New books :-)

[gnomi]

This evening, MAB got me two new books to slake my desire for British history:

1. A Brief History of British Kings and Queens by Mike Ashley (part of the "A Brief History Of" series)
2. A Rhyming History of Britain, 55 BC - AD 1966 by James Muirden

I haven't looked at the first one yet, but the second one is much fun. It's a complete history of the UK in iambic tetrameter. And it's all accurate, too.

Here's an excerpt:

The jewelled lady in the ruff,
Eventually ran out of puff,
And with her sumptuous cortege
They lay to rest the Tudor age.
What was the secret of a reign
Whose like may never come again?
Surely because her rule expressed
The nation's soul. As she confessed:
'Though greater monarchs came before,
And there may yet be many more --
Of all this princely host, not one
Could love you more than I have done.'

Comments

[xanthe.livejournal.com]

I'm a total history buff - my favourite period is the Tudors and I usually have a preference for the "strong women" of history, like Elizabeth 1st (my heroine!) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, although I have sneaking fondness for Charles II as well. My favourite ever historical biography is "The 6 Wives of Henry VIIIth" by Alison Weir which is fast moving and fascinating, imparting facts but not in a dry way at all. I also love her "Medieval murder mystery" take on the deaths of the two princes in the tower and her straight historical biogs of Elizabeth and Eleanor are excellent. Just in case you wanted any recs which you probably didn't! LOL!

The Iambic tetrameter book sounds great fun! I love that rhyme about Elizabeth (ggg)

[pressburger.livejournal.com]

Did you read the Op-Ed in the Times yesterday about Eats Shoots and Leaves? It made me think of you. I almost emailed it to you, but since MAB gets the Times, I figured you'd read the paper version.