Sunday, July 6, 2014

July Additions to the Library

Well, as mentioned in my last post, the Library is well and truly open for business, and taking in new titles. Here are some that should be arriving this month:



The First Crusade: The Call From The East by Peter Frankopan
The First Crusade is one of the best-known and most written-about events in history. This book intends to address the history of the First Crusade from the perspective of the east, examining the role of the Byzantine Empire and its ruler, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
(have been promising myself to get this one for some time)

The Writings of Agnes of Harcourt: The "Life of Isabelle of France" and the "Letter" on Louis IX and Longchamp trans: Sean L Field
An abbess in the Franciscan abbey of Longchamp, Agnes of Harcourt wrote a biography of Isabelle of France and a letter detailing Louis IX's involvement with the abbey, both of which provide a window on 13th-century religious life. This translation also contains an introduction to her life and work.

The Murder, Betrayal, and Slaughter of the Glorious Charles, Count of Flanders by Galbert Of Bruges, translated by Jeff Rider
The craven murder of Glorious Charles, who had no progeny and had not yet named a successor, upset the fragile balance of power between England, France and the Holy Roman Empire, giving rise to a prolonged struggle for the countship and bloody civil war while impacting the commercial life of the most prosperous regions of medieval Europe.

William Marshal: The Flower of Chivalry by Georges Duby
Recreates the life of William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke from a thirteenth century poem and describes medieval daily life
(another one that has spent way too long on the TBR list)

The Normans by Trevor Rowley
The Normans were a relatively short-lived cultural and political phenomenon. They emerged early in the tenth century and had disappeared off the map by the mid-thirteenth century. Drawing on the archaeological and historical evidence, this title examines how the Normans were able to conquer and dominate significant parts of Europe.

The Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen trans Bernard S. Bachrach and David S Bachrach
Presents a narrative of the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath, covering the period 1096-1105, but is often neglected, due in no small part to the difficulties of its Latin.

Burgundians in the Mist by Marc Comtois
A historical work focusing on the Burgundians--a Germanic people of the Late Antique/Early Medieval period--and the role they played in the transition of Western Europe in the wake of the Fall of the Rome.

Strongbow: The Norman Invasion of Ireland by Conor Kostick
The coming of the Normans to Ireland from 1169 is a pivotal moment in the country's history. It is a period full of bloodthirsty battles, both between armies and individuals. With colourful personalities and sharp political twists and turns, Strongbow's story is a fascinating one. Combining the writing style of an award-winning novelist with expert scholarship, historian Conor Kostick has written a powerful and absorbing account of the stormy affairs of an extraordinary era.

Galloglas: Hebridean and West Highland Mercenary by John Marsden
This exciting new work offers a Scottish perspective on a particularly bloody chapter of Irish history. The Galloglas were a group of mercenary warriors from Western Scotland who settled in Ireland and achieved extraordinary prominence over the next 300 years. By the 15th century they had become Ireland's first professional warrior class.

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