Scan barcode
katiedreads's review
4.0
This was an interesting book on The Gunpowder Plot. I thought it had enough detail, that even people with some understanding of the history, will have found something new but not so much that you got lost or overwhelmed. It added context for different classes, events in England and other counties to help understand the whole event. It was interesting to understand how King James was viewed at the start of his reign and how much prejudice, suffering and intolerance the Catholics had to experience. However, the author did write this with a perceptible Catholic bias. Which I think was unnecessary as the past is bad enough for the majority of people to sympathise with their plight, the bias only adds confusion over fact vrs bias. I would have scored this higher, if the author had been clearer on what parts are historically accurate (proof) and what parts are assumptions by academics or her personal opinion. It felt blurry at times and I was left thinking, how on earth would they have know .....! I would have also loved to have read more on the celebrations since in the last 400 years and the various interpretations. It has some but only a couple of pages. It is also sad to realise that 400 years later and the evolution of religious intolerance and the reactions to that, the extremism and terroristic responses have not changed much in other countries. I liked the quote of another reviewer "their religion is no deterrent to violence and terrorism; in other words, where you stand depends on where you sit."
More...