Review: Ravenna by Judith Herrin

Synopsis: In 402 AD, after invading tribes broke through the Alpine frontiers of Italy and threatened the imperial government in Milan, the young Emperor Honorius made the momentous decision to move his capital to a small, easy defendable city in the Po estuary - Ravenna. From then until 751 AD, Ravenna was first the capital of the Western Roman Empire, then that of the immense kingdom of Theoderic the Goth and finally the centre of Byzantine power in Italy.

In this engrossing account Judith Herrin explains how scholars, lawyers, doctors, craftsmen, cosmologists and religious luminaries were drawn to Ravenna where they created a cultural and political capital that dominated northern Italy and the Adriatic. As she traces the lives of Ravenna's rulers, chroniclers and inhabitants, Herrin shows how the city became the meeting place of Greek, Latin, Christian and barbarian cultures and the pivot between East and West. The book offers a fresh account of the waning of Rome, the Gothic and Lombard invasions, the rise of Islam and the devastating divisions within Christianity. It argues that the fifth to eighth centuries should not be perceived as a time of decline from antiquity but rather, thanks to Byzantium, as one of great creativity - the period of 'Early Christendom'. These were the formative centuries of Europe.

While Ravenna's palaces have crumbled, its churches have survived. In them, Catholic Romans and Arian Goths competed to produce an unrivalled concentration of spectacular mosaics, many of which still astonish visitors today. Beautifully illustrated with specially commissioned photographs, and drawing on the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries, Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe brings the early Middle Ages to life through the history of this dazzling city.

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I picked this one as: (1) I have Herrin's "Byzantium" which I enjoyed; and (2) for the inclusion of Galla Placidia and the Visigoth Kingdom, and the succeeding Ostrogoth and Lombard Kingdoms.

The period covered off was one of turmoil - political and religious, of conspiracy and machinations, internal and external power struggles, creation and destruction of empires. It was a period I was familiar with - and Herrin's tome is more on the academic side of things rather than a travel guide for the uninitiated. The city prospered after the fall of Rome, and this is evident in the church building program undertaken in the early 6th century and the city's position as a key power base for the Byzantine Empire.

For me, Herrin's book provided me with what I was specifically looking for - for others, a more general history may be in order.

Note: read in 2020 / review posted 2025

The Lumumba Plot

It was supposed to be a moment of great optimism, a cause for jubilation. The Congo was at last being set free from Belgium—one of seventeen countries to gain independence in 1960 from ruling European powers. At the helm as prime minister was charismatic nationalist Patrice Lumumba. Just days after the handover, however, the Congo’s new army mutinied, Belgian forces intervened, and Lumumba turned to the United Nations for help in saving his newborn nation from what the press was already calling “the Congo crisis.” Dag Hammarskjöld, the tidy Swede serving as UN secretary-general, quickly arranged the organization’s biggest peacekeeping mission in history. But chaos was still spreading. Frustrated with the fecklessness of the UN and spurned by the United States, Lumumba then approached the Soviets for help—an appeal that set off alarm bells at the CIA. To forestall the spread of Communism in Africa, the CIA sent word to its station chief in the Congo, Larry Devlin: Lumumba had to go.

Within a year, everything would unravel. The CIA plot to murder Lumumba would fizzle out, but he would be deposed in a CIA-backed coup, transferred to enemy territory in a CIA-approved operation, and shot dead by Congolese assassins. Hammarskjöld, too, would die, in a mysterious plane crash en route to negotiate a cease-fire with the Congo’s rebellious southeast. And a young, ambitious military officer named Joseph Mobutu, who had once sworn fealty to Lumumba, would seize power with U.S. help and misrule the country for more than three decades. For the Congolese people, the events of 1960–61 represented the opening chapter of a long horror story. For the U.S. government, however, they provided a playbook for future interventions.

See also: Crimereads: The Political Assassination That Transformed Africa

Review: The Long Game - Inside Sinn Fein by Aoife Moore

Synopsis: Inside the rise of the political party, once subordinate to the IRA, that is on the brink of taking power in Ireland.

