Welsh Castle Builders - The Savoyard Style

Welsh Castle Builders - The Savoyard Style written by John Marshall and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 344

The Edwardian castles of north Wales were built by a Savoyard master mason,

but also by many other artisans from Savoy. What is more extraordinary, is that

the constables of Flint, Rhuddlan, Conwy and Harlech were also Savoyards, the

Justiciar and Deputy Justiciar at Caernarfon were Savoyards and the head of the

English army leading the relief of the sieges of Flint and Rhuddlan was a future

Count of Savoy. The explanatory story is fundamentally of two men, the builder of

castles, Master James of St George and Justiciar Sir Othon de Grandson, and the

relationship of these two men with King Edward I. But it is also the story of many

others, a story that begins with the marriage of Alianor de Provence to Edward’s

father, Henry III, and the influx of her kinsmen to England, such as Pierre de Savoie.

It is impossible to understand the development of the castles in north Wales without an understanding of the Savoyards, where they came from and their impact on English and Welsh history. The defining work of Arnold Taylor in exploring the Savoyard history of Welsh castles is now many years past, and mostly out of print, it is time for the story to be revisited and expanded upon, in the light of new evidence.

I have to say that this book for me was a book of two halves, firstly it was a fascinating book and subject, with many interesting features and relationships and I really enjoyed it. The second part of the book was that I think you needed more of a knowledge of the subject to get the full impact of the book and what was happening. With the relationship between France, England and Wales throughout the book, it was a little complicated in parts, which is why a reader with a bit more in-depth knowledge would get more from the book. But I don’t want to deter people from this book but I found parts of the book revealing and it answered a couple of long standing questions. The book seems very well researched and the book contains many notes and sources, and I plan to do some further reading on the subject, it inspired me that much. An excellent book for those in the know, and certainly one I would recommend on this subject. 

Ann Walker - The Life & Death of Gentleman Jack's Wife

Ann Walker - The Life and Death of Gentleman Jack’s Wife written by Rebecca Batley and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 240

Lesbian. Lover. Lunatic.

These are just some of the words usually used to describe Ann Walker, the often

overlooked wife of Anne Lister, better known by some as Gentleman Jack. Ann was

one half of England’s first same-sex marriage and yet the rainbow plaque that marks

their historic union on the wall of the Holy Trinity Church, York, features Ann’s name

in a font only half the size of her wife’s. Her story has been long forgotten.

Born into wealth and privilege Ann was one of the most eligible heiresses in 19th century Yorkshire and the question on everyone’s lips in 1830’s Halifax was why a respectable young heiress, with property, fortune and connection risked everything, even her freedom, to become entangled with the notorious Gentleman Jack?

The answer to this question reveals a woman of immense courage, faith, and determination, but her voice has remained silent….until now. Within the depths of Ann’s diary - discovered by Diane Halford in 2020 - the answers to some of the above questions can be found, as can insight into Ann as an independent woman.

The life of Ann is worthy of its own narrative and it is time for Ann to step out of the shadow of Gentleman Jack and tell her own story.

This book was an excellent read that would accompany the original TV series well, although I think you get more from the book and it stands well on its own. The author has written a good book that has been well presented and written. The book reveals more about Ann Walker than the Tv series, although I only saw a couple of episodes, an excellent book about a seemingly inspiring person.

Railway Crimes Committed in Victorian Britain

Railway Crimes Committed in Victorian Britain written by Malcolm Clegg and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 160

The vast majority of Britain’s railways were built between 1830 and 1900 which

happened to coincide with the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). By the turn

of the Nineteenth/Twentieth Century, over one hundred different railway companies

were operating in Britain on more than 22,000 miles of railway track.

Although these new railways brought prosperity to the nation and enabled goods and passengers to be speedily transported the length and breadth of the country for the first time, this remarkable feat of engineering brought with it some unwelcome side-effects, one of which was crime. Wherever crowds of people gather, or unattended goods are being transported, a few unscrupulous individuals and career criminals will usually emerge to ply their trade. Some railway staff members are also unable to resist the temptation of stealing money or goods passing through their hands.

This book gives an insight into the nature and types of crime committed on the railways during the Victorian era, incorporating such offences as theft, assaults and murder, fraud, obstructing the railways and various other infringements of the law.

