Tag Archives: History

The Mapmaker’s Wife by Robert Whitaker

Book Review, , , ,
Overview

Title: The Mapmaker’s Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon
Author: Robert Whitaker
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, History, Science, Strong women
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2004

Thoughts

This is an incredibly intense story, one that I completely fell in love with and enjoyed. It’s almost two stories in one, truth be told, but it’s still an epic journey. Well, two epic journeys. With a lot of backstory and a number of political implications and social nuances in fact, Whittaker manages to not know tell the tale of Isabella and Jean, but also a whole set of scientific breakthroughs, political battles and social norms which have changed throughout time.

To start with, I really just wanted to know about Isabella’s journey across the Amazon. That is still a feat that I think is amazing today, to do it on the 1800’s is a whole other, unbelievable story. A journey that literally killed Al, of her companions was survived, all for the sake of a man that she hadn’t seen for 20 years. A love story in a time that didn’t necessarily put a premium on love.

Although it was Isabella’s story that I was looking forward to, I got pretty stuck into Jean’s story. The idea of a scientific endeavour to prove the theory of gravity and how that effects the equator is intense in and of itself. But then, to add to that, there is murder, espionage, and a whole slew of other scientific discoveries. Some of which I remember using a little during my university degree.

This is an incredibly factual memoir, but one that is also highly emotional. Whittaker hits that perfect balance between facts and emotion when writing about the past. He also provides a great epilogue at the end which shows how everyone lived out the rest of their lives. A wonderful read that I look forward to picking up again in the future.

<- WillStephen Hawking: A Life in Science ->

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Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson

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Overview

Title: Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson
Author: Robert Kurson
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: History, Memoirs, Pirates
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2015

Thoughts

I’ve had a bit of a thing about pirates since I saw Pirates of the Caribbean. I mean, who wouldn’t after Captain Jack Sparrow? There’s also something incredibly fun about the idea of the Caribbean (definitely on my bucket list to visit). Thus, reading a real life tale of pirates and the modern day race to find them? Yeah, I was pretty much sold on this from the beginning. And, luckily for me, Kurson is able to write about this in such a fantastic way that I honestly couldn’t put this book down.

Kurson is able to tell a number of stories throughout this memoir. Firstly, there’s the tale of John Bannister, the pirate who took on the Royal Navy and won. He’s the pirate that the John’s of the future are searching for (there’s a few John’s in this story). Kurson manages to tell his story and make you want to find his ship, the Golden Fleece, just as much as everyone else in this tale.

Then there’s the modern John’s. Both men are pioneers in the diving and salvage business. Their stories alone would make a good read I must admit. Both men went through som incredible experiences and have the stubbornness to pursue the holy grail of ocean treasure hunters. They’re definitely fairly stubborn and a lot admirable. Another set of stories of men who are determined and desire their freedom (which is ultimately what Bannister was hunting for).

Alongside these many stories of incredible men, there’s the journey to try and find (and identify) a pirate ship. I knew next to nothing about real life pirates before reading this novel. And now, I feel so damn educated. Everything I saw a family member throughout reading this, I word vomited all over them, I was just so keen to share everything that I learnt while reading this. Definitely one I am keeping on my shelves.

<- Twas the Nightshift Before ChristmasSmoky the Brave ->

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Island of the Lost by Joan Druett

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: Island of the Lost
Author: Joan Druett
Rating Out of 5: 2 (Managed to read it… just)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, History, Oceans
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2007

Thoughts

This was an incredibly well researched book. It was even well written, a little dry, but not overbearingly so. It stated the facts and gave you a bit of a personality insight into each of the key players without taking too many liberties.

This book really wasn’t my thing. Partly because although it was great that it didn’t take liberties, I actually wanted a little more drama to the story. There was nothing to inspire me to keep reading.

And then there’s the fact that I actually have zero interest in maritime history. So, maybe not the best book for me to try and read in hindsight, but still 1uite interesting.

