imagining light glinting