Scan barcode
A review by randomprogrammer
The Reformation: A History by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Did not finish book.
This book is an absolute slog. It would benefit so much from a cohesive narrative thread. There is so much potential to spend even a little time getting me invested in some of the historical characters and what will eventually happen to them, however this author absolutely refuses to draw my interest. I've heard it argued that it is 'less biased' this way, but I don't think you need to introduce bias to create interest. Just maintain a narrative thread.
Otherwise, this was a very interesting book with a lot of information to consume. Sometimes I definitely felt like I needed to keep a wikipedia summary of the times open next to me while reading, as the author definitely assumes prior background knowledge of the era.
I interrupted my reading of The Cheese and the Worms in order to read this book and get some background knowledge, and I definitely think that was a good decision.
This book was holding me up from reading other stuff, and I stopped reading at about the 60% mark in early november, after realizing that I was only reading it during car-rides about 2 weeks in.
Otherwise, this was a very interesting book with a lot of information to consume. Sometimes I definitely felt like I needed to keep a wikipedia summary of the times open next to me while reading, as the author definitely assumes prior background knowledge of the era.
I interrupted my reading of The Cheese and the Worms in order to read this book and get some background knowledge, and I definitely think that was a good decision.
This book was holding me up from reading other stuff, and I stopped reading at about the 60% mark in early november, after realizing that I was only reading it during car-rides about 2 weeks in.