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knitreadlife's review against another edition
4.0
The facts about Joan of Arc are more compelling than the myth, as Helen Castor demonstrates so well in this scholarly but eminently readable history. Set in her historical context, Joan's impact on her times becomes clear and the consequences of her short life even more significant than I had understood. A great read by a wonderful communicator.
theatomicblonde22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
sydneyscho's review against another edition
2.0
This is a book for historians, not me. The book was divided into three parts and the first part was beyond boring to me. It went into great detail about hundreds of people that weren't major players, which I found hard to follow. I thought it became more interesting when Joan was introduced a third of the way through. It's an unbiased account, not painting her as a hero or lunatic.
ameliastawpert's review against another edition
4.0
This is a good book, but as others have commented it is a history of that part of the 100 Years War rather than a biography. I toyed for that reason with giving it three stars, but it is a four star history book.
alexisdpatt's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
“Joan of Arc: A History” by Helen Castor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Joan of Arc” chronicles the life of Saint Joan in the 15th century as she lead the French Army into battle against the English, only to be taken prisoner, put on trial and burnt at the stake as a heretic.
Castor takes a different approach in telling Joan’s story by using the first third to cover the the ground work as to WHY Joan would even be in this predicament. I always knew it was part of the 100 years war but I never realized that France was thrown into civil war after the death of Charles the Mad in 1422. So by laying out the foundations of Joan’s cause, it helps to elevate and understand her story as to why she got involved.
Castor notes that by doing this, she tells Joan’s life backwards. We start with her entrance into Orléans, her campaign and her arrest. It’s only when we go through her trial that we learn her backstory before she joined the army. It’s kinda laid out as if we are the English and we are learning about her in real time. It’s a very interesting way to set it up.
I would like to note that reading about religion in a pre reformation context is wild to me. We forget just how faithful men and women of the medieval period were (not to say that those during the reformation weren’t but that’s analyzed through politics rather than religious doctrine). To deal with a religious trial of believing that angles and saints spoke to someone is incredibly fascinating and hard to understand.
So either for the religious aspects or for the political jargon at the offset, this book can be very difficult to sit through. I definitely had trouble focusing from time to time, but I and happy in my decision to DNF Kristyn Harris’s “Joan of Arc: A Transfigured Life” because at least with Castor, I wasn’t being presented with an overdramatize account.
doelita's review against another edition
2.0
*spoiler*
she dies so anti-climatic, no but she’s not even there for half the book and when she’s introduced finally she’s dead 5 sentences in....babe
she dies so anti-climatic, no but she’s not even there for half the book and when she’s introduced finally she’s dead 5 sentences in....babe