<- The Happiest RefugeeZlata’s Diary ->

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The Royal Art of Poison by Eleanor Herman

Book Review, , ,
Overview

Title: The Royal Art of Poison: Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul
Author: Eleanor Herman
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Crime, History, Science
Pace: Slow
Format: Non-fictional text
Year: 2018

Thoughts

This is one of those books that I’ve stopped and started multiple times. It’s incredibly interesting and informative. But, it’s a little bit dry throughout. There’s good wit, humour and sass. But it’s also a lot of information in a short amount of time.

I enjoyed how this book first talked about the different (and many) caused of death in the past. How many of these deaths were often attributed to poison… but in fact were just poor hygiene and pure insanity. Of nothing else, this is a great reminder of just how far we’ve come. And how damn lucky I feel to have been born in the modern era.

Then there’s the section on historical figures which were reported to be murdered by poison. I love how Herman not only talks about those final moments, but also a little about their lives, the reasons for their apparent murder and finally the modern evidence that does or does not support poisoning. It’s very interesting reading about well known historical figures.

This is definitely one of those books that I’ll need to read again and again. It’s filled with information that I probably won’t absorb even with multiple reads. And then there’s so much follow up reading to fill my brain with!!!

<- More crimeMore history ->

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Lucky Child by Loung Ung

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
BOOKS - Loung Ung

Title: Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind
Author: Loung Ung
Series: Daughter of Cambodia #2
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, History, Memoirs, War
Dates read: 27th February – 13th March 2021
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Year: 2000
5th sentence, 74th page: While they chatter away about the farm and the weather, Cou slowly fold Khouy’s clothes and lays them on the plank.

Synopsis

The author of the critically acclaimed bestseller First They Killed My Father returns with a searing and redemptive story of life in America as a Cambodian genocide survivor.

After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung became the “lucky child,” the sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her one surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. In this poignant and elegiac memoir, Loung recalls her assimilation into an unfamiliar new culture while struggling to overcome dogged memories of violence and the deep scars of war. In alternating chapters, she gives voice to Chou, the beloved older sister whose life in war-torn Cambodia so easily could have been hers. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of war as well as in times of peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the salvaging strength of family bonds.

Thoughts

This is just as hard hitting as the first Ung book, First They Killed My Father. It is dark, twisted and definitely the type of book that you need to read only in certain moods. But it is also important, poignant, and brilliantly written. I loved every moment of reading this. Even if it wasn’t the type of book that I wanted to read each and every day.

The entire time I read this memoir, my heart honestly ached. It is an incredibly tragic tale. One that, even though Loung gets out of Cambodia young, continues on. She manages to write about her PTSD and the difficulties of adapting to a foreign country in a way that is a little heartwrenching, incredibly realistic, but still not so overwhelming that you can’t stomach the idea of reading the story. It’s a fine line to walk when retelling tales of war and PTSD, but Ung manages to do so in a relatable and approachable way. Now I can’t wait to read the final book in this trilogy!

My sister is my favourite person in the world. She is my best friend, confidant and the person that honestly understands me more than anyone else. It is obvious from the way that she writes that Ung feels very much the same. Which probably is what made this story so hard for me to read – Loung and Chou are separated for fifteen years in a time that would have been crucial to both of them in their social and physical growth. It is definitely a little heart wrenching. But I love that there is this constant reminder that sisters are forever. That no matter the time that passed, they were still sisters and still loved each other dearly.

This is a great way to tell the story of two sisters – you journey alongside both Loung and Chou to find out what their lives were like after the war and the genocide. It helps to show how different twists of fate can make two lies. And how intensely the past can affect our every day lives. It is one of those stories that will stick with me forever and I will probably reread this multiple times in the future.

<- First They Killed My FatherLulu in the Sky ->

Image source: Loung Ung

Truganini by Cassandra Pybus

Book Review, , , ,
Overview
Truganini - Cassandra Pybus - 9781760529222 - Allen & Unwin ...

Title: Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse
Author: Cassandra Pybus
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Biographies, History, Indigenous Australians
Dates read: 2nd – 20th July 2020
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Year: 2020
5th sentence, 74th page: She was grieving the loss of their youngest son nine months earlier, and it was also time to reconnect with his five surviving children.

