Review: ‘Ribbons Among The Rajahs’, by Patrick Wheeler

Published By: Pen & Sword History 
Published: 12th June 2017
ISBN: 9781473893276

Blurb

From the mid-eighteenth century onward, British women started travelling in any numbers to the East Indies, mostly to accompany husbands, brothers or fathers. Very little about them is recorded from the earlier years, about the remarkable journeys that they made and what drove them to travel those huge distances. Some kept journals, others wrote letters, and for the first time Patrick Wheeler tells their story in this fascinating and colourful history, exploring the little-known lives of these women and their experiences of life in India before the Raj. With a perceptive approach, Ribbons Among the Rajahs considers all aspects of women’s lives in India, from the original discomfort of traversing the globe and the complexities of arrival through to creating a home in a tight-knit settlement community. It considers, too, the effects of the subservience of women to the needs of men and argues for the fusion of European and Indian cultures that existed before imperial times.

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Review: ‘Maladies and Medicine: Exploring health & healing 1540 – 1740’, by Jennifer Evans & Sara Read

Publication Date: 4th July 2017

Published By: Pen & Sword 

ISBN: 9781473875715

Format: Paperback

Price: £12.99

 

Blurb

Maladies and Medicine offers a lively exploration of health and medical cures in early modern England. The introduction sets out the background in which the body was understood, covering the theory of the four humours and the ways that male and female bodies were conceptualised. It also explains the hierarchy of healers from university trained physicians, to the itinerant women healers who travelled the country offering cures based on inherited knowledge of homemade remedies. It covers the print explosion of medical health guides, which began to appear in the sixteenth century from more academic medical text books to cheap almanacs.

The book has twenty chapters covering attitudes towards, and explanations of some of, the most common diseases and medical conditions in the period and the ways people understood them, along with the steps people took to get better. It explores the body from head to toe, from migraines to gout. It was an era when tooth cavities were thought to be caused by tiny worms and smallpox by an inflammation of the blood, and cures ranged from herbal potions, cooling cordials, blistering the skin, and of course letting blood.

Case studies and personal anecdotes taken from doctors notes, personal journals, diaries, letters and even court records show the reactions of individuals to their illnesses and treatments, bringing the reader into close proximity with people who lived around 400 years ago. This fascinating and richly illustrated study will appeal to anyone curious about the history of the body and the way our ancestors lived.

Review: ‘Grimsby Streets’, by Emma Lingard

 

Published By: Pen & Sword History

Publication Date: 6th July 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781473876019

Format: Paperback

Price: £12.99

Blurb

Grimsby Streets is a journey through time, which examines the meaning of many of the towns names and their association with the Danish settlers, through to the Victorian era, and the men who helped develop the town and build its surrounding docks.

Names of the great and good that were forgotten until now are explored, as well as some of the many famous people who were born there, and where they lived. The book also covers the many incidents, which occurred on Grimsby’s streets, to give a colourful insight into the history of this once famous fishing port and some of the many wonderful buildings that stood in this proud port.

Included throughout are a selection of old photographs, some of which have never been published before, which for many folk will give them a reminder of what this town used to be like before change and demolition in the 1960s.

Review: ‘Women in the Great War’, by Stephen Wynn and Tanya Wynn

 

Published by: Pen and Sword Military

Publication date: 5th June 2017

I.S.B.N.: 9781473834149

Price: £12.99

 

Blurb

The First World War was fought on two fronts. In a military sense it was fought on the battlefields throughout Europe, the Gallipoli peninsular and other such theatres of war, but on the Home Front it was the arduous efforts of women that kept the country running.

Before the war women in the workplace were employed in such jobs as domestic service, clerical work, shop assistants, teachers or as barmaids. These jobs were nearly all undertaken by single women, as once they were married their job swiftly became that a of a wife, mother and home maker. The outbreak of the war changed all of that. Suddenly, women were catapulted into a whole new sphere of work that had previously been the sole domain of men. Women began to work in munitions factories, as nurses in military hospitals, bus drivers, mechanics, taxi drivers, as well as running homes and looking after children, all whilst worrying about their men folk who were away fighting a war in some foreign clime, not knowing if they were ever going to see them again.

 

Review: ‘Childhood & Death in Victorian England’, by Sarah Seaton

 

Imprint: Pen & Sword History 
ISBN: 9781473877023 
Published: 19th June 2017                 Price: £12.99

Blurb

In this fascinating book, the reader is taken on a journey of real life accounts of Victorian children, how they lived, worked, played and ultimately died. Many of these stories have remained hidden for over 100 years. They are now unearthed to reveal the hardship and cruel conditions experienced by many youngsters, such as a travelling fair child, an apprentice at sea and a trapper. The lives of the children of prostitutes, servant girls, debutantes and married women all intermingle, unified by one common factor – death. Drawing on actual instances of Infanticide and baby farming the reader is taken into a world of unmarried mothers, whose shame at being pregnant drove them to carry out horrendous crimes yet walk free from court, without consequence. For others, they were not so lucky. The Victorian children in this publication lived in the rapidly changing world of the Industrial Revolution. With the introduction of the New Poor Law in 1834 the future for some pauper children changed – but not for the better. Studies have also unearthed a religious sect known as the ‘Peculiar People’ and gives an insight into their beliefs. This book is not recommended for those easily offended as it does contain graphic descriptions of some child murders, although not intended to glorify the tragedies, they were necessary to inform the reader of the horrific extent that some killers went to. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the social history of the Victorian period.

A trio from Olympia Publishing

A couple of weeks ago a marketing bod from Olympia Publishing emailed me with a list of recent books to see if I wanted to read and review any of them. I asked for three that looked interesting. I’ve now read them and present to you, dear readers, the reviews. I’ve also been looking at the Olympia Publishing page, since I’ve never heard of them before I thought I’d also give you my opinion on the quality of the books and anything I’ve gleaned from reading their website.

Review: ‘When Science Collapses’, by Christopher Hivner

Author website here

Publisher’s website here

Publication Date: 31st December 2016

Published By: Writing Knights Press

ISBN: 9781541337237

Format: Paperback chapbook

Price: $8.00

 

 

 

 

My Review

Christopher Hivner contacted me a week or so ago, and asked if I’d review his chapbook, When Science Collapses and I agreed. I do enjoy reading poetry now and then. The book arrived very quickly, yesterday while I was packing my house up to move in two weeks. It managed to survive the packing process so I’ve had a chance to read it earlier than I expected.

I enjoyed the poems, although poetry isn’t my speciality. They mix personal experience with scientific concepts for affecting results. A small book of only 23 poems, each poem causes the reader to stop and ponder the connections between life events and scientific concepts.

3/5