History and Historical Fiction

Volume 2 of Churchill's History encompasses the Tudors, the exploration and settling of the New World, the Puritans,  and Charles I and II.  I made my way through it, pausing now and then to return to historical fiction--a genre that I've always enjoyed as a painless way to learn about the past.

My paperback copy of The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton dated back to the late Fifties or early Sixties (the cover gives it away) and was falling apart so I availed myself of an ebook. It's a terrific story about the factions at work in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (and much of what would become New England) and the travails of an independent-thinking woman in this rigid society. The story--based on fact--puts living flesh on the bare bones of history.

Another novel I re-read, inspired by Churchill's History, was The Child from the Sea, Elizabeth Goudge's romantic take on Charles II's liason with Lucy Walter, mother of his (illegitimate)son, afterward the Duke of Monmouth. Goudge 's settings come alive, and so do her characters as we follow them through the reign and execution of Charles I, the dour interregnum of Parliament, and the Restoration of Charles II. Painless history--and if liberties are taken, it's in aid of making it a good story. In a foreword the author, in the best tradition of historical fiction, explains her sources and admits her suppositions. It's a delightful story, if a bit of a tear-jerker.

I realize that I've come full circle--I began (many years ago) by reading historical fiction which gave me an interest in history which has now sent me back to historical fiction. I think the two work very well together.

 

Those Who Don't Study History . . .

 . . .are condemned to repeat it. While those who do, shake their heads as it happens again and again, an endless Groundhog Day nightmare.

Actually, I'm not a real student of history. But I enjoy reading about the past and every once in a while am struck by mankind's seeming inability to learn from it.

I just finished The Birth of Britain, volume one of Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. From the Roman invasion and occupation to the Angles and Saxons and Vikings, on to the Normans and the Plantagenets, the Magna Carta and the Black Death, Joan of Arc and the Wars of the Roses, the history of the Island, as Churchill calls it, seems to be one of almost perpetual war.

And it was hard to avoid seeing parallels to today;

"The belief that the English were invincible and supreme in war, that nothing could stand before their arms, was ingrained. . . The assurance of being able to meet [the enemy] at any time upon the battlefield overrode inquiries about the upshot of the war. Few recognized the difference between winning battles  and making lasting conquests. . . . While the war continued the Crown was expected to produce dazzling results, and at the same time was censured for the burden of taxation and annoyance to the realm. A peace approached inexorably which would in no way correspond to the sensation of overwhelming victory. . ."

Sound familiar? This was at the end of the 1300's and it's still true today.

Another parallel I found interesting was the Black Death. It killed nearly a third of the population and suddenly, good help was hard to find. Wages had to increase and this led, eventually, to the rise of a middle class.

We are seeing something like this today, as folks laid off low-paying, unfulfilling jobs by Covid, begin to demand better paying, more satisfactory work. It would be nice to think that our middle class will eventually be brought back to the strength it once had, when one wage earner could support a family and own a home.

Interesting times, the 1300's and the 2000's. I can't wait to see what happens next.