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A review by nathanjhunt
Athelstan: The Making of England by Tom Holland
challenging
informative
fast-paced
3.0
This was my 58th book finished in 2023.
Knowing nothing about this period of English history, I was eager to learn; pre-Norman history is a bit of a mystery to me.
Unfortunately, I felt having no background knowledge was a hindrance. The book jumped about a bit at the beginning which really confused me. It name dropped so many people and places in one go; I struggled to follow the text, as the author doesn't do much to explain who all these people are, especially when they have very similar names (Æthelwulf, Æthelred, Æethelflæd, Æethelweard, Ærthelhelm, Æthelbald, Æethelberht).
The family tree is headache-inducing, and the author doesn't do much to explain the relations in the text.
Overall it was fine, but I didn't feel like I learnt much as it was difficult to take in.
Knowing nothing about this period of English history, I was eager to learn; pre-Norman history is a bit of a mystery to me.
Unfortunately, I felt having no background knowledge was a hindrance. The book jumped about a bit at the beginning which really confused me. It name dropped so many people and places in one go; I struggled to follow the text, as the author doesn't do much to explain who all these people are, especially when they have very similar names (Æthelwulf, Æthelred, Æethelflæd, Æethelweard, Ærthelhelm, Æthelbald, Æethelberht).
The family tree is headache-inducing, and the author doesn't do much to explain the relations in the text.
Overall it was fine, but I didn't feel like I learnt much as it was difficult to take in.