Not much this month, thanks to Sandra’s death. I just couldn’t concentrate. What I’ve read is below:
Deathworld — Harry Harrison
A nice classic sf adventure story that through the magic of Gutenberg.org I could read on my mobile phone.
Spirit — Gwyneth Jones
A standalone space opera novel of revenge, which at one points threatens to become The Count of Monte Cristo but then doesn’t. I enjoyed this much more than Bold as Love.
Europe After Rome — Julia M. H. Smith
An excellent overview of the cultural changes in Europe after the “fall” of the Roman Empire.
Indo Roman Trade — Roberta Tomber
A slim volume examining the archaeological evidence for trade between India and the Roman World, with some attempt to provide context as well. Recommended.
Austin-Healey — Graham Robson
Other than watching Top Gear I’m not that interested in cars, but I took a punt on this because it was short and cheap. This history of a classic British sports car marque is a volume in the Shire Library of social history books about Britain and the British way of life, I’ve bought quite a few of them for Sandra in the past two years. The format is a little bit like the much better known Osprey series of war books.
Crime at Guildford — Freeman Wills Crofts
One of the B or C-list writers of the Golden Age of detective novels. Entertaining, but you can see the author pulling the strings to get the mystery solved in a way you can’t with Agatha Christie for example.
No Present Like Time — Steph Swainston
The second part in the Castle series, I read this as this month’s entry in my Year of Reading Women project. Excellent novel.
The Victorian Soldier — David Nalson
Slim even for a Shire Library book, this is barely an overview of British soldering life in the 19th century. Didn’t tell me anything new, but lots of good pictures make it worthwhile.
The British Soldier of the Second World War — Peter Doyle
Another Shire volume, slightly more in depth than the previous one, but again just a quick sketch rather than the full story. Lots of pictures though. Each individual volume in the Shire library is obviously limited by its format, but there plenty more volumes on life during the Second World War and together they add up to a pretty complete picture.
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