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A review by bedneyauthor
The Private Lives of the Saints: Power, Passion and Politics in Anglo-Saxon England by Janina Ramírez
3.0
A good book in principle, about an interesting subject, but unfortunately it was very shallow on detail. I understand that for a lot of people there's not a lot of detail available, but it still felt very much like I was just getting my teeth into the story of one person when the next was introduced. The overall effect was rather unsatisfying.
In particular, there were several occasions when a section purported to be about a particular saint, but the majority of it was about other historical figures who were in a similar category for that saint. It felt like the subject matter would have been more accurately represented by either shorter chapters or the chapters being named after categories rather than saints.
Also, I was somewhat uncomfortable about the statement that the early Christians were a lot like ISIS. I know Ramirez meant in terms of the intensity of their faith, but... what?
In particular, there were several occasions when a section purported to be about a particular saint, but the majority of it was about other historical figures who were in a similar category for that saint. It felt like the subject matter would have been more accurately represented by either shorter chapters or the chapters being named after categories rather than saints.
Also, I was somewhat uncomfortable about the statement that the early Christians were a lot like ISIS. I know Ramirez meant in terms of the intensity of their faith, but... what?