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House of Lilies: The Dynasty That Made Medieval France Justine Firnhaber-Baker
Stars: 5
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
That this book took me almost four months to read should not lead people to think this is a dry history tome. In reality, it is far from it. Firnhaber-Baker writes exceptionally well, her prose is tight and she moves through the years at a great clip. This is not an in-depth look at just one of the Capetian kings that ruled what would become what we know as France from the late 900s to the early 1300s. Instead it romp through the dynasty that set the course for the creation of a magnificent kingdom the likes of which was only rivaled by the opulence of tsarist Russia.
We get a little bit of everything in The House of Lillies: crusades, progroms, dynastic marriages, wars with England and Flanders (oh and Burgandy, and Rome, and well everyone really). This is a narrative history that is engaging but also scholarly. This one reminds me of Helen Castor and Dan Jones, high praise from me. If you are at all interested in early medieval France (or how France came to be France), pick this one up!
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