This is a creative re-telling of the Spanish attempts to settle missions and settlers in California and North Mexico in the 1770s, using the diaries oThis is a creative re-telling of the Spanish attempts to settle missions and settlers in California and North Mexico in the 1770s, using the diaries of 3 Franciscan priests. There are colorful additions from the current day in various locations where the events in the diaries occurred. The narratives don’t focus very much on the Franciscan mission per se, and mostly embed the missionaries in the secular military excursions they were part of. So it isn’t so much about analyzing or contextualizing the particularly Franciscan nature of exploration and settling the west and more just giving the details of the adventures described in their diaries—going back and forth in time and place to try to connect them. Sometime the so what got lost in the details. These men are described well and the events they were part of are humanized. It’s a micro history without as much connection to the historiography and context that’s given in the epilogue. It just stands alone as a story of tragedy and bravery and crossed wires and competition. ...more
This is incredibly readable and I’ve rarely read about this period of time (700s-900s) with such vibrant colors and clarity. Through the device of chaThis is incredibly readable and I’ve rarely read about this period of time (700s-900s) with such vibrant colors and clarity. Through the device of characters who are based on real people, different kinds of history are told—women who marry and grow old and widowed, nuns, princesses, entertainers, soldiers, traders, etc. The stories cleverly build on each other and lightly connect as they also progress through time. What a hard and violent time to live in—just the constant litany of towns being sacked and mass destruction and rape, super sad. But I have a better idea of how Tibetans, Uighers, Turks, Chinese and other ethnic groups and kingdoms interacted. I’ll be assigning a few chapters from the book in some of my classes. Central Asia is too little known. ...more
It’s hard to evaluate this because it is steeped in social science research procedures and I don’t know how out of date they are. That, and the stilteIt’s hard to evaluate this because it is steeped in social science research procedures and I don’t know how out of date they are. That, and the stilted way the sociology scholarship is worded, are the only reasons it isn’t a 5 star. The parts that sum up the history and conclusions for how and why Christianity spread in the first 200 years are super interesting and integrate Christianity into the scholarship of other religions and why people convert to them. Stark creates a picture of a hard and lonely Greco-Roman world within which the communities created by Christians with their values for human life were a welcome vision. I don’t think some of the arguments he is engaging with are still live, but the reasons for conversion and the arguments for moral society Christians created remain compelling. ...more
Compared to the other academic books I read on Sri Lanka, this one was really accessible. The chapter organizations are roughly chronological but theyCompared to the other academic books I read on Sri Lanka, this one was really accessible. The chapter organizations are roughly chronological but they also have themes that the author uses to connect Sri Lanka’s issues with the wider ones in the world. This normalizes them for an outside reader and makes it seems less like Sri Lanka is uniquely troubled. It is a critique of nationalism and capitalism and colonialism but doesn’t just tirade against those and instead communicates clearly the ways they have played out as systems in Sri Lanka. There’s room for optimism at the end too. ...more
This probably deserved 4 stars as a work of scholarship, but it’s not my area so I was reading as a general reader and for that it is 3 stars. It focuThis probably deserved 4 stars as a work of scholarship, but it’s not my area so I was reading as a general reader and for that it is 3 stars. It focuses on ethnicity and the first few chapters were very educational. But the last few chapters about the more recent past are so full of detail and not enough argument that I couldn’t get the “so what”. It was indeed thorough and I think once I learned more about Sri Lanka I could dip into these chapters to learn how the identities got formed and how the civil war resulted from the failed constitutional efforts to give good representation to the various groups. But it isn’t really a narrative and that made it challenging. ...more
I got to read this just before seeing Adam’s peak from a distance. It is an academic anthropology of pilgrimage to the peak which means it is part hisI got to read this just before seeing Adam’s peak from a distance. It is an academic anthropology of pilgrimage to the peak which means it is part history, part travel story, and part interviews with locals. The argument is that the peak itself reveals the cultural challenges and environmental difficulties felt by Sri Lanka. I enjoyed the bits of poetry, photos, stories of past and present, and diverse ways of thinking that showed up here. Can’t wait to climb Adam’s peak someday. ...more
This is an anthropological look at the tensions between Christianity and Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the first 20 years of the 21st century. The argumentThis is an anthropological look at the tensions between Christianity and Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the first 20 years of the 21st century. The argument is that the way they view salvation and the very idea of conversion on the part of Christians as well as miracles has contributed to this. But also that most people are getting along well and the leaders of the two communities are using the competition between them to add to their political power. ...more
I read this during my latest trip to Spain and appreciated the nuance with which he discusses the complexities of the conflict—especially the war withI read this during my latest trip to Spain and appreciated the nuance with which he discusses the complexities of the conflict—especially the war within the war on the Republican side. This is the story of US citizens and other foreigners, especially the British, who came to Spain because they thought it was the moral harbinger of their day. I liked how he set it up as something that was the right thing for those people to do even tho it was a failure and their side lost. People in the US hardly ever know about this war and being part of it made those people suspect because of the Communist connections. The book keeps making me think. ...more
