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Title: The Conquering Family by Thomas B. Costain ISBN: 1-56849-372-X Publisher: Buccaneer Books Pub. Date: May, 1997 Format: Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $41.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Monumental and Magnificent
Comment: These are some of the words that come to my mind when describing this work, but I am speaking of the entire 4 volume set - not just The Conquering Family by Mr.Costain who is a blest and gifted authorin my opinion. I first bought the 4 Volumes in paperback and after reading them cover to cover, I bought the hard cover set because I feared I wouldn't be able to get them later - they might go out of print or become more expensive. I have reread all of them 3 times and I would advise anyone interested in World History or an Anglophile to purchase all 4 Books because they are a must for your library. Each volume is thoroughly researched, full of dates, characters, events, battles, but at the same they are an easy read - never boring or drawn out and tiresome - you just want to keep reading and reading to learn more.
Rating: 5
Summary: The most engaging medieval history I have ever read.
Comment: While I do not think that Mr Costain stands in the first rank of medieval historians, His four volume history of the Plantagenet family in England is the best written, most engaging work of medieval history I have ever encountered. He makes the people of the time come alive, maintains an outstanding general chronology, and has enough interesting asides from the main story to light the passions of those only casually interested in his subject matter. I cannot recommend it highly enough! One note of caution: his treatment of John and Edward II is somewhat unfair, but may be more a result of the age of his work than any bias....
Rating: 5
Summary: History Comes Alive!
Comment: I picked up this book and haven't been able to put it down. Mr. Costain has written a vivid and engrossing account of the lives of the Plantagenets who ruled England. He begins with Henry I (who was not a Plantagenet), whose daughter Matilda married, for her second husband, Geoffery of Anjou (who would be the first to be called by the name Plantagenet). The family is handled down to and including John, brother of the so-named Richard the Lion Heart.
His account is respendent with detail where it exsists historically or is highly suggested culturally. He notes the difference by indicating what was probable, what was possible, what is known, and what is thought to be known.
Before I click over into my dry academic language, let me say that this book rocks! It is obviously well researched. I would recommend reading this BEFORE you read Alison Weir's "The Princes in the Tower." After you read "The Conquering Family" may I suggest picking up "The Three Edwards" (also by Costain). This will give you a good portion of the background and backdrop of English History against which the tragedy of the imprisonment and subsequent disappearance of Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York (not to be confused with their uncle who would later become Richard III). THEN read "The Princes in the Tower," which of course examines, in light of ALL of the available historical evidence, the 'who-did-it,' 'when,' and 'how' of the disappearance and death of the two young princes (King and Duke actually).
Given the time period which "The Conquering Family" treats, there are next to no pictures. While I would dread to see enough pictures to warrant calling this a pictorial history, I would suggest that some portraits of the participants and such, would have helped to spark the imagination of the reader and to further engage their interest. Also, while there are maps in the book, there is no listing of the maps in the front of the book, and a map of locations such as Anjou, could only have served to enhance the readers' perspective and understanding of the subject matter.
Now if someone would only buy me "The Magnificent Century" and "The Last Plantagenets"!
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Title: The Magnificent Century by Thomas B. Costain ISBN: 1568493711 Publisher: Buccaneer Books Pub. Date: December, 1994 List Price(USD): $41.95 |
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Title: The Three Edwards by Thomas B. Costain ISBN: 1568493703 Publisher: Buccaneer Books Pub. Date: December, 1994 List Price(USD): $45.95 |
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Title: The Last Plantagenets by Thomas B. Costain ISBN: 1568493738 Publisher: Buccaneer Books Pub. Date: December, 1994 List Price(USD): $45.95 |
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Title: The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain ISBN: 1568497016 Publisher: Buccaneer Books Pub. Date: December, 1998 List Price(USD): $45.95 |
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Title: Below the Salt by Thomas B. Costain ISBN: 038504884X Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: August, 1981 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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