Over seventy different cases mentioned in the book are true accounts of events which took place on the railway during the Victorian era, the details of which were obtained as a result of hours of researching British Newspaper Archives of that period. The author hopes that readers will get as much pleasure from analysing the various cases cited in the book, as he himself derived from researching and writing about them.

An interesting book, Railway Crimes Committed in Victorian Britain that does exactly what it says on the tin. A wide variety of crimes were committed on the railways and surrounds. The crimes listed range from the serious right down to the almost trivial, but It’s a good read to see a lot about the social issues and crimes going on at the time. While some stories or incidents got a few pages of writing, quite a few, the least serious got a paragraph. But like I said well written and a good read about crime on the railways. Certainly one for those interested in railways or the Victorian era.

Rituals of Death - From Prehistoric Times to Now

Rituals of Death - From Prehistoric Times to Now written by Stan Beckensall

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 176

We all must die, and how society deals with the disposal is fascinating in the way it reflects the beliefs of the people of the time and ways in which they honour or do not honour the dead. Having excavated prehistoric burials, the author weighs carefully the evidence of what people might have thought of the dead through the way they buried them and what was put into the graves. These excavations were done mainly with the help of young people, and the way that this has been organised in order to get the maximum information has been an essential part of the task. The author provides much detail of this that makes it more interesting and personal.

Burial customs change, so the book includes a section on events such as the Black Death and cholera to show how such catastrophes change people's minds and customs.

The present problem of burial has been highlighted as it was then by the horror of an invisible disease, the effects of which we have to cope with. In the past the causes of the disease, when discovered, led to Public health inquiries into the causes, and to improvements in some burial grounds. The traditional burial in “God's little Acre' around a church provides with much information about people through their headstones and other monuments – something accessible to all who visit our churches today, and examples from Northumberland give a typical range of what we find there.

They say never judge a book by its cover, so my first impression was that this might be a bit of a bleak read due to its subject matter. Far from it, this book was interesting, revealing and very comprehensively research, thought out and written. The book goes from the prehistoric times of stone circles and mounds to more formal gravestones we see today. But that is only part of the story because the book looks at the rituals and the ways we celebrate life and death. For example, if you were a warrior you’d be buried in a shallow grave with your weapons and shield to show you were a warrior in life. Today this can’t really happen and so the gravestones have become more elaborate in look and design, therefore the gravestone tells the story of the person through text and ‘add ons’. An excellent and fascinating book that has been beautifully written but not in an overly sensible way. The pictures throughout the book are brilliant and actually tell the story, I’ve now learnt to look at the whole headstone including the back. I thoroughly recommend this book to all.

A Dark History of Gin

A Dark History of Gin written by Mike Rendell and published by Pen &

Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 208

A Dark History of Gin looks at the origins and development of a drink which seems 

to have a universal and timeless appeal. Historian Mike Rendell explores the origins 

of distilling in the ancient world and considers the how, when, where and why of the 

‘happy marriage’ between distilled spirits and berries from the juniper bush. The book 

traces the link between gin and the Low Countries (Holland and Belgium) and looks at 

how the drink was brought across to England when the Dutch-born William of Orange 

became king.

From the tragic era of the gin craze in eighteenth-century London, through to the emergence of ‘the cocktail’, the book follows the story of gin across the Atlantic to America and the emergence of the mixologist. It also follows the growth of the Temperance Movement and the origins of the Prohibition, before looking at the period between the First and Second World Wars – the cocktail age. From there the book looks at the emergence in the twentieth century of craft gins across the globe, enabling the drink to enjoy a massive increase in popularity.

The book is intended as a light-hearted look-behind-the-scenes at how ‘Mother’s Ruin’ developed into rather more than just a plain old ’G & T’.

I must admit that I came to this book with some preconceived ideas of how the book would run, expecting mainly a book about slavery & crime. But I must admit that I was wrong. What we have a is really comprehensive read through a timeline, that mainly focuses on Britain, but it does have a bit of America and the Scandinavian countries thrown in for good measure. The book begins with the juniper berry and follows through to being a cocktail and more mainstream drink in the modern world. We go through prohibition in America, the influence of the Low Countries, and what I really enjoyed the effect on politics and regulation through a number of acts, and some of the riots and disruptions that occurred.

