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A review by planarlost
The Most Powerful Women in the Middle Ages: Queens, Saints, and Viking Slayers, From Empress Theodora to Elizabeth of Tudor by Melissa Rank, Michael Rank
3.0
Some interesting facts, but as others have said, a few things questionable.
Categorizing Elizabeth I as a woman of the Middle Ages is unusual, in my opinion, especially if you believe the Middle Ages to have begun at the fall of Rome and ended at the Renaissance/Reformation. Elizabeth I lived during the Renaissance, not the Middle Ages, the late period of which concluded well before her birth.
As another example, Jeanne d'Arc was involved in many battles, and was wounded in battle on more than one occasion, but she never actually fought with a sword herself (which is not necessarily made clear in this text). That is not to say she didn't live an incredible and heroic life, but the authors mix some fact and legend when discussing her.
And the pop culture references do date the book somewhat, in a bad way (a mention of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline as a married couple being a major example).
Overall, however, still some interesting facts in the book. They discussed at least two people mostly unfamiliar to me. I also can't fault the authors necessarily for not including references as this may have been up to their publisher (sometimes publishers want references and bibliographies removed, even if to the detriment of the authors and their work's credibility).
Categorizing Elizabeth I as a woman of the Middle Ages is unusual, in my opinion, especially if you believe the Middle Ages to have begun at the fall of Rome and ended at the Renaissance/Reformation. Elizabeth I lived during the Renaissance, not the Middle Ages, the late period of which concluded well before her birth.
As another example, Jeanne d'Arc was involved in many battles, and was wounded in battle on more than one occasion, but she never actually fought with a sword herself (which is not necessarily made clear in this text). That is not to say she didn't live an incredible and heroic life, but the authors mix some fact and legend when discussing her.
And the pop culture references do date the book somewhat, in a bad way (a mention of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline as a married couple being a major example).
Overall, however, still some interesting facts in the book. They discussed at least two people mostly unfamiliar to me. I also can't fault the authors necessarily for not including references as this may have been up to their publisher (sometimes publishers want references and bibliographies removed, even if to the detriment of the authors and their work's credibility).