Vanished Kingdoms
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Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
An evocative account of fourteen European kingdoms-their rise, maturity, and eventual disappearance. There is something profoundly romantic about lost civilizations. Europe's past is littered with states and kingdoms, large and small, that are scarcely remembered today, and while their names may be unfamiliar -- Aragon, Etruria, the Kingdom of the Two Burgundies -- their stories should change our mental map of the past. We come across forgotten characters and famous ones -- King Arthur and Macbeth, Napoleon and Queen Victoria, right up to Stalin and Gorbachev -- and discover how faulty memory can be, and how much we can glean from these lost empires. Davies peers through the cracks in the mainstream accounts of modern-day states to dazzle us with extraordinary stories of barely remembered pasts, and of the traces they left behind. This is Norman Davies at his best: sweeping narrative history packed with unexpected insights. Vanished Kingdoms will appeal to all fans of unconventional and thought-provoking history, from readers of Niall Ferguson to Jared Diamond. - Publisher.
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I rather enjoyed this book. One of those that could be delved into as the mood took. Each chapter more an essay on the specific subject and no doubt some would not be happy with that. But for a bit of less than dry reading it more than hits the spot as entertainment. Some would not be happy with the book title. Hardly kingdoms at times that should not detract from the book. Some may not like the songs and poems interspersed but again it is more a book aimed at entertaining history. I like the style that Davies writes in as well. As much as I enjoy the dry academic tomes there is nothing wrong with writing for the layman. A nice read and I will delve further into the authors work one day.
