Terry Jones, illustrations by Brian Froud Stewart, Chabori & Chang Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book Themes: Faeries **
Description
A humorous take on the "Cottington Fairy" hoax (involving fairy photographs that gained international attention, but were ultimately proven to be faked by
the two girls who took them), crossed with the Victorianesque hobby of pressed flower books. This diary records young Lady Cottington's encounters with fairies
and her later attempts to capture them, both on film and in her special book. Included in the book are examples of her "collection."
Review
The illustrations were fairly amusing, and everyone said it was light and whimsical, so I read it. Big mistake. The words take most of the fun out of the
illustrations, which are indeed charming in a grotesque sort of way. (I've never been a huge fan of Froud's more grotesque works.) Jones would've done better
just to annotate the illustrations, rather than weave a tale of Ms. Cottington's first encounters with the fairies, and subsequent harassment by them. At the end,
I wasn't laughing at all. Collectors who just want the funny Brian Froud pictures of pressed fairies will be happy with this book. Anyone else, don't bother.
Terry Jones and Alan Ereira BBC Books Nonfiction, History ***+
Description
The word "barbarian" conjures images of rough-mannered brutes dressed in animal skins, covered in war paint and scars, torching and looting their way through
history while barely able to conceptualize double digits, let alone the wonders of the civilizations they harry. Everyone knows how evil barbarian hordes were
the bane of the greatest civilization in Western history, ancient Rome.
At least, so wrote the Romans... and those afterwards who bought their imperial propaganda.
Turns out that many of those people labelled "barbarians" were far from warlike or stupid. Some even had civilizations more advanced than they did. In this volume,
the authors dig into the archaological record to shed some light on the many cultures tarred with Rome's barbarian brush.
Review
I liked Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, so I was intrigued by this title (not to mention the discounted price of the Kindle version when I downloaded it.)
It turns out that, once again, the popular notions of history are heavily tainted by the prejudices of previous eras - few more prejudiced than the Romans, who
drew clear and often bloody lines between themselves and the rest of the world. Indeed, it could be argued that Rome actually held Western civilization back by
centuries with their stagnant thinking and willingness to destroy anything they didn't understand (or see a military advantage in adopting.) Not that every culture
Romans encountered in their long and storied rule were pure or intellectual themselves...
The information is accessible to armchair researchers, with plenty of footnotes for further reading should one be so inclined. I clipped it a half-star for some
formatting issues; misplaced punctuation, particularly quotation marks, sometimes made for confusion, and there are pictorial sections that cut off text
mid-sentence, last for several pages, then return as if the reader still remembered what was being discussed. Overall, though, it's an enlightening look at a
time in history that's been shrouded by Roman propaganda (coupled with the politics of the early Christian church) for far too long.
Terry Jones and Alan Ereira BBC Books Nonfiction, History ****
Description
Medieval England: a bastion of superstition and ignorance, peopled by filthy peasants living in run-down hovels and virtually enslaved by tyrannical
noblemen, when helpless young damsels relied on the chivalry of knights to protect them from fates worse than death. At least, that's what the Rennaisance
recorded of that dark time between the fall of Rome and the Age of Enlightnemnent - a vision perpetuated in Victorian times and even popular media today.
But the truth is far less static and more complicated than that. The authors explore the so-called Middle Ages, separating fact from fiction.
Review
Considering how people can easily twist events occuring within their own lifetimes, it's no surprise that our modern perception of medieval life is
profoundly distorted, filtered through hundreds of years of agendas and "spin" designed to glamorize one era's achievements by belittling, ignoring, or
outright falsifying earlier ages. Even the term "medieval" was invented to judge and denigrate. The subject is broken down for us armchair researchers by
focusing on different viewpoints: the peasant, the monk, and so forth. Even the "damsel" gets her say - showing how little she resembles the
often-allegorical image presented in fairy tale and legend, even if she still lived in a male-dominated world. What comes through is a vision of people
who weren't nearly so foolish and dismissible as modern ages tend to think, a world of complicated political, religious, social, and personal issues with
few clear-cut heroes or villains... in other words, a people not entirely unlike us. Some of the names and dates ran together for me, but overall I
found it a decent and educational read.