Sinn Féin, long widely-regarded as the political wing of the Provisional IRA, is the most popular political party in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. A movement once synonymous with a paramilitary campaign is on the brink of taking real power through purely democratic means. But if Sinn Féin has mastered the art of electoral politics, it remains strangely opaque. Who really runs the party? How is it funded? And what can we expect of it as a party of government?

Aoife Moore, Irish Journalist of the Year 2021. explores these and other burning questions in The Long Game. Drawing on exclusive interviews with current and former members of Sinn Féin, she builds up a picture of a party undergoing a profound, and still incomplete, transformation. She looks at the key individuals and moments that put the party on its present course, and she explores tensions within the party and the wider republican movement.

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Moore's books is intended to provide a fair and accurate account of the rise of the Irish political party, Sinn Fein. And to be fair, Moore does this, documenting the legitimisation of Sinn Fein in 1974 through to its current incarnation today. Along the way, the narrative looks deeply into the culture and history and personalities of those within and those pulling the strings of the party.

What the reader will find when picking up this tome are the following, summarised in dot points below, and in no particular order:

• the efforts of the party leadership to change the party's image were undercut by forces within the movement;
• the party was and is in a state of perpetual flux;
• the party is still tied and subservient to its historical paramilitary and political baggage;
• there is a deep seeded culture of bullying, cover-ups, political disfunction, paranoia and suspicion, scandal, chaos, malfeasance;
• it has a top down structure and hierarchy that is not driven by grass roots culture;
• the party leadership worked to control its members and centralise power and no deviation from the party line is tolerated;
• the party narrative was and is driven, controlled and censured by dominant personalities who didn't care for change until the politics became popularly unpalatable;

From available sources, historical documents, and anonymous interviews, Moore has managed to put together a history of the party. The narrative, however, goes back and forth with the introduction of each new character and key events to give perspective and context to the overall story (Irish storytelling is never linear). 

I personally, would also have preferred two things:

1. that the actions of the Sinn Fein were viewed also in context of the actions of its political and paramilitary opponents, though understand that this would have increased what is already a decent lengthy tome;
2. that the detail on the hierarchical structure of the party had been documented earlier in the book to aid the reader is grasping where each organisation was placed.

I have previously read a great deal about Irish history and politics leading up to the early 2000s, so I was keenly interested in what Moore (who implies that the reader has a certain level of knowledge already) had to say and what she could add to what had previously been written. There were some snippets I found of interest whilst there was much that confirmed and substantiated what I knew and suspected from my own readings and research.

Overall, from an outsiders' perspective, Moore achieves her intent. A worthwhile read for those for whom this subject matter is of interest.

Review: Broadway Butterfly by Anthony M DeStefano

Synopsis: The definitive book on one of the most notorious murders in Jazz Age New York history, that of Vivian Gordon, the high-end escort, con artist, and blackmailer connected to gangsters like “Legs” Diamond and Arnold Rothstein, whose death exposed the dark underbelly of police corruption throughout the city—from the Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist who is one of the foremost Mafia experts writing today. 

Like so many other pretty butterflies, Indiana-born Vivian Gordon fluttered to New York in 1920 looking for fame and fortune. Before long, the flame-haired chorus girl parlayed her youth, beauty, and ambition into more profitable means as a tough and glamorous symbol of Prohibition-era excess. She was a speakeasy owner, blackmailer, high-end escort, extortionist, racketeer, and con woman. But given her dangerously intimate associations—from ruthless underworld gangsters to corrupt high-ranking city officials—Vivian was also a woman who knew too much and who rightfully feared for her life. On February 26, 1931, Vivian’s bludgeoned and garroted body was found dumped in Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. 

Now, in the first in-depth biography of its kind, Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano unravels her tumultuous life and the headline-making murder that became an obsession for many, including then-Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The evidence Vivian left behind was a diary with more than three-hundred names implicating powerful officials, philanthropists, businessmen, and every major gangland figure in collusion and corruption. The investigation eventually resulted in the career-ending investigation of James “Jimmy” Walker, disgraced mayor of New York City. Ultimately, Broadway Butterfly finally finds a place in history for Vivian, a woman with a rare legacy in gangster lore, whose demise was as tragically inevitable as the brutality of the city’s demimonde during Prohibition.

