October is finished – I review my challenge and talk about my 300th book read this year

It was not the brightest of ideas to choose to read history books for my 12 in 12 Challenge in the month that I was also moving house. I knew it was a mistake even as the month began but by then I had packed my books into many, many boxes and had only a … Continue reading October is finished – I review my challenge and talk about my 300th book read this year

My 12 in 12 Challenge – October – History – Book 10

Thomas Harding’s family originated in Germany. During the 1930s they bought The House by the Lake but being Jews they were eventually forced to flee their homeland and their property was allocated to another. When the author returned to Germany in the early years of this century he found the house was about to be … Continue reading My 12 in 12 Challenge – October – History – Book 10

My 12 in 12 Challenge – October – History – Book 6

Suzannah Lipscomb’s book 1536 is subtitled The Year that Changed Henry VIII. The historian claims that the Tudor king changed during the course of his reign from a carefree, intelligent, “golden” prince into a tyrant. Her argument is that the events of 1536 are what made the difference. It was certainly a rough year for … Continue reading My 12 in 12 Challenge – October – History – Book 6

My 12 in 12 Challenge – October – History – Book 5

Jeff Guinn’s book Manson is not just a biography of Charles Manson and a look at the “family” he formed in 1960s America and the crimes they committed. It is also an examination of a particular period in time in a certain place which the author argues allowed the crimes to happen as they did. … Continue reading My 12 in 12 Challenge – October – History – Book 5