I decided in the end to go for it anyway - I always like to take half a dozen brand new books on holiday - my once-a-year treat - so I wanted to get it ordered. It was only £7 at Amazon.
the book should have evidence cited ... proper references
After posting I went looking for reviews, and a common theme is that there are no references, and that Gregory does not write like a historian. I've decided all of that is OK with me; as long as the writing style is bearable I shall just be happy to learn some new ideas and ways of looking at things. In family history I do things properly, with cross-checking and references and being as certain as possible, but in this kind of thing I'm a lay person who loves history, rather than an academic historian. So while I obviously like to know what's true and what's guessing, I gather from the reviews that copious use of "maybe" and "perhaps" throughout the book should be clue enough to that.
And I agree that the idea of Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort being "forgotten by history" is a strange one. Jacquetta, maybe, but I know very well who she is and if I do, surely "history" does?
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-10-20 11:35 am (UTC)the book should have evidence cited ... proper references
After posting I went looking for reviews, and a common theme is that there are no references, and that Gregory does not write like a historian. I've decided all of that is OK with me; as long as the writing style is bearable I shall just be happy to learn some new ideas and ways of looking at things. In family history I do things properly, with cross-checking and references and being as certain as possible, but in this kind of thing I'm a lay person who loves history, rather than an academic historian. So while I obviously like to know what's true and what's guessing, I gather from the reviews that copious use of "maybe" and "perhaps" throughout the book should be clue enough to that.
And I agree that the idea of Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort being "forgotten by history" is a strange one. Jacquetta, maybe, but I know very well who she is and if I do, surely "history" does?