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Synopsis

Cassandra Pybus’ ancestors told a story of an old Aboriginal woman who would wander across their farm on Bruny Island, just off the coast of south-east Tasmania, throughout the 1850s and 1860s. As a child, Cassandra didn’t know this woman was Truganini, and that she was walking over the country of her clan, the Nuenonne, of whom she was the last.

The name of Truganini is vaguely familiar to most Australians as ‘the last of her race’. She has become an international icon for a monumental tragedy: the extinction of the original people of Tasmania within her lifetime. For nearly seven decades she lived through a psychological and cultural shift more extreme than most human imaginations could conjure. She is a hugely significant figure in Australian history and we should know about how she lived, not simply that she died. Her life was much more than a regrettable tragedy. Now Cassandra has examined the original eyewitness accounts to write Truganini’s extraordinary story.

A lively, intelligent, sensual woman, Truganini managed to survive the devastating decade of the 1820s when the clans of south-eastern Tasmania were all but extinguished. Taken away from Bruny Island in 1830, she spent five years on a journey around Tasmania, across rugged highland and through barely penetrable forests, with the self-styled missionary George Augustus Robinson, who was collecting all the surviving people to send them into exile on Flinders Island. She managed to avoid a long incarceration on Flinders Island when Robinson took her to Victoria where she was implicated in the murder of two white men. Acquitted of murder, she was returned to Tasmania where she lived for another thirty-five years. Her story is both inspiring and herat-wrenching, and it is told in full in this book for the first time.

Thoughts

This was an amazing, must-read for all Aussies. It was one though that I would read a chapter and then pick up another, happier book. There is this tragic feeling that runs all the way through. There aren’t happy moments. This doesn’t give you hope for the future. Instead, it reminds you of the many atrocities which we really should be condemned for… but it’s well-worth the read. And impossible to forget.

The whole journey in this book is somewhat heartbreaking. But the very end of it… that was just a whole other level. Particularly considering Truganini feared her body being taken for science and begged someone to bury it in the deepest water she knew… only to find out that when she passed… her body was taken and mounted in a museum. I just couldn’t believe the horror of that and the cruelty. There was just something so incomprehensible and… just… no… about the whole situation.

I’m always trying to find out as much as I can about Australian history. And for me, this was a fantastic piece of that. I knew next to nothing about the plight of Indigenous Australians in Tasmania when the settlers came. Although I still feel like I know next to nothing… I felt like there was so much more that was revealed in this novel. Alright, it probably wasn’t’ my favourite biography, Pybus has a slightly drier writing style than what I prefer. But overall, it was somewhat amazing and a great way to highlight the plight and true journey of one well-known Indigenous Australian.

I received this book at the beginning of the year. And my biggest regret? That I didn’t read it sooner. This is a book that I think all Australians should read. One that is amazing and impossible to forget. Definitely at the top of my suggestions pile…

<- More Indigenous Australians reviewsMore Australian author reviews ->

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The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

Book Review, , ,
Overview
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold - Penguin Books Australia

Title: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
Author: Hallie Rubenhold
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Feminism, History, Non-fiction, True crime
Dates read: 23rd April – 8th May 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Non-fictional text, Novel
Publisher: Black Swan
Year: 2020
5th sentence, 74th page: On 16 April she was dispatched like a human parcel to Renfrew Road Workhouse.

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Synopsis

Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhamption, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed in ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers.

What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888.

Their murderer was never identified, but the name created for him by the press has become more famous than any of these women.

IN THIS DEVASTATING NARRATIVE OF FIVE LIVES, HISTORIAN HALLIE RUBENHOLD FINALLY GIVES THESE WOMEN BACK THEIR STORIES.

Thoughts

This is a seriously intense, wonderful, powerful, amazing book. Like. Wow. I’ve recently become a little intrigued by Jack the Ripper, but, as with many others, I hadn’t really given huge amounts of thought to the women that he actually killed. Which I now feel kind of ashamed of. Because Rubenhold reminds us that these five women were, you know, people too. And should be remembered as such. Not for the way the died. Not for the way the media portrayed them. But for individuals in and of themselves. Women who loved, lost and experienced life. Women with families, husbands, children…

I tend not to read crime books before bed. It leads to some seriously whacked out and trippy dreams. Starting this, I figured that it would be okay to read before bedtime. After all, it’s about the women, not the murders. For starters, the introduction talks about Jack the Ripper a little more than I had wanted. And the last point made is that he didn’t kill prostitutes, he killed women while they were asleep. By themselves. I was a woman. By myself. About to go to sleep. Not exactly conducive to a restful nights’ sleep that.