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More of a case of the author providing a central figure around which to delve into the history of the period rather than the other way around. Jazz Age New York is the star and Vivian Gordon is the understudy.

However, it is a highly compelling look at the huge amount of graft and corruption taking place in all levels of government, as well as an insight into some of the legendary characters of the period - gangsters, cops, politician and madams. The reader will not be failed to be entertained.

Nice wrap up at the end with a chapter dedicated to what happened to those key players mentioned in the book.

Review: The Cecils by David Lee

Synopsis: The Cecils: The Dynasty and Legacy of Lord Burghley looks at the lives of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Elizabeth I’s Chief Minister and Secretary of State and that of his son, Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury.

Lord Burghley served three Tudor Monarchs in an unparalleled rise to power during the reign of Elizabeth I and his political influence on state matters, his remarkable close bond to the queen, and the self-sacrifice in his service to the state and crown, are closely examined in this unprecedented work. The life and career of William’s youngest son Robert, Earl of Salisbury, who also became Elizabeth’s Chief Minister as heir to his father’s political mantle, will also be discussed.

Robert served his queen equally to, if not more ruthlessly than his father. His powerful position remained intact during the transition of the crown from the House of Tudor to the House of Stuart upon Elizabeth’s death in 1603. Robert’s loyalties and his relationship with his father remain a topic of discussion and debate. This book will also explore the transition of power from one Cecil to another, and how both men created a powerful dynasty and legacy that continues to fascinate readers today.

The book is based on a close examination of William and Robert Cecil’s correspondence, personal papers, state papers, legal documents, and memoranda. By closely examining these sources, the author has gained a clearer insight into the lives and careers of the Cecil’s, the true powerhouse behind the throne.

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A detailed look at the father / son duo of William and Robert Cecil, from their humble beginnings to their prominence under Queen Elizabeth I. Author David Lee explores their political careers and personal lives, their personalities and relationship with Elizabeth, politics and religions, their rises and rewards, and finally their legacy.

We begin with William - his family and early life, his own marriage and family, and his formation of ties to the monarchy. His career began under Henry VIII and continued under Henry's son and successor Edward VI - Lee comments that Cecil's "... early life and religiosity reflected that of the monarchs .." - a wise move no doubt under Henry. Even at this stage (1540s & 1550s), Cecil was developing his relationship with Elizabeth. When Catholic Mary Tudor came to power, Cecil, a protestant, wisely stayed away from court, and he only re-emerges when Elizabeth takes the throne.

Lee then examines Cecil's position as secretary and how he was viewed by his contemporaries; his patronage and influence; and onto his own family and their positions.

Cecil's tenure coincided with religious tensions both in England and Europe. There was also the question of Mary Queen of Scots and the secret marriages of Elizabeth's kinswomen. During this time, another key player at the Elizabethan court was on the rise - Walsingham - the Spy Master. Quite timely as the 1580s were marked by plots and treason, the execution of Mary, the rise of the Jesuits and the threat of the Spanish Armada.

Cecil's final decade witnessed the rise of his son Robert, who had taken over from Walsingham whilst his eldest son by his first marriage, Thomas, took his place in the parliament, and succeeded his father as Lord Burghley.

We move onto Robert's career under James I, which begins rather precariously due to his rivalry with Walter Raleigh. However, following the Gunpowder Plot, Robert's position stablises and he too rises in esteem. But the court of James I was a hotbed of scandal, not the least for Thomas Cecil.

What Lee provides is a valuable insight into a family whose sense of duty to the monarch and crown saw them well rewarded and regarded even if not by those courtiers who viewed them with a slightly envious eye. Their political legacy extended even into the 20th century.

Recommended for those wanting to expand their reading beyond general histories of both the Tudor, Elizabethan and Jacobite periods.

