Susan Brigden

Pretty uneven- the sections on Ireland were almost impossible to follow, and there was far too much about the endless, pointless court 'politics' of the Tudors. Do you really care to read functional history about Elizabeth's favorites? That stuff's best left to HBO. When Brigden writes about everyday life and religious strife, the book's much more interesting. When she writes about the structures of government at the time, it's not interesting in the same way but I can see those sections as an important part of understanding the times. She refers every now and then to the causes behind the Great Men and Women's actions (population rates, agricultural/ economic history, and so on) but never discusses them at any length. I'm also very confused, because although it's only 360 odd pages long, it feels like a 500 page book. Part of this is that it's just not a great read; but the pages also seem wide. Not much in the way of margins, either. Is this a cost-cutting measure? In any case, it took me forever to read.… (meer)