The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything

The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything by Ruth Goodman

Coal changed the life of the British population. The takeover of coal followed a meandering path. It was seen as something to help the "lower classes", but gradually spread to upper classes. It changed the way of cooking and brought about the overcooked British food. Chineys also came about at a similar time. They did keep some away, but they also let much of the heat escape. At first they were only for the rich, but they gradually spread. Heating changed the way we live and sleep. Coal fire led to more furniture elevated above the ground. A central fire encouraged everyone to socialize together in a small house. Not until central heating did people spread apart into big houses. The method of home heating is an important part of daily life, yet is not well documented. Much of the history of coal adoption had to be pieced together from fragmentary sources.

The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom

The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom by David Woodman

This is a fairly academic book on early England. I recognized many of the names. However, the book felt more like a accumulation of facts than a narrative.

The Blood in Winter: England on the Brink of Civil War, 1642

The Blood in Winter: England on the Brink of Civil War, 1642 by Jonathan Healey

This book provides a detailed history of a specific time in British history. There were religious conflicts as the reformation has resulted in many types of protestantism. People have obtained more rights and question the privileges of the king. These are both great sources of conflict. Colonization and empire are also underway. Some Puritans have already set up colonies in New England. The conditions outside were not great. Streets were filled with manure and diseases remain. I had trouble getting involved with the story.

Between the Waves: The Hidden History of a Very British Revolution 1945-2016

Between the Waves: The Hidden History of a Very British Revolution 1945-2016 by Tom McTague

Europe has had an interesting history with the European Union. It has always thought of itself as somewhat separate from the rest of Europe, but still part of it. This book explores the political history of Britain and the EU, culminating in Brexit and the messing separation. David Cameron's legacy was destroyed by the Brexit vote. His successor, Teresa May fell out of power after the messy separation. However, these were only the final players. Many PMs and MPs were involved in European relations. I recognized many of the modern names, but not so many of the earlier ones. The book helps provide a thorough understanding of the political situation that led to Brexit, but it takes a long time to do it.

Waterland

Waterland by Graham Swift

People live among the peat in a rural part of England. The book traces multiple generations. There is drinking, incest and suicide in the area. The center is primarily on one family through a few generations. One guy was strongly antiwar and lived in isolation and wants to have a son that is the savior of the world. However, this son is had in an incestuous relationship that is somewhat hidden by the girl marrying a guy around the time. There is also a person as an important switchman that is often drunk, but had his wife help them out. There are various other deaths and relationships The book ends with one man diving off a boat and disappearing into the water, most likely to his death. This is a fitting end for the book.

London and the 17th Century: The Making of the World’s Greatest City

London and the 17th Century: The Making of the World’s Greatest City by Margarette Lincoln

London was already a significant city in the 17th century. However, it was still in a state of conflict. The rise of exploration and new industry was causes a great deal of change. Religious conflicts were rife at the time, and leadership oscillated between protestant and Catholic. Extreme conservative regimes gave way to loosening. The black plague created a huge shock to the system. Life expectancy was low and those that survived are likely to be pressed into service. The focus of a narrow geographic region for a century works fairly well in this book.

The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066

The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 by Marc Morris

The Anglo-Saxons took leadership of England from the remnant Roman Empire. They dominated for many centuries. We do not have extensive records of their time - and some of those records we do have are not very reliable. They never referred to themselves as Anglo-Saxons. They were a diverse group from Northern Europe. Eventually they came to dominate. Their domination came to an end in 1066 with the Battle of Hastings. 

This book is fairly comprehensive, but leaves it clear that there are many unknowns. Much of what we think of Anglo-Saxon history was written in the past few centuries. Some of it is correct, while other is pure legend. Archeological records have provided new details that have confirmed some ideas and invalidated some others. In the end, the Anglo-Saxons were hoping to have alliances with other relatives in Normandy. Alas, other relatives started an invasion in the north. They won there, but were easily defeated by the Normans. The Normans ended up dominating the Anglo-Saxons, but much of the culture and language still lived on. In some sense, they were all from similar roots.

Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me

Chapter and Verse: New Order, Joy Division and Me by Bernard Sumner

Bernard Sumner is the lead singer of New Order and guitarist for Joy Division. This book is his contribution to the history of Joy Division and New Order. The narrative is much different than Peter Hook's. It feels much more polished than Peter Hook's. Sumner has had a more significant role in New Order and the book shows it. The book starts with his early life and quickly goes through time with Joy Division. Ian Curtis's suicide is a small blip. It gets about as much coverage as the death of others associated with the band (such as managers.) While this book is polished, it is easy to see the roots of the falling out between Sumner and Peter Hook. It feels that he is trying to paper over some of the bitterness and anger the two had. It also becomes clear that Sumner had been exerting more control though he appears to feel somewhat oblivious. (He feels his side project was a nice outlet, but is critical of a bandmate DJing.) There seem to be some interesting communication issues.