Review: The Ruling Families of Rus by Christian Raffensperger & Donald Ostrowski

Synopsis: A new history of the Kyivan Rus, a medieval dynastic state in eastern Europe.

Kyivan Rus’ was a state in northeastern Europe from the late ninth to the mid-sixteenth century that encompassed a variety of peoples, including Lithuanians, Polish, and Ottomans. The Ruling Families of Rus explores the region’s history through local families, revealing how the concept of family rule developed over the centuries into what we understand as dynasties today. Examining a broad range of archival sources, the authors examine the development of Rus, Lithuania, Muscovy, and Tver and their relationships with the Mongols, Byzantines, and others. The Ruling Families of Rus will appeal to scholars interested in the medieval history of eastern Europe.

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The object of this book is to explore family rule and how it "morphed through the centuries" into the concept of dynasty - with the main focus on the ruling families of Kievan Rus.

The author begins each chapter with a summary of intent before expounding upon a more detailed study. We begin with some background to the Kingdom of Rus, its establishment and their key characters. I would suggest a rudimentary knowledge of this particular segment of history though the author does provide a genealogy of those being discussed.

Chapter Two identifies the key principle being used in the book and why these are orientated around family ties, issues of succession and inheritance. Also under discussion are the "descent myths" and legitimacy of the family line. Here too, Raffensperger challenges historical records.

Then the focus is narrowed down to primary characters such as Volodimer the Christianiser, Fedor/Mstiskav, Vladimir Suzdal, Vsevolod and his Ukrainian rival Roman Mstilavich. Chapter Seven looks at 13th century Novogorod, which leads into the 14th century and the reign of Alexander Nevsky, and Kyiv and its rulers.

Chapter Ten focuses on the women. Raffensperger says: ". relationships among ruling families were defined by the wives, mothers and daughters of the rulers, both through alliance formed by marriage and, more directly, through the influence of particularly well-placed, politically astute women .." This becomes an equally important chapter when discussing families and dynasties.

The final two chapters cover off the rule of Dimitri Donskoi in Moscow, and the aftermath of inter-clan conflict between Vasilii II and Iurii in the 15th century; whilst the Epilogue discusses the end of clan rule in Moscow in the late 16th century.

All in all, I found this to be a fascinating read - the subject matter was right up my alley as I have a number of books on this period myself. I myself did not struggle with the content however, as mentioned beforehand, a rudimentary knowledge would be advantageous for a new reader.

Review: The Kingmaker's Women by Julia Hickey

Synopsis: They were supposed to be pious, fruitful and submissive. The wealthiest women in the kingdom, Anne Beauchamp and her daughters were at the heart of bitter inheritance disputes. Well educated and extravagant, they lived in style and splendour but were forced to navigate their lives around the unpredictable clashes of the Cousins’ War. Were they pawns or did they exert an influence of their own?

The twists and turns of Fate as well as the dynastic ambitions of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick saw Isabel married without royal permission to the Yorkist heir presumptive, George Duke of Clarence. Anne Neville was married to Edward of Lancaster, the only son of King Henry VI when her father turned his coat. One or the other was destined to become queen. Even so, the Countess of Warwick, heiress to one of the richest titles in England, could not avoid being declared legally dead so that her sons-in-law could take control of her titles and estates.

Tragic Isabel, beloved by her husband, would experience the dangers of childbirth and on her death, her midwife was accused of witchcraft and murder. Her children both faced a traitor’s death because of their Plantagenet blood. Anne Neville became the wife of Richard, Duke of Gloucester having survived a forced march, widowhood and the ambitions of Isabel’s husband. When Gloucester took the throne as Richard III, she would become Shakespeare’s tragic queen. The women behind the myth suffered misfortune and loss but fulfilled their domestic duties in the brutal world they inhabited and fought by the means available to them for what they believed to be rightfully their own.

The lives of Countess Anne and her daughters have much to say about marriage, childbirth and survival of aristocratic women in the fifteenth century.

