How Iceland Changed the World

 

by Egill Bjarnason  (read by Einar Gunn)

 

 

 

 

Going to Iceland? Read this before you go. Not going? Read it anyway. It is not full of boring historical details but paints a vivid picture of this island on the crossroads and its history-making roll over the last millenium. Best of all, with the audio version, you get to hear how all the names and places are pronounced.

Four stars -- for making history enjoyable

The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance

 

by Paul Strathern (read by Derek Perkins)

 

 

 

 

 

It was long but it was worth it.

The timeline and cast of characters are fixed. It is only in the choosing of which details and anecdotes to include and which to leave on the cutting room floor that a historian has any control of the narrative, any control over creating an interesting, readable picture of events -- or a boring slog.

Paul Strathern has created an interesting narrative that kept my attention. It is readable. I'm no historian and can't comment on the positions he takes or the conclusions that he comes to. All I can say is that although it was a long book (sixteen hours), I enjoyed it. I was not sitting there begging the author to get on with it and unlike a couple of the history books I have read recently, I did not give up a few chapters in. The book is not simply the Medici but also the people who came into their sphere of influence and would eventually make their own impact.

So, 3.5 stars for this one and the possibility of reading more by this author. He has approached Renaissance Italy from a couple of different points entry and it might be interesting to see how different he can make them.