Showing posts with label early British history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label early British history. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2025

The English Empire: The predecessor of the British Empire

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“In the reign of king Henry the seventh, his ministers (not to say the king himself) were more industrious in hunting out prosecutions upon ...
Wednesday, May 22, 2024

A review of the BBC’s “The Plantagenets”

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“No scutage nor aid [i.e. forms of medieval taxation] shall be imposed on our kingdom, unless by common counsel of our kingdom [which is the...
Friday, April 26, 2024

A review of Michael Wood’s “In Search of Shakespeare”

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He had more influence upon the  English language  than any other individual – perhaps even more than the Biblical translator William Tyndale...
Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Some thoughts on Thomas More’s “Utopia”

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Note: By writing the work “Utopia,” Thomas More created a new literary genre: utopian and dystopian fiction. This genre is still popular tod...
Wednesday, June 28, 2023

A review of David Starkey’s “Henry VIII: Mind of a Tyrant”

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Warning: This post contains some mature themes in it. Although I have tried to discuss them tastefully, there’s no way to take them out of t...
Friday, October 14, 2022

A review of the BBC’s “The Normans” and “The Normans: The Complete Epic Saga”

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There’s a reason that 1066 is the best remembered year in  British history . In that year, the Normans invaded England . They are the last p...
Wednesday, August 24, 2022

A review of Michael Wood’s “In Search of the Dark Ages”

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During the  Dark Ages , there were a number of invasions of what is today  “England.”  Some of them were before the state of  England  was c...

A review of “The Germanic Tribes”

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Warning: This blog post contains a picture of an actual human skull from centuries ago. What is this film about, and why should I care about...
Wednesday, June 8, 2022

A review of Neil Oliver’s “Vikings: The Real Warriors” (BBC)

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In the year 793, the Vikings attacked a monastery on the English island of Lindisfarne . It was the beginning of the Viking invasion of Engl...
Thursday, March 17, 2022

A review of Frank Delaney’s “The Celts” (BBC)

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“And, first, with regard to the antient Britons [the Celts], the aborigines of our island, we have so little handed down to us concerning t...
Friday, May 22, 2020

A review of “The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody Crown”

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“The great revolutions that had happened, in manners and in property, had paved the way, by imperceptible yet sure degrees, for as great a r...
Monday, March 23, 2020

A review of “The Plague” (History Channel)

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The greatest outbreak of disease in recorded human history (the Black Death) … It is still the greatest outbreak of disease in recorded ...
Tuesday, September 4, 2018

A review of “Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire” (History Channel)

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Note: This is a different series from  “Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire” (which is made by the BBC). There aren't too m...
Friday, June 15, 2018

When King John signed the Magna Carta, it was like signing a surrender document …

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“No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed , nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, exce...
Thursday, September 7, 2017

A review of David Starkey's “Elizabeth”

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“However, considering the reign of queen Elizabeth in a great and political view, we have no reason to regret many subsequent alterations in...
Thursday, June 1, 2017

A review of David Starkey's “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”

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Warning: This post contains some mature themes in it. Although I have tried to discuss them tastefully, there's no way to take them ou...