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basbleu_dans_labiblioteque's review
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This was a very thorough and fascinating look at the life of one of my favorite historical figures ever.
unsolvedmysteries1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Extremely informative. Although a flawed person, and who isn’t, I admire Eleanor of Aquitaine for her intelligence, energy and fortitude. What an amazing person!
siraels's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars
Rating a non-fiction historical book has always been difficult for me. You can't really judge it based on the story because it has already happened, it's someone's personal life and you are in no condition to change it whether you like it or not. So, for me, it's the easiest to judge it based on the writing style and if it reads well. This book certainly does read well. I have read another non-fiction historical book by Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth and even though I still think I liked that one a tiny bit better, Alison Weir has done a marvellous job of portraying Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the times that she had lived, she was mainly portrayed as a bad woman, I think it was mainly because of her unusual fierceness and bravery, also how independent and capable she was. She was brave enough to stand up for what she believed in at times when women were just supposed to look pretty and bear heirs to powerful kingdoms. I grew to like her very much and felt sorry for her because of how much she had to go through. A woman like her should be remembered for eternity, for us to learn from her. Most of the battle scenes and wars could be read with as much anticipation as in a fiction book and it was a real page-turner. In my opinion, Alison Weir has also done a very good job of portraying Eleanor's life despite not having as much historical evidence, documents and chronicles as with the Tudor era.
Rating a non-fiction historical book has always been difficult for me. You can't really judge it based on the story because it has already happened, it's someone's personal life and you are in no condition to change it whether you like it or not. So, for me, it's the easiest to judge it based on the writing style and if it reads well. This book certainly does read well. I have read another non-fiction historical book by Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth and even though I still think I liked that one a tiny bit better, Alison Weir has done a marvellous job of portraying Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the times that she had lived, she was mainly portrayed as a bad woman, I think it was mainly because of her unusual fierceness and bravery, also how independent and capable she was. She was brave enough to stand up for what she believed in at times when women were just supposed to look pretty and bear heirs to powerful kingdoms. I grew to like her very much and felt sorry for her because of how much she had to go through. A woman like her should be remembered for eternity, for us to learn from her. Most of the battle scenes and wars could be read with as much anticipation as in a fiction book and it was a real page-turner. In my opinion, Alison Weir has also done a very good job of portraying Eleanor's life despite not having as much historical evidence, documents and chronicles as with the Tudor era.
its_me_roxy's review against another edition
4.0
One of my FAVORITE women of all time. Eleanor was an amazing women and a complete joy to read about.
deerisms's review against another edition
4.0
My fascination with Eleanor of Aquitaine began when I first saw The Lion in Winter, and Eleanor (played by Katharine Hepburn) asks her husband, King Henry II, "Do you ever wonder if I slept with your father?" and in that moment I wanted to be her. Ever since then other biographies I've read about her either view her through rose colored glasses or see her as the evil whore archetype. Alison Weir's Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life is the first I've read that paints her as a real person, with her own faults and triumphs. Unfortunately during the time when Eleanor was alive, her life was not nearly recorded as well as her husbands and sons' lives were, so Weir had a tendency to delve into their lives more than Eleanor's in some chapters. It's the same reason why we don't know much about Eleanor's mother in law Empress Matilda, her daughters Queen Joanna of Sicily and Queen Eleanor of Castile, or her daughter in law Queen Berengaria of England. But as you can gather from my fangirling of The Lion in Winter I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all of that glorious dysfunction. 4.5 out of 5 stars
snowblu3's review against another edition
4.0
I had to write a book report and it doesn't quite work as a review, so I'm not going to copy it here. I also don't feel like writing out a long review right after that. I will say this was pretty interesting for a work of nonfiction, with minimal eye-glazingly boring passages. Really loved the small details of life that were thrown in, like descriptions of food and clothing and entertainment. I feel like I'd need to read it at least once more to better tie all the events and people together. That got a bit confusing, especially without a map. (I see there is a map in the paper book, but I mostly had a Kindle version.) Learned some new things about Richard the Lionheart, and why his portrayal in Robin Hood stories are wrong. Good read.