Books Monthly March 2024






Books Monthly's Pick of the Month for March...



The whole (and sole) purpose of Books Monthly for the last twenty-six years has been to present to you my personal selection of new books that will shortly be appearing (or have just appeared) on the shelves of our bookshops (and also online, at Amazon, for example) and therefore to watch out for. I don't get many review copies of books sent to me nowadays - maybe the publishers are cutting back to save money in a huge and busy market. Last month I was lucky enough to review the companion book to the GHOSTS TV series, which was one of the best TV series companion books I have ever read. This month I'm even luckier to have received a review copy of the book whose cover appears on the right of this page - CRYPT by Professor Alice Roberts, which is reviewed on the nonfiction page of this issue. In CRYPT Alice makes the point that the written word makes it possible for us to read and therefore to know the thoughts and knowledge of people we have never met or spoken to; we can also read and therefore know the thoughts of people who have gone before us and are now dead.

The context of this is referring to the fact that there is very little written history of the period we now refer to as the Dark Ages (brilliantly encapsulated in the great Bernard Cornwell's series of adventure books, which contain many of the characters that Alice mentions in CRYPT). She then goes on to point out that whereas in the past most of our "knowledge" of this period comes from the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, now we have access to much more knowledge through the study of bones (skeletons, skulls etc.) and the genomes etc., of those ancient people whose graves contain such collections of bones. We have many more tools at our disposal for the study of the Dark Ages than just the Anglo Saxon chronicle, and these tools are revealing many fascinating and often conflicting data about our ancestors. The power of words remains incredibly strong and allows us to enjoy and experience myriad worlds and historical periods in both factual and fictional texts. Words unlock the secrets of literature, both real and imagined, and enrich our lives accordingly. I am currently three-quarters of the way through CRYPT and it is one of the best and most interesting nonfiction books I have ever read.

Alice also has a fiction series on the go too - Wolf Road (which was my Children's Book of the Year for 2023) was published at the back end of 2023 and its sequel is one of the many projects she has on the go right now. Some time this year the annual TV series DIGGING FOR BRITAIN is scheduled to return, which is great news for lovers of archaeology. In my life, there are two young ladies who enrich my life with their historical and archaeological programmes. One is Lucy Worsley, who goes from strength to strength with every new subject she tackles. The other is Professor Alice Roberts, who captivates me every time with her expert knowledge, her amazing presenting skills and her sheer brilliant personality. Long may these two peerless young ladies remain at the forefront of the very best in documentary television presenting - they make the TV Licence fee utterly worthwhile. Now back to CRYPT... I hope you find something on the pages of this issue of Books Monthly to grab your attention. Happy reading!


The small print: Books Monthly is published by Paul Norman. 2024 is the 26th year of publication. You can contact me at paulenorman1@gmail.com