Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Unfocused and Uninteresting, March 15, 2003
I was excited when I first picked up New Worlds, Lost Worlds, looking forward to reading about the Tudors, a dynasty I knew something but not a lot about. However, two pages into the author's prologue I began to have doubts. Brigdon provides a recitation of what her book is *not* about, without ever really telling us what the book *is* about - almost as if she is unsure herself. And the book itself seems aimless, endlessly wallowing in topics then meandering onto something else. Brigdon's choices about what information to impart is also less than satisfying. For example, the book opens with Henry VII landing in South Wales. We are given precious little of Henry's background, however - pretty much nothing more than that he was born in Pembroke in 1457 and hid there thirteen years later. Nothing about what shaped him in exile, how he marshalled support for his return, what had brought Richard III to deposition. Instead, we are given a long-winded expose of the land Henry marched through on his way to Bosworth Field. Such is typical of the book, with such long meanderings that the reader feels as if he is wading through waist-high water, able to see the shore but unable to reach it. Far from being "vivid and stylish," as one reviewer has described it, Brigdon's prose seems all fluff and no substance.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Important and Complex Story Densely Told, January 16, 2010
"New Worlds, Lost Worlds" is part of the Penguin History of Britain series, meaning that it should stand alone as a history of the relevant period, the Tudor period, 1485-1603. I do not think it does this. It has some strong elements - Brigden's presentation is very good with regard to religious history, and at showing how each Tudor monarch related to key political actors, mainly the aristocratic class. But in terms of military, economic and some aspects of the political system, it is not what I hoped.
Readers who come to this book without a good sense of the narrative structure of the Tudor period will probably not leave it with one. It helped me that I had read a more general narrative history (Rebecca Fraser's `The Story of Britain'), and I would only recommend this book to someone who already understands the grand narrative. I think the problem is one of integration - there are scattered references to economic trends and discontents, hundreds of political actors appearing out of nowhere, lots of detail on religious schisms and struggles, but no integrated picture. Individuals are introduced as representing this faction or that, at times parliament pops up and does something, but one never understands who these people are, how these factions come to control parliament, and the like.
The lack of good maps may be part of the problem. There are only four: two related to Ireland, one of southwest England to illustrate Henry's march to Bosworth Field as he was to take his throne, and one related to the Spanish Armada. There isn't a single good map of England in the book. (I have the hardcover version.)
I am presuming that Brigden has some sort of subspecialty in Irish history, because there is a bewildering number of references to this clan or that, with nothing comparable for Wales or Scotland (granted the union hadn't happened yet, but this is a history of Britain, not England, and Ireland wasn't genuinely united with England yet either).
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Strong on events poor on analysis, January 20, 2005
Susan Brigden, Reader in Modern History, Fellow, and Tutor at Oxford, has written New Worlds, Lost Worlds: The Rule of the Tudors 1485-1603. This book replaces the 1950 work Tudor England by S.T. Bindoff in the updated Penguin History of Britain series. The volume is suited for use as an introductory college textbook providing a strong narrative of the period.
Brigden's main goal is to show the Tudor period as one of transition between a series of 'old worlds' and outlooks as opposed to modern viewpoints and 'new worlds'. During this highly eventful period, according to the author, the Protestant Reformation, the conversion of the nobility to one of personal service to the monarch and the exploration of new lands across the Atlantic all were new worlds. The old worlds such as those of a strong independent feudal monarchy, the stability of the old religion and the certainty of an established landscape were all gone by the end of the period.
The text primarily concentrates on a political narrative of the times; it is laden with facts and events. Towards the start of the period, a chapter is spent on the social life of the common man and the social orders. Near the end of the book, there are diversions from the political narrative to cover the beginnings of colonization in North America and events in Ireland. A concluding chapter showcases Shakespeare and the literature at the close of Elizabeth's reign.
The book is both too much and too little to succeed in its goals. While presenting a strong narrative and displaying a wide knowledge of the facts, the work is short on context and analysis. Characters appear on the political stage with little introduction and the reader is left to his own devices to understand the motivations behind the actions. Personalities are often pithily described but without any additional background. Events are well chronicled but the need to cover so broad an area permits little depth. One bright spot is the coverage of Ireland, much more in-depth than is usually found in a British overview of the period.
New Worlds, Lost Worlds, leaves the reader understanding that there were many important events in during the Tudor years. What motivated the people, and how the events related to one another is less well presented. Readers who need to find out "Just the facts" will be very pleased with this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
