A review by eithe
A History of Wales by John Davies
informative
slow-paced
2.5
Can be exceptionally dry in places. Some of the early chapters seem to boil down to a chronological list of names that seem to blend together, with little effort made to distinguish any character of these historical figures.
Lots of words are dedicated to religious changes in the history of Wales but it feels like too much additional knowledge is assumed. In fact, there are many passages that could have afforded a little more context or explanation. In other words, this book sometimes fails to stand alone.
For someone unfamiliar with the geography of Wales would struggle to follow much of this book.
Infrequent diagrams often provide little help or context to the text. Given the above notes, much more use could have been made of this space.
All of this said, there are interesting gems sprinkled throughout the book, with the latter half being particularly interesting. It's a shame that one has to work for these nuggets, though.
Lots of words are dedicated to religious changes in the history of Wales but it feels like too much additional knowledge is assumed. In fact, there are many passages that could have afforded a little more context or explanation. In other words, this book sometimes fails to stand alone.
For someone unfamiliar with the geography of Wales would struggle to follow much of this book.
Infrequent diagrams often provide little help or context to the text. Given the above notes, much more use could have been made of this space.
All of this said, there are interesting gems sprinkled throughout the book, with the latter half being particularly interesting. It's a shame that one has to work for these nuggets, though.