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Hickey makes the statement: "... identity and importance came from their role as daughters, and , later, as wives of the great and the good ...". Whilst true of the period, and of the periods both before and after, it is a rather disappointing one to make if you are writing a book that focuses on, brings to the fore, the women who were central in the events known as the Wars of the Roses.

However, as the blurb tells us from the beginning: "The lives of Countess Anne and her daughters have much to say about marriage, childbirth and survival of aristocratic women in the fifteenth century." Unfortunately it is the reverse - the author has much to say on marriage, childbirth and domesticity in the fifteenth century, but very little on her chosen subjects. 

We know there is no documentary trail for us to follow with regards to specifics for these women, and as such, Hickey provides generalities, assumptions and comparisons based on known contemporary sources.

Like many other authors, where the information is just not present, the focus turns to the more documented males and the usual genealogical information (who married who, who inherited what, etc).

The work is taken up to the period of the death of Anne Neville, and finishes up with a brief recap as to what was next for Anne Beauchamp and the fate of her grandchildren under the Tudors. And Hickey does provide the usual accompaniments - family tree, period timeline, a who's who, notes and pictures for those interested. 

Unfortunately, for me - personally - I found nothing new; nothing that I did not already know from my own extensive reading, and nothing that could not be found in even the most general history of the Wars of the Roses. For the newcomer, however, this book would make a good starting point - for the more well-read looking for specifics and more details, then less so.

Review: The Murder of Alexander Litvinenko by Boris Volodarsky

Synopsis: In his famous Moonlight and Vodka , Chris de Burgh got it Espionage is a serious business. And like every serious business, it must be taken seriously. Less than two decades after the untimely death of Sasha Litvinenko, poisoned at the heart of London’s Mayfair by Russian secret agents by the previously unknown radioactive substance containing a fatal dose of Polonium-210, it is hardly remembered by anyone in the West. No wonder, we live in an information-rich world when the wealth of information means a dearth of something a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. Such an obvious thing was suddenly discovered by a simple old man from Milwaukee, and he’s got a point there.

This book is about the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, whose legal case seems to many people like open-and-shut. Even to his widow Marina and their son. To MI6, MI5 and the Special Operations branch of the London’s Metropolitan Police who presented it to the public as thoroughly investigated and closed. To judge Sir Robert Owen appointed to hold the inquest “into the death of a Russian Spy” as the BBC and other media has put it – a terrible mistake. To journalists and writers who had been following this case for as long as a decade, not to mention the prime suspect living a good life in Moscow. But not for me. For me this case remains open.

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The death of Alexander "Sasha" Litvinenko on 23 November 2006, after being poisoned with polonium-210 made headlines worldwide. Litvinenko was a senior investigating officer fighting organised crime and corruption in Russia before rebelling, being imprisoned and ultimately escaping and defecting to the UK, where he worked as a journalist, activist,and commentator.

However, Volodarsky's book is far from a straight forward piece of investigative journalism - which is disappointing as the author's views might have been better served had he followed this well-worn path.

For the reader, there is a lot of information of the state of Russian politics prior to Litvinenko - we begin with a brief summary of events, the author's further questions, the rise of Putin and then the focus centers on Boris Berezovsky. I seriously wondered when the author was actually going to get around to Litvinenko. The fact the there was such a focus on Berezovsky rather than Litvinenko ensured that I became rather disenchanted with the whole tme. I did push on till then end, but Volodarsky provides nothing that a google or wikipedia search could not provide. Litvinenko was never the main focus - he should have been.

Whilst I myself was deeply intrigued by the whole Litvinenko saga as it was played out in real time (at the time), this particular tome barely satisfied my curiosity and the conspiracy theorist in me.

The Chancellor by Kati Marton

This one popped into my newsfeed courtesy of Simon & Schuster:

About The Book:

The definitive biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, detailing the remarkable rise and political brilliance of the most powerful—and elusive—woman in the world.

The Chancellor is at once a riveting political biography and an intimate human story of a complete outsider—a research chemist and pastor’s daughter raised in Soviet-controlled East Germany—who rose to become the unofficial leader of the West.