I also quite enjoyed the appendices at the back of the book which have a number of gin

recipes and also the slang involved in the gin world, these quite interesting. This was

an excellent book with a lot of research and entertaining writing from Mike Rendell.

I must say a big thumbs up for the good amount of cartoons and drawings throughout

the book, these were both amusing and entertaining. I would certainly recommend this

book to any fans of gin.

Mines, Bombs, Bullets and Bridges

Mines, Bombs, Bullets and Bridges Memoirs of a WW2 Sapper written by

Brian Moss and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 256

Soldiers’ first-hand accounts of Second World War active service invariably make

inspiring and exciting reading but Mines, Bombs, Bullets and Bridges is exceptional

for several reasons. First, Brian Moss’s role as a bomb disposal specialist was

especially hazardous. Secondly, he was in the thick of the action from the start,

dealing with unexploded ordnance during the London blitz. He was then deployed

as a frontline sapper to North Africa and onto Sicily before landing on Gold Beach

on D-Day. Despite many close calls he was relatively unscathed until taken out by

a butterfly bomb at Nijmegen. Fortunately, despite serious injury he lived, quite

literally, to tell the tale but his war was over.

While the Author’s graphic account compares favourably with the very best wartime memoirs, it also has a unique element, namely examples of his outstanding artistic skill. It is truly remarkable that he not only managed to produce so many fine works under combat conditions and that he was able to draw such accurate maps from memory. His sketches and paintings bring a special dimension to this story.

A really good and fascinating book about a guy called Brian Moss, a Sapper that served during WW2, as a Bomb Disposal Specialist. Brian originally spent time serving during the Blitz until he was sent out to North Africa in his role and would then go on to serve in Normandy and Operation Market Graden. The book is about the work of Brian as he served, and has been edited by his son Michael. The book as well as being written by Brian also contains drawings, pictures and diagrams from Brian, but what also shines through his writings is his dark humour and self-confidence, which I assume you really need when you're facing that much possible danger every day. The book is enjoyable and written well but also put together well by his son, Brian comes out of this as a really nice fella. An enjoyable book which would go down well with men who had served in the Army.

Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939-1945 Volume 2: Escorts and Smaller Fighting Ships

Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939-1945 Volume 2: Escorts and Smaller Fighting

Ships written by Przemyslaw Budzbon , Jan Radziemski, Marek Twardowski and

published by Seaforth Publishing - £45 - Hardback - Pages 304

Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War the details of Soviet ships,

their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was

classified and after a brief period of glasnost (‘openness’) the Russian state has again

restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value – and originality – of this

work is difficult to exaggerate. It sees the first publication of reliable data on both the

seagoing fleets and riverine flotillas of the Soviet Navy, listing over 6200 vessels from

battleships to river gunboats, and mercantile conversions as well as purpose-built

warships.

This second part of the three-volume series includes all the remaining fighting vessels not already covered in Volume I. Beginning with the Uragan class – rated as Escort Ships and the first seagoing warships designed by the Soviet Union – the book then moves on to Submarine Hunters, both large and small, Patrol craft, Minelayers and Minesweepers, and unusual types like Floating Artillery Batteries and Anti-Aircraft Defence Ships, concluding with Landing Ships and Craft. Many of these vessels have hitherto been poorly documented but given the nature of the land-centred Soviet war against Germany their contribution should not be underestimated. The details of their service and, not least, the circumstances of their loss, constitute a major addition to Western understanding of the Soviet Navy’s war effort.

This is undoubtedly one of the most important naval reference works of recent years and will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in warships, the Soviet Navy or wider maritime aspects of the Second World War. Furthermore, as recent Russian actions appear to revive Soviet-era aspirations, this book offers both new insights and valuable background of contemporary relevance.

This volume of the Soviet Fleets concentrates on the smaller boats of the fleet, covering vessels such as Escort Ships, Mine Layers, Patrol Boats, Submarine Hunters and much more. The research and technical details in this book is huge, and so much effort shows. The book is crammed with facts, statistics, photographs, drawings and tables all seem to be a first-class, and if anything I think I’ve learnt more about the Soviet fleet than I know about the Royal Navy. A fantastic book that will delight those who have an interest in the Soviet Navy, and I imagine the book would be good for model collectors or makers.