Voices From the Past - W.B.Marsh

 


Voices From The Past

WB Marsh

Rating 5 Stars

Pages: 720
Published: 08 Oct 2020 
Publisher: Icon Books

Publisher's Description

In a treasure trove for history buffs, W.B. Marsh fleshes out the context behind famous quotations associated with each day of the year, sending us back and forth in history from the time of the Ancient Egyptians to the world we live in today.

‘You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.’ (25 April 1898) Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst urges war artist Frederick Remington to stay in Cuba while Hearst publishes lurid tales of an imaginary conflict.

‘I am tasting the stars!’ (4 August 1693) The monk Dom Pérignon tests the result of his new techniques in the making of sparkling wine, and champagne is born.

‘From the sublime to the ridiculous is only a step.’ (18 October 1812) Napoleon’s all-conquering Grande Armée begins its slow and ignominious retreat from Moscow.

Review

I always find books of quotes very dry and can only read a few pages at a time but this approach is brilliant. 

By including the background information behind the main quote of the day it will expand your knowledge of history in a fun and entertaining way with just enough to whet your appetite should you want to research any of the historical figures in more detail

Each day also includes a few extra quotes as well as the main article and with it's easy writing style and interesting subject matter I found it completely un-putdownable.

You can either use the book as a source of information for a particular day and delve into it at random or just read it cover to cover - it is the kind of book that once you finish reading it you will find yourself going back to it to re-read favourite articles or to use it to spark other reading projects.

This is a great book for anyone who loves quotes or history and is a veritible mine of information with which to amaze your friends or start a lively debate


Comments

  1. Anonymous3 July 2022 at 16:53

    That's a good honest review. Thank you. Will definitely check this out

    ReplyDelete

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