Acclaimed biographer Kati Marton set out to pierce the mystery of how Angela Merkel achieved all this. And she found the answer in Merkel’s political genius: in her willingness to talk with adversaries rather than over them, her skill at negotiating without ever compromising on what’s most important to her, her canniness in appointing political rivals to her cabinet and exacting their policies so they have no platform to run against her, the humility to allow others to take credit for things done in tandem, the wisdom to stay out of the papers and off Twitter, and the vision to take advantage of crises to enact bold change.

Famously private, the Angela Merkel who emerges in The Chancellor is a role model for anyone interested in gaining and keeping power while holding onto one’s moral convictions—and for anyone looking to understand how to successfully bridge huge divisions within society. No modern leader has so ably confronted Russian aggression, provided homes to over a million refugees, and calmly unified Europe at a time when other countries are becoming more divided. But Marton also describes Merkel’s many challenges, such as her complicated relationship with President Obama, who she at one point refused to speak to.

This captivating portrait shows a woman who has survived extraordinary challenges to transform her own country and return it to the global stage. Timely and revelatory, this great morality tale shows the difference an exceptional leader can make for the greater good of a country and the world.

Out of the Shadows by Emily Midorikawa

Queen Victoria’s reign was an era of breathtaking social change, but it did little to create a platform for women to express themselves. Not so within the social sphere of the séance – a mysterious, lamp-lit world on both sides of the Atlantic, in which women who craved a public voice could hold their own. Out of the Shadows tells the stories of the enterprising women whose supposedly clairvoyant gifts granted them fame, fortune, and, most important, influence, as they crossed rigid boundaries of gender and class as easily as they passed between the realms of the living and the dead. The Fox sisters inspired some of the era’s best-known political activists and set off a transatlantic séance craze. While in the throes of a trance, Emma Hardinge Britten delivered powerful speeches to crowds of thousands. Victoria Woodhull claimed guidance from the spirit world as she took on the millionaires of Wall Street before becoming America’s first female presidential candidate. And Georgina Weldon narrowly escaped the asylum before becoming a celebrity campaigner against archaic lunacy laws. Drawing on diaries, letters, rarely seen memoirs and texts, Emily Midorikawa illuminates a radical history of female influence that has been confined to the dark until now. “Midorikawa breathes life into these long-ago women in ways that make them feel contemporary despite their extraordinary circumstances and distance in time . . . By the book’s end, it no longer matters whether you believe these six remarkable spirit mediums were hoaxes or not; you’ll certainly believe in them. —BookPage (starred review) Join Emily Midorikawa on 5/16 for the virtual launch reading at Brookline Booksmith.

Governing Hibernia by K. Theodore Hoppen

The Anglo-Irish Union of 1800 which established the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland made British ministers in London more directly responsible for Irish affairs than had previously been the case. The Act did not, however, provide for full integration, and left in existence a separate administration in Dublin under a Viceroy and a Chief Secretary. This created tensions that were never resolved. The relationship that ensued has generally been interpreted in terms of 'colonialism' or 'post-colonialism', concepts not without their problems in relation to a country so geographically close to Britain and, indeed, so closely connected constitutionally.

Governing Hibernia seeks to examine the Union relationship from a new and different perspective. In particular it argues that London's policies towards Ireland in the period between the Union and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 oscillated sharply. At times, the policies were based on a view of an Ireland so distant, different, and violent that (regardless of promises made in 1800) its government demanded peculiarly Hibernian policies of a coercive kind (c. 1800-1830); at others, they were based on the premise that stability was best achieved by a broadly assimilationist approach — in effect attempting to make Ireland more like Britain (c. 1830-1868); and finally they made a return to policies of differentiation though in less coercive ways than had been the case in the decades immediately after the Union (c. 1868-1921). The outcome of this last policy of differentiation was a disposition, ultimately common to both of the main British political parties, to grant greater measures of devolution and ultimately independence, a development finally rendered viable by the implementation of Irish partition in 1921/2.