The narrative is primarily chronological and focuses more on the personal experiences than detailing all parts of the band. There are extensive details of recordings of certain albums, while others are skipped over. There is very little discussion of individual songs. More of the focus is on process and life events. It feels different than typical rock memoirs, but New Order has always been a little bit of different band.

Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche

Love and Let Die: James Bond, The Beatles, and the British Psyche by John Higgs

On Friday, October 5, 1962, the first Beatles song, Love Me Do and the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, were released. Both represented an important long lasting part of British culture that spread across the world. The Beatles represented the power of working class blokes to come and dominate the music industry with their own deamer and artistic skills. Bond was the opposite and represented the traditional upper-class culture. The Beatles were "life" wile Bond was "death".

The book interleaves the stories of the Beatles with that of Bond. Both have expanded beyond their initial creators. Ian Fleming had written the Bond stories. However, many of the movies have taken nothing more than a name from Fleming's stories. The character of Bond has evolved significantly from what Ian had initially written. (Fleming died just as the movies were started in the 1960s).

The Beatles helped launch youth culture, the 1960s and the key role of music in society. They were only together for a decade. Rather than adhere to a formula, they changed and experimented. They were able to explore different philosophies, musical styles and way of living. About the only thing they could not do was go back to being private citizens. Each of the Beatles went on to explore their own interests and a solo musical career. They helped influence culture and society, even when they were not trying to. Even the 2012 Olympics ceremonies were heavily influenced by the Beatles.

How long will these pop culture icons last? We will see.

Heligoland: The True Story of German Bight and the Island that Britain Forgot

Heligoland: The True Story of German Bight and the Island that Britain Forgot by George Drower

Heligoland is a small island in the North Sea. It is constantly beaten by the sea, so much so that a few centuries ago it was split into two. It is far enough from the mainland to be missing from many charts, yet close enough to be strategically useful. The island has been inhabited for centuries, never growing huge, but remaining pretty stable. The island has swapped ownership a number of times. For a while, it was a Danish possession. Then it became an English colony before it was ceded to Germany (in a peacetime transaction involving African colonies.) It was reclaimed by England after World War II, and then given back to Germany after it had been heavily bombed.

The residents of the island have been occasionally kicked off - often during times of war or bombing. However, they have usually returned. They have historically been involved in sea-faring activities. They are talented in maneuvering boats in the adverse conditions and in finding fish for sustenance. The island has also become a tourist destination for Germans and seemed to help with creative impulses. The German national anthem was written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben while he was on vacation in Heligoland (ironically when it was still a British possession.) Heisenberg came up with his uncertainty principle while on the island. 

The book has a fairly haphazard structure. It is written from a very British perspective. A recurring theme is that the Heligolanders loved when they were under British control and did not like the German overlordship. At times the book will dwell on certain related events for seemingly endless pages, then jump forward a few decades. It feels that there was just not enough available in the sources, so the author grabbed what they could when there were tangentially related details.

Big Cotton: How A Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map

Big Cotton: How A Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map by Stephen Yafa

Cotton was a key player in the industrial revolution and the early history of the United States. The English liked cotton fabric more than the native wool. It came from India and took the country by storm. However, the Indians had the climate to grow it and the skill to transform it to cloth and clothing. Some enterprising Brits worked to learn some of the secrets. Then they worked to make them better. They were able to develop machinery to automate some of the processes. This machines made things much more efficient, but still required many workers. At first, the giant mills were set up by a water source. Later, coal-power allowed them to be anywhere. They helped usher in the industrial revolution. This also led to huge amounts of pollution as well as horrible labor conditions, with child and adult labor.

At first these mills would require cotton from India. However, the American south had a good climate for growing cotton. This had been going along, but was not able to compete well. Plantation slavery could have been on its way out. Then the cotton gin was invented, and things kicked off. Great plantations with many slaves could earn great money - as long as the conditions were right. At first all of this cotton was shipped off to England (via the north.) Then the New England mills were built up. These were built as more "enlightened towns" that treated their employees much better than the English factories. 

The northern factories would initially turn a blind eye towards the slavery in the south. However, as more atrocities became known, that became untenable, and even the mill owners turned into abolitionists. This led to the Civil War. The Cotton interests on both sides expected this to be a quick skirmish before returning to business as usual. The south also had hope that they could bypass the north and sell cotton directly to English. Alas, all sides were wrong. England was reluctant to publicly side with pro-slavery interests and the war went on for multiple years. It took cotton some time to recover.

After the war, cotton returned, but looked different. Textile mills migrated from the northeast to the south. Slave plantations were replaced by sharecroppers and hired labor. Then the boll weevil hit. This best decimated cotton fields. The attempts to eliminate decimated the environment. Cotton still consumes huge amounts of pesticides - even with cotton genetically engineered to be pest and herbicide resistant.

