Reviews
Last Hope Island
As those of you who hang out regularly here on the Margins have probably guessed, I love it when a book turns what I think I know upside down and shakes the change out of its pockets. Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe and the Brotherhood that Helped Turn the Tide of War is one…
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Shoot Like A Girl Is A Compliment
As anyone who’s been hanging out here in the Margins knows, I’m working on a global history of women warriors. I’m looking at examples from across the globe, from the ancient world through the twentieth century. Looking at their stories in the context of women in the modern American military–or maybe looking at women in…
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Isabella of Castile: Europe’s First Great Queen
A while back I reviewed Sarah Gristwood’s Game of Queens, a wonderful account of the powerful women who ruled (directly or indirectly) in sixteenth century Europe. Giles Tremlett’s masterful biography of Isabella of Castile is in some ways the prequel to Gristwood’s account. Tremlett sums up the theme of his book in its sub-title: Europe’s…
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