Ex-IRA man's novel adds to intrigue over Northern Bank heist

From The Guardian: 

On 19 December 2004, masked raiders took £26.5m in cash from the vaults of Belfast’s Northern Bank, loaded it on to a truck and vanished into the night.

It was one of the most audacious heists in British criminal history, and it left an enduring riddle: did the IRA do it? Police on both sides of the Irish border suspected so, but the group denied any involvement. The robbers have not been caught and the investigation remains open.

Now a former IRA volunteer and convicted bank robber, Ricky O’Rawe, has added to the intrigue by writing a novel with echoes of the raid.

Northern Heist, published September 2018, is a rollicking, colourful account of the preparation and execution of a very similar robbery. The fictional one is committed by a Belfast criminal gang headed by a character named James “Ructions” O’Hare, a professional thief. The IRA is not involved in the robbery but demands a cut of the proceeds, leading to twists and double-crosses.

read more here @ The Guardian

The Ties That Bind by Bernard Capp

The family is a major area of scholarly research and public debate. Many studies have explored the English family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, focusing on husbands and wives, parents and children. The Ties that Bind: Siblings, Family, and Society in Early Modern England by Bernard Capp explores in depth the other key dimension: the place of brothers and sisters in family life, and in society.

Moralists urged mutual love and support between siblings, but recognized that sibling rivalry was a common and potent force. The widespread practice of primogeniture made England distinctive. The eldest son inherited most of the estate and with it, a moral obligation to advance the welfare of his brothers and sisters. The Ties that Bind explores how this operated in practice, and shows how the resentment of younger brothers and sisters made sibling relationships a heated issue in this period, in family life, in print, and also on the stage.

First Ladies by Betty Boyd Caroli

Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies: The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump is both a captivating read and an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments in First Lady history, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.

Covering all forty-five women from Martha Washington to Melania and Ivanka Trump and including the daughters, daughters-in-law, and sisters of presidents who served as First Ladies, Caroli explores each woman's background, marriage, and accomplishments and failures in office. This remarkable lot included Abigail Adams, whose "remember the ladies" became a twentieth-century feminist refrain; Jane Pierce, who prayed her husband would lose the election; Helen Taft, who insisted on living in the White House, although her husband would have preferred a judgeship; Eleanor Roosevelt, who epitomized the politically involved First Lady; and Pat Nixon, who perfected what some have called "the robot image." They ranged in age from early 20s to late 60s; some received superb educations for their time, while others had little or no schooling. Including the courageous and adventurous, the ambitious, and the reserved, these women often did not fit the traditional expectations of a presidential helpmate. 

First Ladies is an engaging portrait of how each First Lady changed the role and how the role changed in response to American culture. These women left remarkably complete records, and their stories offer us a window through which to view not only this particular sorority of women, but also the role of American woman in general.

High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic

From History News Network:

In High Noon, journalist Glenn Frankel, the author of an outstanding book on John Ford’s The Searchers, examines the making of a classic Western film within the historical and cultural context of the Red Scare that divided America and Hollywood during the 1950s. While Hollywood is often perceived as a bastion of liberalism, Frankel documents how conservatives in the film capitol, such as Walt Disney, John Wayne, Cecil B. DeMille, and Hedda Hopper, formed the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and invited the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) to Hollywood following the Second World War. The result of the HUAC hearings was the imprisonment of the Hollywood Ten for contempt of Congress after they challenged the right of the committee to question their political beliefs and associations. 

read complete review by Ron Briley here @ History News Network

CONDI: The Condoleezza Rice Story by Antonia Felix

As Secretary of State and a close confidant of President George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice is the most influential woman in the history of the United States government, and perhaps one of the most famous black women in the world. Her latest stint in Washington, D.C., follows her role as National Security Advisor to the President and a distinguished career as scholar, professor, provost, and foreign policy advisor that has taken her from Birmingham, Alabama, to Denver, Colorado, to Palo Alto, California, to the White House-all by the age of 50.

But just who is this powerful woman who has experienced firsthand some of our nation's darkest and brightest moments, who was a key player in the government's response to the September 11 tragedies, and who some believe will likely be a future governor, senator, vice president, or even president.

