About: House of Rocamora by Donald Michael Platt is a historical fiction book taking place in Amsterdam. This is a sequel to the well received Rocamaora: Man of Masks which I wrote about last month. 346 pages Publisher: Raven’s Wing Books (November 19, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 1618070916 My rat­ing for House of Rocamora — 5 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format* More Books by Don­ald Michael Platt Thoughts: House of Rocamora by Donald Michael Platt (web­site) might not be as exciting as its predecessor (meaning there is no castle intrigue or daring escapes from under the Inquisition’s nose) however the account of the daily life of Isaac (previously Vicente de Rocamora) is just as an engrossing read. The book creates a vivid picture of the Jewish community in Amsterdam. It was very interesting to read how the Jews lived and interacted with each other and the Dutch people at the time. The protagonist has become Jewish but not an observant Jew and the community somewhat resents him for that, add that to the fact that he was a priest and even considered for the post of head of the Spanish Inquisition and you can understand their mistrust. This is an excellent companion to Rocamora: Man of Masks, however…

About: Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden is a historical fiction story following the young man who will eventually become Genghis Kahn. This is the first book of a series which at the time of the writing of this post numbers five novels known collectively is the Conqueror series. 416 pages Publisher: Bantam (July 13, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 038534421X My rat­ing for Genghis — 4 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format* More Books by Conn Iggulden Thoughts: I had waited a long time to read Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden (website | Facebook), I bought it for my nook while it was on sale one day and it simply resided there until I had a chance to read it (there are many other books suffering the same fate). Once I got started though, the book was difficult to put down. Mr. Iggulden weaves a good story with fascinating historical detail while keeping up the drama in the story. As brutal as life was in the plains of Mongolia, Genghis manages to mix brilliance with violence, respect with strength and understands the necessities of survival in a community. Unlike other Mongol leaders, Genghis Kahn understood the importance of the tribes uniting, both for security…

Tolstoy does not understand how historians refer to Napoleon as “great” as he does not live up to the standards of humanity and goodness, neither as a military commander, emperor, leader or even in exile. As a conqueror / enemy / ally Napoleon constantly mislead the Russians and destroyed their economy. When he gives the order for the French to retreat, Napoleon already made sure he’s the first one to withdraw.

Article first published as Book Review: Rocamora by Donald Michael Platt on Blogcritics. About: Rocamora by Donald Michael Platt is a historical fiction book taking place in 17th Century Spain. This book was the 2012 finalist in the International Book Awards for Historical Fiction. 408 pages Publisher: Raven’s Wing Books Language: English ISBN-10: 1618070150 My rat­ing for Rocamora — 5 Buy this book in paper or elec­tronic format* More Books by Donald Michael Platt Thoughts: Rocamora by Donald Michael Platt (website) is based on the life of Vicente de Rocamora a poet, fighter and Dominican priest who was thrust into the scheming court of King Philip IV. Rocamora became the confessor for the king’s younger sister, the beautiful Infanta Doña María and was considered as a strong candidate for Inquisitor General. I found this book to be a first-rate historical novel; I learned a lot of history from the book, about life in Spain and the Inquisition, as well as following the story in vivid detail. Mr. Platt weaves his story around the history and doesn’t change the facts to fit his story (at least I couldn’t find any glaring cases of such). The novel certainly let’s the reader feel the glory of Spain fading during the reign of Philip IV, while Count Duke Olivares acting as…

Once more Tolstoy shows his disdain for Russia’s upper class. Even with the invasion going on, the capital battered and people suffering Russia’s elite society still lives as if their gatherings are of utmost importance.

Above All Things by Tanis Rideou is an interesting book to discuss, the story is multilayered, the narrative is poetic and the action is exciting.

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas is the second book in what is now knows as the d’Artagnan Romances (the first being The Three Musketeers and the third being The Vicomte de Bragelonne). As in the previous book, the novel was serialized in 1845 before being published in book format.

About: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is a historical fiction novel taking place in 17th Century Holland. The book has fascinating descriptions of the times, how people lived and behaved. 256 pages Publisher: Plume; Deluxe edition (August 30, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 0452287022 My rating for Girl with a Pearl Earring – 3 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format* More Books by Tracy Chevalier Thoughts: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (website | Facebook | @Tracy_Chevalier)was neither here nor there. The story seems like an episode of the old British drama “Upstairs Downstairs” set in Holland with a coming of age story neatly tucked in it as well. The plot is somewhat interesting with one well developed character (Griet) and none others I cared about. The book is written very well but nothing happens and for awhile I was actually bored. Some of the characters are well developed but I was hoping for Johannes Vermeer’s character to be more in depth. To my disappoint Vermeer played a minor (yet important) part in the book. However, the descriptions of 17th Century Holland, the class system and mercantile society were excellent, which by itself was worth finishing the book. The descriptions of how the paintings were…

Article first published as Book Review: Cervantes Street by Jaime Manrique on Blogcritics About: Cervantes Street by Jaime Manrique is a historical-fiction novel about Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s journey to write Don Quixote. The book is peppered with literary references to Cervantes’ works as well as works of the time, while I didn’t get many I did enjoy learning about them. 320 pages Publisher: Akashic Books (September 4, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 161775126X My rat­ing for Cervantes Street — 5 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format* Thoughts: As followers of my blog know, I am a big fan of Don Quixote, probably more to the nostalgia associated with the story from my childhood than anything to do with the classic story. However, when I did read the full length novel (both parts) I understood why the book has become such a literary classic. Unfortunately, many readers get daunted by the sheer size of Don Quixote. The stories in the classic tale need knowledge of the time’s pop-culture in order to fully enjoy the reading experience. However, the same could be said for Shakespeare and several other authors from the far and not-so-far past. For those readers who are overwhelmed by the size of the classic book, Cervantes…

The French army is hurt, moving out of Borodino, it advances towards Mosco. Kutuzov, realizing that the French momentum cannot be stopped, gives up Moscow without a fight or sacrificing lives to defend it. This move is very unpopular and meets with general disapproval of the populace. The “haves” evacuate Moscow.