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| Final Rating: 4.3/5 |
This was my first, but certainly not my last non-fiction title by Ms. Castor. After reading Joan of Arc: A History I have moved She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (a title I have been interested in but until now has sat on the lower levels of reading priority) to my list of books to purchase in the near future. If this author can make the complicated machinations and events of the Hundred Years' War and the brief final years of Joan the Maid's life so easy to follow, a joy to read and yet present such a sensitive portrait of legendary figures - I can’t wait to see how she presents the sometimes controversial She-Wolves and epic power struggles of English History.
Joan of Arc: A History may surprise some readers who expect to read solely about Joan of Arc (or Joan the Maid and later Saint Joan of Arc), her story is a minor section that makes up the wider world that Ms. Castor paints with articulate and confident strokes of chapters that aim to first educate but also directly accompany the reader through the complex events that played out in England and France during the 14th-15th centuries. The pace of this book is swift and the reader may feel a little intimidated with the huge lists of names and titles and how quickly the many battles, skirmishes, underhanded murders and devastating wars play out on and off the blood soaked fields. It’s okay to be confused at this point, but keep with this narrative and trust Ms. Castor as she first explains the basic facts of bad blood shared between kingdoms and moves onto the desperate moments that cry out for a miracle for France and then a familiar young girl who claimed heavenly guidance appears in the pages. Some may expect that Joan’s appearance come earlier but the author explains in the front of the narrative why she chose to present this timeline. The rest of this title moves to: detailed descriptions of the battles that Joan the Maid led her fellow french soldiers into, her capture, imprisonment, her trial and death. This narrative could stop there, but continues after the ashes of her memory are scattered and goes on to show the impact that Joan the Maid or "The Maid of Orléans (then later known as Joan of Arc) made in history and shares the words of those who knew and battled beside not just the Maid but the young girl from Domrémy who believed in something.
Joan of Arc: A History handles certain subjects of injustice, complex topics and controversial questions delicately while at the same time allowing the reader to make their own judgments and conclusions. Those portions I really appreciated and I didn’t feel at any time I was being forced into any biased moment by the author. The only negatives I had with this book were, I wished more time was spent on certain details and not on others. I also wanted to know more about Joan's personality traits and a little more about her early history before she arrived at the Armagnac Court and perhaps something about her training to be a soldier (how she trained- that must be recorded somewhere). Still this was an enlightening read that I would recommend to others who have been looking for a widely ranged narrative that can take on: Wars, Battles, Fractured Kingdoms, Court and Religious Conflicts and Saints to create another kind of look at legendary figures that is a joy to read.
* I would like to thank Harper and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and enjoy Joan of Arc: A History
Release Date: May 19 2015
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