Otro aspecto que me ha fastidiado es lo rápido que pasa por los últimos 100 años y sobre todo por la Primera y Segunda Guerra Mundial... Esto ya más bien es personal, porque son partes que me interesaban muchísimo y se me hicieron cortísimas. Ya de leer un libro tan extenso, no me habría importado que le hubiese dedicado unas 150 páginas más a esa parte, pero como digo, es cuestión de gustos e intereses... His books have sold more than fifteen million copies and been translated into twenty languages. [4] Rutherfurd settled near Dublin, Ireland in the early 1990s, but currently divides his time between Europe and North America. [2] Rutherfurd covers far more actual history than Follett, I found myself spending a lot of time Googling specific historical events as I read along. This book is taking me a long time to read because I wanted to see what the Tower of London looked like, I wanted to read more about London Bridge, I even rented several DVDs that coincided with the time period in the book to get a feel of the culture, costumes and setting as I read. I don't believe any book has ever "engaged" me to this degree. I certainly wouldn't consider myself a history geek, so it is a pleasant surprise that I am truly enjoying learning so much about British history. The third book of Rutherford's that I've read of this type. Have previously read Sarum and Russka and this book pretty much followed those; nothing really surprising or extraordinary about this book. Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle [1] (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places. His debut novel, Sarum, set the pattern for his work with a ten-thousand-year storyline.

Edward Rutherfurd

Finally, the female characters in this book were a) greatly outnumbered by men, b) less prominent than their male counterparts, and c) not treated with respect (in my opinion). There's a difference between writing in a historically accurate manner (women in the sixteenth century would be concerned with finding husbands because of the time period, regardless of author) and in a male-dominant way. I'm not familiar enough with the role of women in British history to say whether Rutherfurd's portrayal of women was historically accurate (I think it was), but his descriptions of the female characters that almost always were limited to just physical characteristics (especially boobs) and his tone when narrating sections about female characters both felt at least subtly sexist to me. Which, as you can tell from the length of this paragraph was annoying at best. London covers almost two thousand years of history and focuses on a few familial hereditary lines throughout that span of time. Each period of history that is selected by Rutherfurd is complemented by stories that focus on these families. But the stories are mostly rooted in domestic issues. Domestic problems such as infidelity, disobedient spouses, and marriage arrangements dominate every time period covered by Rutherfurd. The history is often provided in narrative form along side the domestic tales and, as a result, life and history move forward on parallel paths. These two vital components seldom merged into that powerful combination known as great historical fiction. UPDATE: An author certainly can't cover every historical event concerning London in a single volume, or perhaps even in a series of volumes. However, to me. Rutherford completely skips over a vital part of London's history, a cultural one that had a worldwide impact perhaps as much of an impact as other issues. Before laughing out loud, here me out: the world is still reeling from the impact of London's "Swinging 60's": things such as fashion, the sexual revolution, music, films, class, etc. When I was a child, there were two places: North Carolina and London (Agatha Christie, the Beatles, and haircuts, etc.) I did enjoy "London" but I gotta take one star away from my original five-star review.

Publication Order of Edward Rutherford Standalone Novels

Fascinantan je pokušaj, praviti priču o jednom gradu tako što ćete jahati kroz čitav njegov dveivišehiljadagodina dug život, prateći istoriju kako izmišljenih književnih junaka, porodica i loza, tako i stvarnih istorijskih ličnosti, i načina na koji su ga gradili, rušili, palili i sa njim bistvovali svo vreme, usputno držeći besprekorne mini časove istorije i koristeći široko dostupnu dokumentarnu građu tako da knjigu zaista sa pravom možete zvati i romanom i istorijskim spisom. Overall this book is a slog and though better than ‘The Forest’ it is not as good as ‘Sarum’ I will probably read another Rutherford but only if a suitable subject comes up. To date, his other written work is ‘Russka’, ‘New York’, ‘Dublin’ and ‘Ireland’. Louder and louder now their mighty ringing grew, clanging and crashing down the major scale, drowning out every puny tune, until even the dome of St. Paul's itself seemed to be resonating in the din. And as he listened to this tremendous sound echoing all around him, so strident and so strong, it suddenly seemed to Carpenter that he could hear therein a thousand other voices: the Puritan voices of Bunyan and his pilgrim, the voice of his father Gideon and his saints, of Martha, why even of the Protestant Almighty himself. And, lost in their massive chorus, for a moment forgetting everything, even his own poor soul, he hugged his grandchildren and cried out in exultation: 'Hear! Oh, hear the voice of the Lord!' Then all the bells of London rang, and then O Be Joyful was joyful indeed.' What a delightful way to get the feel of London and of English history.' READ REVIEW.

