Kevin's Watch

Melting pot is too right. The problem is that the Angles and Jutes came from the same places the Vikings did, then of course the Normans were vikings too. Makes a mess of the DNA experiments. I'm a bit disappointed that he skirted round the period before the Angles and Saxons arrived - we now know the names of some of the early kings - can't remember most of them but there was Caractacus (know the song?) and of course Old King Cole. I read that they've found coins with more names of kings on. What with all the invasions I'm surprised there were any real British left! They seem to have ended up in Wales, Cornwall and Britanny - and Ireland! The Scots were originally Irish - it's all very complicated, but fascinating all the same.

Iolanthe wrote:Melting pot is too right. The problem is that the Angles and Jutes came from the same places the Vikings did, then of course the Normans were vikings too. Makes a mess of the DNA experiments. I'm a bit disappointed that he skirted round the period before the Angles and Saxons arrived - we now know the names of some of the early kings - can't remember most of them but there was Caractacus (know the song?) and of course Old King Cole. I read that they've found coins with more names of kings on. What with all the invasions I'm surprised there were any real British left! They seem to have ended up in Wales, Cornwall and Britanny - and Ireland! The Scots were originally Irish - it's all very complicated, but fascinating all the same.

A song, huh? Afraid not. Feel free to fill me in.

It seems that Britanny was founded specifically to escape the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles.

I wonder what we know about pre-Roman Britain. It seems as if a lot of history books start around 410 when the Romans withdrew from the Isles.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pen05GsnO6U (sung by Rolf Harris).

Britain Begins (Barry Cunliffe) starts at about 10,000 BC (I think , prehistoric anyway), interesting book. I have it on kindle and the maps and pictures are very small but I have a wonderful device - a magnifying glass with a light in it (got it in a freebie bag from Ancestry.com) - which is brilliant for looking at the illustrations with.

There is something intrinsically amusing in the fact that you have to use a magnifying glass to see the maps on your kindle.

No zoom function?

--A

I can increase the font size, but that doesn't affect the pictures - tried it. May have to borrow the book from the library to look at the colour pictures. Can't tell the red circles from the green ones or whatever. Seriously though, damn good book. Haven't finished it yet - took a couple of days off to read Interesting Times - absolutely hilarious at the end.

It is one of my favourite Rincewind books.

--A

Well, finished the England book, listened to the song (it's quite a mouthful ). Overall, a very nice introductory book to English history. Kinda wish I knew how Parliament works, though... seems like they just make up procedure as they go along

After I finish a couple Hemingways, it'll be on to Death of a Revolutionary: Che Guevara's Last Mission by a Richard L. Harris.

It's a bit of a change from Terry Pratchett, but now reading The Last Days of Richard III and the fate of his DNA by John Ashdown-Hill. The History Press were selling it at a discount across the aisle from us at Olympia the other weekend. It traces what Richard did during the last 150 days of his life, and makes the very good point that he didn't know he was going to die so he carried on as normal, which may seem obvious, but colours a lot of other writing about him. This is the 2nd edition that includes the Leicester dig etc.

A wonderful book I got for Christmas (well, I ordered it and when it came gave it to C to wrap up for me). The Anglo-Saxon World by Nichiolas J. Higham and Martin J. Ryan. It is a very thorough, but very readable book with fantastic illustrations, and it's very heavy! I do prefer the kindle, but the maps and illustrations would have been lost. Thoroughly recommended.

I didn't quite finish reading Edward III on the Kindle, but I'll go back to it when I've finished this one. I mentioned Edward III in the "general literature" thread but it should really have gone in here.

Reading your previous post, turns out a friend of my GF was actually involved in that dig.

--A

Oh, wow! That's something I've always wanted to do - take part in a dig. Unfortunately these days if I stayed in one crouched position for too long I'd never get up again! Even gardening is a pain - literally.

I'm reading The Sea and Civilization: a Maritime History of the World by Lincoln Paine.

Iolanthe wrote:Oh, wow! That's something I've always wanted to do - take part in a dig. Unfortunately these days if I stayed in one crouched position for too long I'd never get up again! Even gardening is a pain - literally.

Old age is a bitch.

--A

And who are you calling old? I'm aiming for another 20 years at least. I'll just hire a nice young man to do the garden.

--A

I just finished Britains and Anglo-Saxons Lincolnshire AD400-650 by Thomas Green. A bit heavy going. Now reading the new Lincoln Record Society book The Country Justice and the Case of the Blackamoor's Head - The Practice of the Law in Lincolnshire, 1787-1838 Absolutely fascinating and very readable. About the Quarter Sessions and a country magistrate. I use Quarter Sessions records at the Archives once a week, in the 1770s at the moment. The Blackamoor's Head was a beer house, by the way.

Sorta like the Klatchian Head?

--A

Ha ha! Yes, sort of. Unfortunately there's only a picture of it after it stopped being a beer house - no sign, no head either.

--A

With the Ken Burns documentary series The Roosevelts: An Intimate History playing this week, I found myself looking for a good biography of Theodore Roosevelt. I've settled on Edmund Morris' series starting with The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, which takes him from birth to the presidency.