Normally I like to pick up biographies because they’re not only informative, but they’re also incredibly easy to put down. That’s not the case with this novel. The first few chapters didn’t quite hook me, and I was completely able to put down the book whenever I needed to be productive. However, once I passed that point… I just couldn’t stop thinking about these five women. I couldn’t stop wondering about their lives, their loved ones. What they thought and experienced in their mysterious last moments… I just couldn’t stop thinking about it all!!! Which I think was the whole point of it… but still, not exactly my normal response for a biography…

I am still in awe of what I’ve read. I actually finished this book twenty-four hours before sitting down to write this review. And it took me so long to do so simply because there is an intense feeling that you get once you turn that final page. This intense feeling of not only wonder and amazement at what you just read, but also, for me at least, a sense of guilt. I’m fascinated by murders, but I have rarely seriously considered the Ripper women as individuals and women. Which is something I will endeavour to do more so of in the future. When I started this book, I couldn’t even remember the names of The Five. But now, I don’t think I’ll ever forget them…

<- The Covent Garden LadiesHarris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies ->

Image source: Penguin Books Australia

First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by ...

Title: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Author: Loung Ung
Series: Daughter of Cambodia #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, History, Memoirs, War
Dates read: 3rd – 8th April 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Mainstream Publishing
Year: 2000
5th sentence, 74th page: Geak continues to cry.

Synopsis

Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and being cheeky to her parents.

When Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Loung’s family fled their home and were eventually forced to disperse in order to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier while her brothers and sisters were sent to labour camps. The surviving children were only finally reunited after the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and destroyed the Khmer Rouge. First They Killed My Father is an unforgettable book, told through the voice of the young and fearless Loung. It is a shocking and tragic tale of a girl who was determined to survive despite the odds.

Thoughts

I bought this so that I would have an author whose names started with U. I had no idea what to expect and basically no knowledge of anything to do with Cambodia, refugees and the war in the 1970s. I mean, honestly, nothing. I didn’t even know that Pol Pot was associated with all of this… even though I know the name and that he’s a bad man. So this entire journey was one of discovery and just… awe. Nothing more than total and utter awe.

Until recently, I thought that I was a person made of some incredibly strong stuff. Tough, independent and of the ability to survive an untold number of things in my life. This story (amongst others that I’ve been reading) made me realise that I’m probably not made of this kind of tough stuff. What Ung and her family went through is just completely unfathomable. It is intense, and horrifying and more than a little heartbreaking. Yet, there isn’t this sense of anger throughout the words. Which took me completely by surprise. After all, the horrors that Ung witnessed and survived as a young girl… I just don’t have the words.

Normally I like to read a biography before bed time. After all, they’re not as intense and fast-paced as many of my other novels. So they’re normally a good pick for right before bed time. This really didn’t fit that trend. The first few nights of reading this, I just read a chapter a night. But on the final night? I read all of it. In one hit. Because I just had to find out how Ung survived… and if any of her family were also able to survive.

I just don’t have the words for how amazing this novel is. It’s something that I think everyone should read. That way we don’t take our lives and livelihoods for granted so much. Or at least, that’s how this amazing journey made me feel. I can’t wait to read the next two books in this series!

<- More Loung UngLucky Child ->

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Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks

Book Review, , ,
Overview
Image result for book cover rosa parks

Title: Rosa Parks: My Story
Author: Rosa Parks
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: History, Memoirs, Race
Dates read: 20th – 23rd November 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Novel
Publisher: Puffin Books
Year: 1948
5th sentence, 74th page: All this was to keep African Americans from being able to register.

