A review by peaceofseoul
Joan of Arc: A History by Helen Castor

2.0

Unfortunately, this was not what I was looking for. I had hoped to pick up a biography of Joan of Arc but I was nearly 50% through the book by the time she is first mentioned and she disappears again not long after. I would categorize this book as a summary of events from Henry V's resumption of the hundred years war through to it's end, mentioning Joan where she is relevant but not much more amidst the acts of dozens of other political figures through this time. There is no discussion of her birth, her childhood, her family, or her upbringing. I would consider these things to be pertinent to discussion of her life as they can help frame her future choices and beliefs. There is no mention of what impact the English, Burgundians, or Armagnacs had on her town or early life that might have led her to have such strong belief in the Armagnacs or stanch hatred against the English. We meet her when Charles VII meets her, as a young woman adamant that he become king, and know her only through brief excerpts of her letters to her enemies, records from her trials, then in hindsight after her death. However, I appreciate this books attitude towards Joan, as it attempts to frame her deeds as they were interpreted at the time, as acts of either god or the devil, rather than with a modern lens which often attempts to diagnose her with various mental illnesses. Having finished the book now, I feel I have an understanding of the end of the war and the people of the time's attitudes towards divine visions, but sadly I know as little of Joan as I did before.