Review: Four Princes by John Julius Norwich

The Four Princes of the title (in order of appearance) Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V and Suleiman the Magnificent were all born within a ten year span, born to be powerful rulers, collectively controlling a large chunk of Europe, as well as that portion of Asia once described as the center of the world. Together and separately, they made bold movements on the game-board that was their domain. But that's not to say they were necessarily in agreement. In fact, they were frequently split by seasons of warfare. Theirs was an era when Protestantism rose, when Islam was at the back door and on the porch of Western Europe and when art flowered as it had never before.

What makes this book so fascinating is the way Mr Norwich connects the dots to provide a detailed overview of a significant turning point in European history. Or perhaps we should say, a collection of turning points. With the specter of Brexit looming ever closer (at the time of writing), it's worth remembering that Britain had once before shocked Europe by breaking with it. Interesting details emerge, even about Henry VIII best known (to me) of the princes, through a comprehensive collection of anecdotes taken from contemporary observers. You will learn, for example, who had the largest cannons, why the Mona Lisa ended up in the Louvre and how a collection of plucky crusaders survived the ambitions of one of the largest armies of the 16th century.

Four Princes by John Julius Norwich is a huge recommend to anyone who loves history as much as I do.

Unconquered Territories - the worlds of Geoff Ryman

My awe for Geoff Ryman is enormous, largely for his ability to capture and distill depths of human emotion in unlooked for places and insert it in its truest form in the traditionally soulless medium of science fiction. If you believe maternal love to belong exclusively within the domain of biological life forms, track down his short story 'Warmth', if only to see if your prejudice will really remain standing against the challenge of a young man seeking to be reunited with the robot nanny that raised him. Any author should attempt to explore his novel created exclusively for the internet, '253', a classic excercise in viewpoint. He takes an 8 carriage underground train and gives you a glimpse inside the mind of every one of its occupants, including the driver. 'Air' turns human consciousness into a battleground, when a small, primitive community comes under the sudden assault of instantaneous and total immersion in the vast world of the virtual, by way of an airborne virus. But I've left my first introduction to this gifted author til last. 'The Unconquered Country', an award-winning novella appears as deceptively simple and short as a children's book, but its backdrop is the stark reality of war in Cambodia and its impact upon the soft targets - women and children. But the message is very powerful. Whatever shackles our bodies, within the boundless freedom of our minds and our souls we can find the inner resources to remain unconquered territory.