Medieval history buffs of an obsessive trainspotting and detectorist bent will be pleased—general readers, less so.
A chronicle of the significant 1066 battle.
At the time of the Norman conquest, England, writes Bradbury, was “one of the most developed political units in western Europe,” its Anglo-Saxon rulers having solidified control over most of the country and expanded into Scotland and Wales. Normandy—not the present province, but the region of northwestern France controlled by people of Scandinavian descent—was emerging as a continental power, as well, and ranging far afield in search of lootworthy venues. When William II, the Duke of Normandy, came to power, he concentrated Norman power further, facing down the threat of local peasant rebellions and war with neighboring Anjou. William was decidedly unpleasant: When snickered at for being illegitimate, he “ordered the hands and feet of thirty-two mockers to be cut off.” Regardless of his temperament, owing to the confusing lineages of medieval Europe, William had about as much right to be king of England, across the Channel, as anyone. When Harold took the throne after more or less promising that he wouldn’t, William committed himself to storming the island and making England a Viking-tinged French colony. The author’s account is mostly dutiful and only occasionally illuminating. More of the book, though, is given over to a nearly real-time, blow-by-blow description of the Battle of Hastings and its hacked-off limbs and arrow-pierced eyes. Usefully, Bradbury points out that the result of the fight was far from a foregone conclusion, as many popular accounts have it, with the outcome hanging in the balance over the course of a long, bloody day. Yet, specialists aside, readers will find themselves bogged down by the author’s wonky attention to such things as the composition of a Norman shield (“some have a few rivets—four, six, nine, even eleven—probably to hold together the planks of wood”) and the exact composition of the opposing forces.
Medieval history buffs of an obsessive trainspotting and detectorist bent will be pleased—general readers, less so.Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64313-632-5
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
HISTORY | MILITARY | WORLD | GENERAL HISTORY
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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