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bookwoman1967's review against another edition
4.0
While very approachable to the general public, at over 600 pages this is certainly geared to the reader who is already interested in medieval history. I listened to the audio version read by the author and liked it a lot (authors reading their own works are hit or miss in my opinion). Dan Jones ranges far outside the usual British realm in this history, to draw in a more diverse cast of characters. My favorite quote, although I forget to what it referred: "By the standards of any age, this was a hot mess."
cj_lovesbooks's review against another edition
4.5
For a non-fiction history book that covers such a vast amount of information, I found this book to be easily digestible.
I liked how it was broken into chapters and then further divided within the chapters. It made it easy to tackle such a large book. And I found it had a narrative tone to make the book read more as story telling than straight fact reciting.
It was definitely a good overview and there are many topics that I definitely want to dive more into.
I liked how it was broken into chapters and then further divided within the chapters. It made it easy to tackle such a large book. And I found it had a narrative tone to make the book read more as story telling than straight fact reciting.
It was definitely a good overview and there are many topics that I definitely want to dive more into.
rorookie's review
1.0
1 uber disappointing, crying in my seat star. ⭐
The picture-perfect retelling of the so-called Arabian siege through the lens of an individual with leanings so close to that of Islamophobic. I aspire to have a fraction of the confidence required to chalk over my own biases to “eurocentric depictions” of history. To explicitly detail the apparent violent takeover led by the Arabs and the Caliphates and then neglect to mention the violence that ensued by countless religions (Christianity’s Crusades, Spanish Reconquista, etc) is hypocritical and purposely obtuse.
Not only that?? But the insinuations of this ENTIRE book is that it is a largely European retelling of history which didn’t happen?? It’s funny because I think my high school essays did a better job of sticking to their theses AND had some semblance of a transition (imagine having good transitions Dan).
It’s disheartening to KNOW that a book could’ve lived up to its potential and just.. didn’t? Implicit messaging is dead and Dan Jones is dancing on its grave
The picture-perfect retelling of the so-called Arabian siege through the lens of an individual with leanings so close to that of Islamophobic. I aspire to have a fraction of the confidence required to chalk over my own biases to “eurocentric depictions” of history. To explicitly detail the apparent violent takeover led by the Arabs and the Caliphates and then neglect to mention the violence that ensued by countless religions (Christianity’s Crusades, Spanish Reconquista, etc) is hypocritical and purposely obtuse.
Not only that?? But the insinuations of this ENTIRE book is that it is a largely European retelling of history which didn’t happen?? It’s funny because I think my high school essays did a better job of sticking to their theses AND had some semblance of a transition (imagine having good transitions Dan).
It’s disheartening to KNOW that a book could’ve lived up to its potential and just.. didn’t? Implicit messaging is dead and Dan Jones is dancing on its grave
sguser23's review against another edition
I think I would try this book as a print format instead of audio. Because it's covering such a large span of time and space, I found that I became lost quite quickly in audio format.
fallhistorywitch's review
4.0
A thorough history of the middle ages. While I enjoyed reading it, and felt nothing wrong with the information, I liked it more at the beginning. I think it went on for too long, and that some tangents could have been cut out. I felt the chapters could have been broken up to be smaller to make it easier to read.