Look out for my review of this addition to the annals of naval history next Monday.
Category Archives: Non-fiction
Bonus Review #1: ‘Bad Girls from History: Wicked or Misunderstood?’, by Dee Gordon
Published By: Pen & Sword History
Published: 3rd October 2017
ISBN: 9781473862821
Format: Paperback
Price: £12.99
Blurb
You wont be familiar with every one of the huge array of women featured in these pages, but all, familiar or not, leave unanswered questions behind them. The range is extensive, as was the research, with its insight into the lives and minds of women in different centuries, different countries, with diverse cultures and backgrounds, from the poverty stricken to royalty. Mistresses, murderers, smugglers, pirates, prostitutes and fanatics with hearts and souls that feature every shade of black (and grey!). From Cleopatra to Ruth Ellis, from Boudicca to Bonnie Parker, from Lady Caroline Lamb to Moll Cutpurse, from Jezebel to Ava Gardner.
Less familiar names include Mary Jeffries, the Victorian brothel-keeper, Belle Starr, the American gambler and horse thief, La Voisin, the seventeenth-century Queen of all Witches in France but these are random names, to illustrate the variety of the content in store for all those interested in women who defy law and order, for whatever reason.
The risque, the adventurous and the outrageous, the downright nasty and the downright desperate all human (female!) life is here. From the lower strata of society to the aristocracy, class is not a common denominator. Wicked? Misunderstood? Naive? Foolish? Predatory? Manipulative? Or just out of their time? Read and decide.
Bonus review #2: ‘Odin: Meeting the Norse Allfather’, by Morgan Daimler
I haven’t been reviewing many books outside of my scheduled reviews this month, but yesterday a package of books arrived from Moon Books. The first of those that I’ve chosen to review is this book, since today is official publication day.
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Review: ‘The Horse’s Arse’, by Laura Gascoigne
Published By: Clink Street Publishing
Publication Date: 4th April 2017
I.S.B.N.: 978-1911110873
Format: Paperback
Price: £8.99
Blurb
Patrick Phelan is an ageing artist who has never made it big but who somehow manages to live on air in a North London suburb.
When not running art classes for amateurs, Patrick wrestles in the shed at the bottom of his garden with his life’s work: a series of visionary canvases of The Seven Seals.
When his wheeler-dealer son Marty turns up with a commission from a rich client for some copies of paintings by modern masters, Phelan reluctantly agrees; it means money for his ex-wife Moira. However the deal with Marty is, typically, not what it seems.
What follows is a complex chain of events involving fakery, fraud, kidnapping, murder, the Russian Mafia and a cast of dubious art world characters. A contemporary spin on Joyce Cary’s classic satire The Horse’s Mouth, The Horse’s Arse by Laura Gascoigne is a crime thriller-cum-comic-fable that poses the serious question: where does art go from here?
Purchase from Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Horses-Arse-Laura-Gascoigne-ebook/dp/B01MUZXN8G/
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Review: ‘Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind’, by John V. Wylie, M.D.
Published By: BookBaby
Publication Date: 1st January 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781543919370
Format: Paperback
Price: £11.62
Blurb
Ape Mind, Old Mind, New Mind is a personal memoir by a psychiatrist who gradually discovers from his patient’s descriptions of their mental illnesses that human motivations have been evolved over millions of years for productive engagement rather than competitive fitness. A new uplifting and spiritual view of human nature emerges that is not only consistent with the science of human evolution, but also opens up a simple explanation for such ancient mysteries as self-awareness, reflective thought, and the vast complexity of language.
All other books about the evolution of emotion approach it from the “outside” as an object; this book is about the biological evolution of the “inside” experience of emotion-and-motivation, which can only be known empathetically.
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Review: ‘How to write & publish a bestselling book’, by Richard McMunn
Published By: How2Become Ltd
Publication Date: 26th February 2018
Format: Paperback
I.S.B.N.: 9781912370115
Price: £9.99
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Review: ‘So I Might Be A Vampire’, by Rodney V. Smith
Published By: Lost Bajan Publishing
Publication Date: 13th February 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781775007210
Format: Paperback
Price: £13.99
Blurb
Nobody expects to get turned into a vampire, especially a guy like Bob. Everybody hopes that if they somehow get transformed into a vampire, they will instantly become some kind of superhero vampire out of the movies. Bad news guys: not gonna happen. More likely than not, you’re gonna be one of the poor clueless bastards hanging out on Thursday nights with Bob in his vampire support group.
