Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway

Read: 1 November, 2007

I have read quite a few books on writing fiction and I must say that this is the only one that I have ever felt had any merit at all. Most books of this type give instructions, personal opinions, and leave it at that. I've often felt somewhat disappointed because I learned little from reading them. Reading this book, on the other hand, I frequently felt that I was learning a great deal.

The format for each chapter is an explanation first, then some short story examples, and then single and group exercises for readers to try. I found this format to be extremely helpful. The examples were well-chosen and referenced during the explanation sections and the exercises were creative and fun.

Usually, I would not recommend creative writing guides simply because they tend to be full of crap, but this is one that I urge anyone who is interested in creative writing to pick up.

The Medieval Garden by Sylvia Landsberg

Read: 31 October, 2007

This book covers the three types of gardens (for medicine, for food, and for beauty) present in the Medieval era. It lists the sorts of plants that would be used and which are still available to the modern gardener. It also contains a chapter on how to recreate a Medieval garden of your own.

All in all, I found it a pleasurable read with lots of useful diagrams and illustrations. It is a good choice both for fans of gardening and for fans of Medieval history.

Life in a Medieval Village by Joseph & Frances Gies

Read: 31 October, 2007

With very little information available about peasant life, I can imagine that it must have been difficult to stretch out an entire book. Certainly, I felt that it was the chapter on the village from Life in a Medieval Castle with only a few extra details. I did find those extra details interesting and I made good use of the images. All in all, I think that if you are doing research on Medieval life but are strapped for time, read Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel, City, and Castle, but skip this one. If, on the other hand, you have plenty of time, by all means give it skim through.

The book covers what it can about the daily life of peasants, usually from criminal records and so the book is full of amusing stories about drunken farmers hacking at each other with sickles. It also talks about marriage traditions and the church's efforts to control that. The interaction with the manor, both in law and in harvest feasts, dominates much of the information in the book. There is also a good deal of information on farming - the plants, the seasons, the methods of sowing and reaping, bylaws about grazing, and so forth.

Medieval Games by John Marshall Carter

Read: 20 October, 2007

Discuss the role of games in Medieval society, including its role in gender and class barriers and the way in which games reflected a society that was organized for war (Carter discusses the three estates as being formed around war). The book also touches on the cult of reputation (identified as a remnant of the Greco-Roman tradition) nurtured by sportspeople.

The purpose of this book is to argue rather than inform. If you would just like to read about the types of games people played, what they looked like, what the rules were, etc... this is not the book for you.

Fashion in History by Marybelle Bigelow

Read: 20 October, 2007

I'm not sure how well-researched this book is. It made a few statements that set off my warning bells. For example: In explaining the term 'barbarian,' she says "[t]his name was given to them by the Romans because of the fierce and loyal way in which they fought in battle." I had always been under the impression that the name was given to them because their language sounded like "barrbarr" to the Romans. Details like this made the history sections questionable, but, knowing very little about clothing, there isn't much I can say about those sections. however, I would recommend using this as a source of inspiration rather than as primary research.

The illustrations were inconsistent. Some were sketches, some pictures of art or statues, and they didn't always make it clear what parts of the costume we were meant to notice. I found explanations rather lacking as well, often having only a vague sense of what the costume piece would have looked like or what the term referred to. Different sections (17-20th centuries, for example) received far more coverage than other sections.

All in all, I was fairly disappointed. As research, I found the book questionable. In terms of inspiration, I found the images lacking. Read en masse with the other books I've gone through, it works fine. It filled in a couple cracks, gave me a few more decent pictures to work from, and so forth. But I wouldn't recommend it to read alone or as a primary source of research/inspiration.

Life in a Medieval City by Joseph & Frances Gies

Read: 19 October, 2007

Another fantastic Gies to add to my collection, this one dealing with life in the cities. It covers life for richer women, education, crafts, medicine, trade, religion, and law. The writing style is easy to read and loaded with information. There isn't much that I can say except that I highly recommend this book. In fact, if you plan to write historical fiction or Medieval fantasy, I think that this (and the Castle and Village books) is a great starting point.

Historic Costume in Pictures

Read: 10 October, 2007

Put out by Braun and Schneider. This is a picture book (the only text being the copyright notice, a publisher's note, and a table of contents). It details a wide range of traditional and historic costumes from Europe, as well as Indian and Asian costumes from the last century or two.

I have no idea how accurate the images are, but they seem fairly consistent with images I've seen in the past. The images are in black and white and seem to have been redrawn from statues or paintings. A fun game was trying to identify where the images were redrawn from (some being famous enough that I could place them).

Because of the dubious accuracy and the lack of explanation, I wouldn't recommend this book for research. However, if, like me, you just want inspiration for designing your own clothes, this is perfect. It covers enough breadth that it should provide all sorts of ideas.

Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph & Frances Gies

Read: 1 October, 2007

This book covers many of the aspects of castle life, including the daily routine of the lord and lady, their costume, their diet, and their hobbies. It begins and ends with a brief history of the castle in England. It also deals with the lives of some of the non-noble residents: talking about knighting ceremonies and life in the village that the castle depended on.

As usual, J&F Gies have written another amazing resource for anyone interested in the subject. Taking notes, I found myself practically transcribing the entire book simply because every single sentence is packed with so much information. This book is more than enough of a resource for anyone interested in the basics. Those who are using this as an introduction for further studies will find enough base material to spawn a great deal of ideas. This is a fantastic resource and the writing style is absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend this and every other Gies book I've read to date.