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From the Newsletter- October 2004 |
BOOK REVIEWS
PERO: The Life of a Slave in Eighteenth-Century Bristol. Christine Eickelmann and David Small. Redcliffe Press 64pp ISBN 1 9045370 £6.99
I have commented favourably before on Redcliffe's 'almost square' format (24x21cm). This one is even squarer, though smaller (21x22cm), and, like its bigger siblings, it works well for this sort of copiously illustrated book. The illustrations are a mixture of black and white and full colour.
The text has some unsettling changes of typeface but is nicely laid out. As you might expect, the story interweaves the general history of the period with specifics about Pero and his owner, John Pinney (whose Bristol home, of course, is now the Museum's Georgian House). The authors are obviously very familiar with their material perhaps a little too familiar, since some of their vocabulary makes few concessions to the more general reader (did you knowthat a snow was a type of ship?) But this book represents some fine historical detective work to flesh out the life of an individual who, though hardly typical, comes from a group of people who have been seriously neglected by historians.
BRISTOL 1927-1933: JOHN LYES and
BRISTOL CASTLE: A POLITICAL HISTORY: PETER FLEMING
Both: Bristol Branch of the Historical Association Redcliffe Press 36pp £3.00
Now some books which require the disclaimer that your reviewer was responsible for their production. Bristol 1927-1933 carries on the 'Latimer' approach to Bristol's inter-war period and has some intriguing snippets to be picked up. Bristol Castle is a well-researched sweep of history from the Norman Conquest to the Civil War which as the subtitle makes clear doesn't concern itself with military matters but with the way the castle dominated and defined Bristol for nearly six centuries.
André Coutanche
0117 964 3106
email: andrec@andrec.plus.com
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