You may think you know what being a vampire is supposed to be like, but Bob is here to set you straight. He’s made it his personal mission to get answers about the reality of being a vampire. He’s been shot, stabbed, thrown off rooftops, survived bad coffee and endured crippling boredom – all in the name of answering the eternal question of what it means to be a vampire.
If you think you might be a vampire, this is the book for you.
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Bonus Review #4: ‘A Georgian Heroine’, by Joanne Major & Sarah Murden
Published By: Pen & Sword History
Publication Date: 27th November 2017
I.S.B.N.: 9781473863460
Format: Hardback
Price: £19.99
Blurb
Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs lived an incredible life, one which proved that fact is often much stranger than fiction. As a young woman she endured a tortured existence at the hands of a male tormentor, but emerged from that to reinvent herself as a playwright and author; a political pamphleteer and a spy, working for the British Government and later singlehandedly organising George III’s jubilee celebrations. Trapped in France during the revolutionary years of 1792-95, she published an anonymous account of her adventures. However, was everything as it seemed? The extraordinary Mrs Biggs lived life upon her own terms in an age when it was a man’s world, using politicians as her mouthpiece in the Houses of Parliament and corresponding with the greatest men of the day. Throughout it all though, she held on to the ideal of her one youthful true love, a man who abandoned her to her fate and spent his entire adult life in India. Who was this amazing lady?
In A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, we delve into her life to reveal her accomplishments and lay bare Mrs Biggs’ continued re-invention of herself. This is the bizarre but true story of an astounding woman persevering in a man’s world.
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Review: ‘Comfort Food’, by Julia Bettelheim
Published By: Clink Street Publishing
Publication Date: 13th February 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781912262632
Format: E-book/Paperback
I’m reviewing this book as part of a Clink Street Publishing blog tour and received an e-book copy of the book in return for an honest review.
Blurb
here’s nothing quite like Comfort Food to put a smile on your face and a feeling of contentment in your stomach.
Chef Julia Bettelheim is passionate about feeding people; from the students in her university kitchen to guests and family at home.
From recipes that are as simple as a sandwich to as technical as a fruit cake, she knows the importance of creating delicious meals that are full of flavour and which always have budget in mind.
Her recipes include easy to make classics and mouth-watering family favourites, using easy to find products that are fresh and economical.
Fun, fast, indulgent and nurturing, there’s a time and a place for Comfort Food in every kitchen.
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Bonus Review #3: ‘The Pug Who Bit Napoleon’, by Mimi Matthews
Published By: Pen & Sword History
Publication Date: 11th December 2017
Format: Paperback
I.S.B.N.: 9781526705006
Price: £14.99
Blurb
From elaborate Victorian cat funerals to a Regency era pony who took a ride in a hot air balloon, Mimi Matthews shares some of the quirkiest—and most poignant—animal tales of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Meet Fortune, the Pug who bit Napoleon on his wedding night, and Looty, the Pekingese sleeve dog who was presented to Queen Victoria after the 1860 sacking of the Summer Palace in Peking. The four-legged friends of Lord Byron, Emily Brontë, and Prince Albert also make an appearance, as do the treasured pets of Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, and Charles Dickens.
Less famous, but no less fascinating, are the animals that were the subject of historical lawsuits, scandals, and public curiosity. There’s Tuppy, the purloined pet donkey; Biddy, the regimental chicken; and Barnaby and Burgho, the bloodhounds hired to hunt Jack the Ripper. Wild animals also get a mention in tales that encompass everything from field mice and foxes to alligators and sharks lurking in the Thames.
Using research from eighteenth and nineteenth century books, letters, and newspapers, Mimi Matthews brings each animal’s unique history to vivid life. The details are sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, but the stories are never anything less than fascinating reading for animal lovers of all ages.
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Everything Is Better With Dragons 