Synopsis

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. A year later, when the boycott finally ended, segregation on buses was ruled unconstitutional, the civil rights movement was a national cause, and Rosa Parks was out of a job. Yet there is much more to Rosa Parks’s story than just one act of defiance. In straightforward, moving language, she tells of her vital role in the struggle for equality for all Americans. Her dedication is inspiring; her story is unforgettable.

Thoughts

I’ve known the name Rosa Parks for years. It’s just one of those well-known names that you find impossible to forget. I didn’t really know much about her beyond the fact that she was a big mover in the world of equal rights and there was something to do with a bus. So, I was incredibly intrigued to read her biography. And I’m incredibly glad that I did – not only was it an engaging read, but it was also incredibly eye opening.

For someone who knows next to nothing about American history, this certainly helped to fill me in on some of the tensions that are still occurring throughout the country. I’ve been reading a lot of biographies and memoirs lately that seem to fill in this gap, but Rosa Parks: My Story was telling the same tale with no gloss whatsoever. Somehow, her frank, open honesty was so much more intense than any of the other books I’ve read so far. The rest try to politely talk about violence and racism, Parks doesn’t do this. She’s not angry or vindictive, but there is no softening the history and her experiences. As I said, there is just this intense honesty in her writing that I haven’t had the privilege to experience of late.

Although I’m not supremely interested in American history, I would still suggest this book to anyone. It is about race and standing up for yourself. Equality and understanding that you have the same rights as everyone else. Something that effects everyone, world-wide. Some of the racism that is experienced today might be more subtle, but many of Parks’ experiences are still relevant and need to be discussed. Definitely the kind of book I’ll pick up again and again.

<- This Will Only Hurt a LittleFollow the Rabbit-Proof Fence ->

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The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla by Nikola Tesla

Book Review, , , , ,
Overview
Image result for book cover inventions, researches and writing of nikola tesla

Title: The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla
Author: Nikola Tesla
Series: Barnes & Noble Leatherbound
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, History, Non-fiction, Science
Dates read: 16th October – 15th November 2019
Pace: Slow
Format: Non-fictional text
Publisher: Barnes & Noble Leatherbound
Year: 1995
5th sentence, 74th page: Fig. 61 is a vertical cross-section of the motor.

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Synopsis

The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla is the definitive record of the pioneering work of one of the modern world’s most groundbreaking inventors. During the early twentieth century, Nikola Tesla blazed the trail that electrical technology would follow for decades afterward. Although he pioneered inventions like alternating current (AC), radio, wireless transmission, and X-rays, and worked with innovators like George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison, the once celebrated Tesla was later largely forgotten by history. With illustrations and diagrams of many of Tesla’s early patents and inventions, as well as dozens of thought-provoking lectures and articles, this volume offers a rare glimpse of a true genius at work.

The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla is one of Barnes & Noble’s Collectible Editions classics. Each volume features authoritative texts by the world’s greatest authors in an exquisitely designed bonded-leather binding, with distinctive gilt edging and an attractive silk-ribbon bookmark. Decorative, durable, and collectible, these books offer hours of pleasure to readers young and old and are an indispensible cornerstone for every home library.

Thoughts

This was an interesting, fun and open read. I mostly bought it because I needed it to complete a reading challenge, and well, the cover was really, really pretty. What I didn’t expect was that I would enjoy this adventure so much… after all, it’s been quite a while since I picked up anything physics-related.

Physics is an incredibly intense and fun subject – one that I’m kind of realising I miss a bit. This book explains that fact really well – not only is the use of electricity really intricate and intense, but this collection actually manages to explain it in a really fascinating way. And accessible… you don’t need a physics degree to understand what discoveries and creations Tesla came up with. The diagrams also go a long way to helping you understand exactly what engines, power sources and discoveries he made.

I did really enjoy the biographical aspects of Tesla’s life throughout this as well. Although it was very science-heavy, there was just enough of the personal to keep even the least scientifically-minded person engaged. So, not only did I learn a lot about what the actual discoveries, researches and inventions of Tesla were, I also learnt quite a bit about his personal journey and life in his obsession with electricity.

 <- Dracula and Other Horror Stories ReviewBeauty and the Beast and Other Classic Fairy Tales Review ->

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