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stitchsaddiction's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Absolutely incredible, I highly recommend this book for anybody wishing to expand their knowledge of Tudor & Stuart England (and Europe to be honest).
adelaide_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
alexisdpatt's review
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
“Black Tudors: The Untold Story” by Miranda Kauffman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
“Black Tudors” is a collection of men and women who lived and/or worked in or for the English during the Tudor and Early Stuart period (~1500-1640).
**DISCLAIMER**
Because so little evidence records the lives of the average person during this period part from birth, death and baptism, even more little evidence is recorded for African people living in England. That being said, a narrative, unfortunately, is the main driver of this piece. There is a lot of criticism given to historians because they have to “speculate” about the lives of the people in the past. One must understand that, without proper evidence or documentation, all we historians can do is create a larger context in order for these smaller voices to be heard.
With that in mind, Kauffman does an amazing job at world building the lives of Africans living in England during the Tudor period. Imagine watching an episode of “The Tudors” on showtime and seeing events unfold, then image the same episode from the perspective of a servant—a black servant even—that’s where this book shines. Kauffman takes the person and their occupation and uses it as the focal point to events or daily life in 16th century England. I absolutely loved it.
Are aspects of this book speculative? Sure, and Kauffman is the first person to tell you this and make you aware of the fact. However, this doesn’t negate or take away from the experiences of the African men and women who existed in England during a time in which race wasn’t even a thought and slavery as a hot commodity and commercial venture hadn’t began in the English Empire.
I really enjoyed this monograph and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it.
inthetracks's review against another edition
I nearly finished this book and was listening to it on audible. It's pretty good and very informative but started feeling a little repetitive. Nothing against the book. Am just ready for something new.
sophieamelia's review against another edition
Interesting topic, very dry and waffly writing style.