London by Edward Rutherfurd | Waterstones

Rutherfurd attended the University of Cambridge and Stanford Business School, where he earned a Sloan fellowship. [1] [2] After graduating he worked in political research, bookselling and publishing. [2] He abandoned his career in the book trade in 1983 and returned to his childhood home to write Sarum, a historical novel with a ten-thousand year story, set in the area around the ancient monument of Stonehenge and Salisbury. [3] The story covers major points of British history. The following chapter listing parallels major periods and events:

Publication Order of Dublin Saga Books

Rutherfurd's is a marathon task... I think that he pulls it off. LONDON: the Novel could hook you on history for life.' Living in the city of Salisbury to this day, he has become part of the character of the city itself, with its huge cathedral and long history. After having a pathway named after him with the ‘Rutherfurd Walk’ just off of the medieval marketplace, his place there has been cemented for years to come. With a number of books on the horizon as well, he has plenty more novels left in him yet, as he will continue writing on into the foreseeable future. Edward Rutherfurd is a Life Member of the Friends of Salisbury Cathedral, the Salisbury Civic Society, and the Friends of Chawton House, which is located in Jane Austen's village and dedicated to the study of women writers. He is also a Patron of the National Theatre of Ireland (the Abbey Theatre) in Dublin. I suggest reading this book for more of the historical facts than any sort of story-telling. As a history of London (and England) it's nice in that it's not too dry and involves a little bit of fictional aspects. However, the fact that the characters change every couple of chapters (as the narrative jumps forward in time) hurts the flow of the story and stops you from developing any sort of attachment to the characters. Really, who cares if a character gets what they want, achieves their dreams, are the good guy/bad guy, when you know that in the next chapter you'll jump ahead to their descendents where their circumstances might have completely changed??

London by Rutherfurd Edward, First Edition - AbeBooks London by Rutherfurd Edward, First Edition - AbeBooks

Releasing his first book ‘Sarum’ in 1987, after breaking away from his old career to start writing it in 1983, he was well on his way to becoming a fully fledged writer. Typically travelling throughout the ages, he will chart a families progress over an extended period of time, sometimes even thousands of years. For this he has gained a huge amount of acclaim, both nationally and internationally, as his books travel worldwide. Rutherfurd, having celebrated at some length the growth of an English cathedral town (Sarum, 1987) and the turbulent history of Russia (Russka, 1991), offers a massive survey in fictional form of London's long history. Like the work of his likely inspiration, James Michener, Rutherfurd's novels are distinguished by admirable research and a propulsive plot. This latest follows the growth of London from its origins as a Celtic encampment through its emergence as the Roman capital in Britain and on to its long climb to preeminence as England's (and, for a time, the world's) greatest city. Interwoven with the private (and rather melodramatic) adventures of a half-dozen families over a 2,000-year span are most of the events that shaped England (from the Norman invasion up to the Battle of Britain).' Then there's the fabric of London itself, the persistence of landmarks and street patterns... Coins or artefacts stolen or lost in one chronicle raise the reader's expectations that they might be recovered in another, at a later date...

With confidence and skill, Rutherfurd has separated those layers and produced a remarkable story of a great city. Once or twice the social, political and economic factors overshadow the fictional families, but that is almost inevitable when even the best fiction comes up against such an impressive spectrum of historical fact.". [2] Publication details [ edit ] He dudado mucho acerca de la nota que debería ponerle a esta novela, ya que aunque muchas partes se me hicieron super interesantes otras me aburrieron bastante y se me hicieron muy pesadas... Pero como creo que lo segundo era culpa mía por estar un poco verde con la historia de Inglaterra, el libro se nota currado y muy bien documentado, y la última parte la he disfrutado muchísimo y eso hace que me haya quedado buen sabor de boca... Creo que se merece las 4 estrellas. Past Winners of the David J. Langum Sr. Prizes: 2009, Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction". LangumTrust.org. 2009. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012 . Retrieved 20 December 2015.