Zed
I found this not much different than the various autobiographies that are thrown up by sportsmen and women. In truth they do not lead that interesting a life. They are born and go to school and play footy and coach/manage a team and then tell the heartache of having to drop a favoured player etc etc. For this to be interesting there has to be a certain style of writing that at least keeps one interested. Sadly the great Sheeds (and his ghost writer) failed in this regard.
Was glad to get this one finished in the end. After a promising start it just seemed to lose focus. There was three stories in one here and they got themselves mixed up to the point of confusion much to my disappointment. A dry style of delivery does not tend to bother me generally but Daniel Pick excelled. If I am going to read on Garibaldi again I may look for something more lucid.
I enjoyed this book even though I had read some criticism. Sure there may be some areas that the author has muddled, but has also been implied he may have a bit to hide. With all that in mind this is still a read about a brutal time for a young man. For those that are considering reading this be warned though, it is long and the “action” is non stop.
Interesting but not to my taste. Christopher Hill no doubt forgot more in his life time about Cromwell than I would have read but the class struggles of recent times for me were not the same as those of the Civil wars of Great Britain and Ireland. For mine the struggle was religious. Class had less impact. I also found that this book read as several essays pieced together as opposed to a narrative. I am in the minority in this view and would never suggest that others with an interest in Cromwell not read this book. Just I feel that later books, see Gods Fury, do a lot better.
A biography of an embroidery! Could this be interesting? Yes. I could not put this detective story down and though there are a few suppositions this did not detract from the story. From the beginning to the times of Napoleon and the Nazis Carola Hicks has told a good tale of this wonderful piece of embroidered propaganda.
Thoroughly enjoyable book. I lived in the UK in the early 70's and this was a bit of a nostalgia trip. Made one almost want to relive one's youth to see if it was all that I remembered.