The book starts with a chronological narrative of cotton's history then breaks to explore some key areas of content. There is a discussion on the history of blue jeans and how they played a key role in clothing and culture. There is also discussion of pests, pesticides and organic. It felt we were going back in time to explore cotton from a different angle. The author does fill the book with sly insights and bits of humor. He also makes it personal, tying it to his experience in the early mill town, Lowell, Massachusetts and his buddy Paul Tsongas.

The War That Saved My Life

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Some kids grow up with a mean mother in England. During the bombings during World War II, the kids are evacuated to the country. They realize how unfairly they had been treated out there and also find that one kid's club foot can be treated. They become attached to their caretaker and consider the place "home". There are some fun war episodes, including spy catching. Later, their Mom comes to take them back. However, she rushed them away, so their caretaker comes to see them. They realize that they can live out in the country. However, they have managed to avoid getting bombed in both places.

Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire

The title says it all. This long book catalogs violence in the British Empire. It goes on and on and on. It does not attempt to provide any balance. The author assume some familiarity with the earlier histories with patriotic stance. This book is all about the dirt. It does get tedious. At first, it feels like the British Empire is just a violent source of brutality. However, you then realize that there is a heavy cherry-picking of the bad events. Could this be a few bad events in something that was overwhelmingly positive? Or were things as negative as portrayed. The one sided portrayal makes it hard to tell. The history does attempt to go back to show earlier violence in the British Empire. However, the details are heavily skewed towards recent history, especially in the time from World War II until decolinization.

Geography Is Destiny: Britain's Place in the World: A 10,000 Year History

Geography Is Destiny analyzes Brexit from the really long view. England has been somewhat part of Europe for milenia, but it has also been separate. The many islands of the coast of the European continent were connected during previous ages. At other times they were all fairly independent before being largely unified today.

Great Britain was once a Roman outpost. This was a strong "European Union". However, Rome ended up parting ways. Later it was the church union. The Catholic church played a similar role of Brussels today. England also took a similar exit. Today England continues to have close ties to other parts of the world. Other English speaking countries or Chine may feel closer. The former British empire continues to have strong ties.

The book goes into prehistoric and historic analysis of Britain's place in the world. There is interesting genetic analysis and reanalysis. History will often change based on the time it is written. We have stories like that of King Author that seem to have only appeared long after the events took place. This makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction. There were also the many viking raids. Were these exaggerated (much as terrorist attacks would be exaggerated today?) or did they play the large role we see? It is always easier to raid than it is to govern the territory. Despite large empires, Britain maintains an independent streak.

The Mirror & the Light: A Novel

The Mirror and the Light is the third in the historical trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. This presents the final part of his life as he completes his rise and then falls out of favor. It goes on and on and on. There are endless debates concerning intricacies of Christian theology. At the time these seemed incredibly important (and led to the rise of protestantism.) Today it seems rather petty. There is also a huge concern about marriage, sex and production of offspring along with sidenotes on the role of the woman. This mixture of modern concerns with ancient concerns goes on for much too long.

Pavane

Pavane is an alternative history set in "modern" England. However, the assassination of Queen Elizabeth led to the Spanish Armada defeating the English. From this, the Catholic church was able to reign supreme and limit innovation. Some technology has gradually permeated society. However, things like electricity are fundamentally banned (though sometimes clandestinely adopted by the wealthy.) The book consists of a number of small stories in this quasi-steam-punk environment. The end explains that limiting technology may be useful in helping to give people time to adopt to the new before they cause problems for themselves. The stories have a feudal feel to them. While I found the idea intriguing, I had a difficult time getting into the book.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Magic exists, but is not very common. Fairies are also a separate race that can cause all sorts of problems. Other than that, things are pretty much as we would expect in Victorian England. That is the scenario for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The book centers around the two named magician who learn the art of magic and try to document the history. Magic is used to help win wars. However, fairy magic has also lead to plenty of bad historical events.

The book contains a number of "stories" that are related. I found some of them to be quite good. However, I had trouble keeping interested at the end. It is a long book that may have been better if shortened.

1066: The Year That Changed Everything

The Teaching Company course on 1066 is one of the shortest courses I have listened to. It provides some background to the William the Conqueror's invasion of England as well as a bit of the aftermath. William had a claim to the English thrown, though it was not a strong one. The English had just completed a major victory and were a little full of themselves (as well as a little spent.) The Normans were originally from the Viking lands, but they had quickly assimilated into the French culture. (Would we consider it like Americans and British? Or perhaps German Americans and Germans would be a better comparison today.) In the end the Norman's come over and continue to merge some cultures that were already merging.

These lectures are a quick overview of 1066. There are a few new things and new ways to look at things, but it mostly an overview of the key events of the Norman invasion.