Castles, Customs, and Kings

True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors

De: Debra Brown, M.M. Bennetts

Narrado por: Ruth Golding

A compilation of essays from the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, this book provides a wealth of historical information from Roman Britain to early 20th-century England. Over 50 different authors share hundreds of real life stories and tantalizing tidbits discovered while doing research for their own historical novels.

From Queen Boadicea's revolt to Tudor ladies-in-waiting, from Regency dining and dress to Victorian crime and technology, immerse yourself in the lore of Great Britain. Listen to the history behind the fiction and discover the true tales surrounding England's castles, customs, and kings.

©2013 Debra Brown (P)2015 Debra Brown

Historical Tidbits

This is a collected series of blogs from a wide variety of historical fiction writers. The topic: random things they discovered while doing research for their books. Topics include clothes, armor, weapons, customs, etiquette, meals, recipes, politics, scandals, personal tales, conjectures, leisure pursuits, social groups, traditions, nursery rhymes, crime and punishment... the list goes on and on. Largely the sections are broken up by era.

On the whole, this is a fascinating little book. I go into these things with the understanding that research by a writer is nowhere near the same level of research by an historian in most cases. It's sort of like looking through a telescope and claiming you're an astronomer. I've run across a couple in recent days that don't, so that was a red flag that was immediately on my mind. I got the sense that the writers here understand this distinction as well, because this whole book is basically "here's what I discovered, it's it cool, and here's the book I was working on where I applied it."

Being blog posts, the nature of this book is you get a lot of short entries, so for those looking for history in bite-size format, this book's for you.

educational

learned many things in did not know. was well worth the read for that alone.

Fascinating tidbits of English history

If you're the type that likes to know a "little bit about everything," give this a listen. Off to pick up some books by the contributiors.

Castles, Customs and Kings, True Tales by English

What did you love best about Castles, Customs, and Kings?

So my thoughts? This has to be one of the best and most concise book about English history that I have ever had the pleasure to read and it was not boring like some history books can be. Told by the best authors out there, if you are a fan of British history like I am, then you absolutely have to have this book, in whatever format you want. I loved it! I look forward to the next one!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Castles, Customs, and Kings?

The most memorable moments for me was the essays on the Tudor era.

What does Ruth Golding bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She has a voice that is easy on the ears.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, no laughing or crying. It is history which can be pretty dry sometimes, but these essays are written in such a way that the book is totally enjoyable.

Too bad, I’m sure there were stories in there

The person telling the story had such a see saw voice, I was asleep in 5 minutes! Awful read.