Read more @ Harper Collins and review @ Publishers Weekly: "Although Felix didn't interview Rice, this informative biography draws on a thorough list of secondary sources and on interviews with family, friends and colleagues."

The Day Will Pass Away: The Diary of a Gulag Prison Guard 1935-1936

Read a review of "The Day Will Pass Away: The Diary of a Gulag Prison Guard 1935-1936" by Ivan Christyakov at the StarTribune:

Police states spread complicity by forcing citizens into immoral roles. With “The Day Will Pass Away,” readers get a remarkable opportunity to peek into the 1930s diary of one such citizen — Ivan Chistyakov, a guard in the Soviet gulag.

Under Communist rule during the 20th century, Russia herded millions of residents into labor camps without trial. Many were sent thousands of miles to vast infrastructure projects in an attempt to shock-industrialize the nation. As purges under Stalin began and executions swept the country, Chistyakov found himself in command of an armed platoon on the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway, an eastern outpost of the camp system.

read more here at Star Tribune

A Brilliant Defense of Christendom

From Crisis Magazine comes this review of Before Church and State: A Study of Social Order in the Sacramental Kingdom of St. Louis IX by Andrew Willard Jones:

In medieval times, we are told that tyranny ruled, and the Church and the nascent State were constant rivals in the pursuit of dominance. So many modern historians have cynically reduced this period when Christianity prevailed to a time of cultural darkness and violent power struggles.

Our historian’s central thesis is simply stated: “I argue that thirteenth century France was not a world of the secular and religious vying for position and power, but a world in which the material and the spiritual were totally dependent on each other and penetrated one another at every level.”

He claims medieval society offered “a coherent vision of the whole in which mankind moved through grace from the lesser to the greater, from the fallen to the redeemed. It was an integral vision which included all of social reality and it was removed from our own.”

read more here 

@ Crisis Magazine

@ St Paul Center

@ Amazon

Review: In and of the Mediterranean by Michelle M. Hamilton

Spain & the Mediterranean - a collection of essays on medieval Iberian history in relation to the Mediterranean Sea. It is a study of the diverse religious and ethnic groups, of the politics of the period, and the interaction and co-existence of all groups.

The focus of each chapter is, either singularly or collectively, mainly from the Spanish perspective, whether Christian, Muslim or Jew. Each chapter (or indepth essay) is followed by extensive notes and works cited to enable the reader to explore further should they wish to do so. It is an academic tome not designed for the everyday layman.

Personally, I would purchase this book simply for Chapter 3 (The Princess & the Palace: On Hawwa' bint Tashufin & Other Women from the Almoravid Royal Family) and Chapter 10 (Amadis of Gaul's novel of chivalry, trans Jacob Algaba).

Review also posted @ Goodreads

The Wars of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America's Greatest Political Family

The Roosevelts - one of America's most prominent political families - descended from Dutch immigrants, intermarrying with local well-heeled colonial families, and whose members have included two United States Presidents, a First Lady, and various merchants, politicians, inventors, clergymen, artists, and socialites. 

...... this is an absorbing, well-written and very important book for both scholars and general readers—solidly grounded in “letters, diaries, datebooks, telegrams, court records, FBI reports and contemporary newspaper accounts.” But, as author William J. Mann makes clear, the larger story of the Roosevelts has been “masterfully chronicled” many times. “Rather,” he insists, “my goal is to tell a story that has been embedded, entwined, in some ways hidden in plain sight,” within the history of politics and public policy. The rivalry of the Roosevelt dynasties, he acknowledges, is well-documented; “What’s been less acknowledged is the fact that the battles went far deeper and were more personal,” impacting the lives of “parents, children, siblings, and spouses” in what amounted to “a family at war.”

read review by Sheldon M Stern here @ History News Network

See Also:

• Hissing Cousins @ Salon
• The Roosevelts by Ken Burn @ The Times
• What Happened to the Roosevelts @ Politico Magazine
• The Roosevelts: An Intimate History @ Wikipedia