Page 88 - All About History - Issue 28-15

Reviews

XERXES:

A PERSIAN LIFE

The story behind one of the ancient
world’s most controversial monarchs
Author Richard Stoneman Publisher Yale Price £25 Released August 2015
he Persians were a fascinating dynasty, rich detail, rather than flying over a massive
ruling over a huge part of Asia and Europe. quantity of information.
One of Persia’s most famous kings was The writing itself is fairly uninspired.
Xerxes, who ruled the empire from 486 Stoneman fails to build up any kind of story,
TBCE-465 BCE. His reign was full of drama, instead choosing just to list events, describe
intrigue, highs and lows, and thus should have palaces and collate the research of others, even
made for a riveting read. bizarrely quoting lines from operas and plays.
Sadly, Richard Stoneman fails to bring this One highlight of the book is the description
tortured soul to life in this drab, heavy-going of Xerxes’ campaign in Greece and the battle
book. Stoneman attempts to take us on a journey of Thermopylae. Here, Stoneman finally brings
through the entirety of the Persian empire of the some colour into the book, describing the
early 5th century BCE, and that is his first pitfall. chain of events excellently. Unfortunately, it
He fires endless names and dates at the reader, may have come too late for many readers.
making it difficult to remember who is who by This is clearly a labour of love and could
the end of a chapter. He conscientiously explains prove interesting to Persian scholars, but
when two accounts use different names for the casual reader is unlikely to come out of
people, but that simply confuses the issue further. this knowing much more about Xerxes, but
Also, Xerxes isn’t mentioned for vast swathes of knowing a lot more about how not to engage
the book, so Stoneman may have been better to an audience.
have written a more tightly focused account with Jamie Frier

THE BEST KEPT SECRETS OF

THE WESTERN MARCHES

A definitive analysis of Carlisle Castle’s Medieval graffiti
RECOMMENDS… Author HG Wills Publisher Arthur H Stockwell Ltd Price £5.95 Released Out now
he so-called Now,anewbookbyHGWillsisabletoprovideus
Professor “prisoners’ with a definitive analysis. Part One offers a succinct yet
Porsche’s Wars carvings” on entertaining history of the Anglo-Scottish borders and
Author: Karl Ludvigsen Price: £30 the interior the origins of Carlisle Castle. Wills succeeds in covering
Publisher: Pen & Sword
It’s a T walls of Carlisle 600 years in just over 30 pages without it feeling rushed,
favourite Castle in Cumbria andhisadditionofwackyandamusinganecdotesbrings
piece of Nazi have been largely colourtowhatcouldhavebeenaverydrychapter.The
trivia that ignored by historians, hand-drawn maps and illustrations here and throughout
Hugo Boss
designed the but these cartoon- thebookdosufferfrompoorreadabilityattimes,butthey
neat, austere like depictions are are, quite frankly, delightful.
uniforms almost unique in Parts Two and Three go on to explain each of
of the
Wehrmacht. their form. Unlike the several hundred carvings. Here, the extent of
However, nearly all existing Wills’ research is revealed, particularly with his well-
it’s less examples of Medieval substantiated theories surrounding the more symbolically
known that stonemasonry, many ambiguous scenes. However, it also becomes clear that this
many of the
Third Reich’s military machines were of these carvings are is essentially a guidebook, or one for academics looking to
designed by Ferdinand Porsche, founder theworkofilliterate, bolster their knowledge of the period and its art; it is not a
of the famous sports car brand that unskilled commoners, book for the casual historian seeking a light-hearted read.
now supplies millionaires’ garages the
world over. In his book, Karl Ludvigsen andofferaglimpseintothemindoftheordinaryfolkof The Best Kept Secrets Of The Western Marches provides
explores Porsche’s career and his work the12thto16thcenturies.Andcontrarytopopularbelief an analysis that is long overdue, and is a fine example of
with the military, from his early years that they were carved by the castle’s prisoners, a study detectivework,butavisittothecastleisrequiredinorder
with Austro Daimler to becoming one of carriedoutin2011foundthatinfacttheyaretheworkof to fully benefit from it.
Nazi Germany’s most trusted engineers.
bored soldiers. Alicea Francis
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