The first few chapters of this are outstanding for helping people think through how museums work and the role of colonialism in them—and how it continThe first few chapters of this are outstanding for helping people think through how museums work and the role of colonialism in them—and how it continues to shape us as we go to museums. The last half is really in the weeds for me as a non-specialist, so that’s the reason for less than 5 stars. The stories of specific items and how they got to the museum are really powerful. ...more
This is a tight monograph making a historiographical intervention about whether states were the effective pirate suppressors that they claimed to be. This is a tight monograph making a historiographical intervention about whether states were the effective pirate suppressors that they claimed to be. Instead the author argues that private actors and local colonial governments did more than the central state. There are a huge number of rich primary sources and the manuscript evidence is really thick. Important for folks who study early modern states as well as maritime history. ...more
This is an academic book but it is written so effectively that I want to use it as a model for my own writing. Hubbard’s argument is that under ElizabThis is an academic book but it is written so effectively that I want to use it as a model for my own writing. Hubbard’s argument is that under Elizabeth I and James I English sailors had a strong sense of their national identity and their relationship both with the English state and the way their national identity shaped their interactions with foreign powers. She is engaging with the historiography that saw pirates and sailors as against the state or as international. She shows how they petitioned the state and got their government to see them as vital to the national enterprise. This changed over the course of the 17th century but earlier in the Stuart period (she especially looks at Mamora and Morocco and the Mediterranean) the sailors were learning to perform their Englishness and see themselves in opposition to other nationalities. She integrates piracy really well into this history that includes the merchant marine and fishing. ...more
This is easy to read and the stories are evocative. It’s really well organized by chapters around sermons, music, art, rituals, prayer and it includesThis is easy to read and the stories are evocative. It’s really well organized by chapters around sermons, music, art, rituals, prayer and it includes Catholic practices as well as Reformed ones. While it stays rooted in the sixteenth century, it is easy to see how differences around worship developed in the current world. The debates around what to sing and how and other important elements may not be as big a division today, but thinking about the practical elements of how these folks tried to worship God is still relevant. And I felt like I could see them going to church and getting grumpy with each other and trying to read scripture well and things I still participate in. I will be assigning some chapters to my undergraduates. ...more
You couldn’t make this story up. It’s stunning. While Snow has made a historiographical intervention and rehabilitated Graham’s story, most of us neveYou couldn’t make this story up. It’s stunning. While Snow has made a historiographical intervention and rehabilitated Graham’s story, most of us never had heard it in the first place. Learning about a European in the Americas before the great demographic devastation when Europeans were the ones in danger and living in dependence on Native nations. This would be first rate as a book only there is heavy handed going back and forth inserting in other stories and providing context but in a way that seeks really added on and sometimes unnecessarily so. It feels like the author is using the story as an excuse to also educate the reader about Sir Walter Raleigh or other people/ explorers. Still, the world ther is revealed is so much more exciting than most folks think of the 16th century. ...more
Leo Africanis looms large in my time period. His geography provides an important description of Africa and Muslim behaviors in the early modern world.Leo Africanis looms large in my time period. His geography provides an important description of Africa and Muslim behaviors in the early modern world. I loved this mashup of the Mediterranean and for people who haven’t heard of Leo Africanus, this makes a fantastic introduction to the Mediterranean world in the 16th century. I liked being reminded of this man’s many names and the multiple lives he would have lived. I was also introduced to the many other sorts of scholarship that were available at that time. The themes lend themselves to reading by folks who are already a bit familiar with the time period/place, so I don’t know yet if I could assign the whole book to undergraduates but it is a lively narrative told with humor and I appreciated the way the scholarship is told out loud and is intentional. It’s good to see how a scholar sorted out their conclusions. ...more
Weir is fantastic at making history readable and showing her research. I can see why she felt this book needed to be written but I haven’t partaken ofWeir is fantastic at making history readable and showing her research. I can see why she felt this book needed to be written but I haven’t partaken of all the pop culture around the other Boleyn girl etc so I mostly felt I didn’t need to read a whole book on Mary Boleyn. But Weir does make the sparse details around her life thick with details by and about those she interacted with. And more than most of her books, this is a historiography with lots of discussion about how previous historians dealt with the subject. ...more
I’m teaching a class on 19th century Europe and read this to learn a bit more about the Romantic era of science. This book was a bit long for my tasteI’m teaching a class on 19th century Europe and read this to learn a bit more about the Romantic era of science. This book was a bit long for my taste and went too much into the poetry and aesthetics for my needs, but it follows 3 scientists from the 1770s-1820s with all their personal relationships and I really appreciated it. It shows how Science was never just science and rationalism. It always involved wonder and passion and ideals beyond the material. I think the work of connecting scientists to poetry etc is good, it just went on too long for me. I really appreciated learning about Caroline Herschel and the other women scientists. ...more
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