Dean Hamilton
@tyburntree
...I am Fortune's fool. Author of The Jesuit Letter, Black Dog and Thieves' Castle. Marketer, writer, cat wrangler, walker of bear-dogs.
For some reason, my little house-bear has taken to lying in the bathtub…
"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. “
How I spent my Saturday: side-sword training seminar with a scholar visiting from Ottawa!
Exhibit A: small bit of cat fluff Exhibit B: brave and stalwart household guardian who barked at it for several minutes in order to save household from disaster.
Not at all sure what's going here but it looks like someone is badly overselling the new features on the Spear 2.0. Manager with the clipboard can't get a word in. Guy to the far left, rolling his eyes, is internally shouting "Coffee is for closers only. Do you think I'm fucking with you?"
That most Canadian of pastimes - shopping for goalies sticks with your son… That’s a damn lotta sticks.
Too many books "on the go". Not sure this is a solvable problem.... Read! Onward!!!
I have garage visitors. There are four of them at least, still babies but very busy and curious.
Another sword-Saturday! Got to train Bolognese - one hand side sword. Exhausted!
One of the coolest things seen in Venice: The Piraeus Lion. Carved in marble in Athens around 400 BC, graffitied by bored Varangian/Viking guards in the 11thC, stolen in 1687 by rapacious Venetians (St Mark's symbol was a lion), it now sits at the gates of the Arsenal, serene, imposing & fantastic.
Treated myself to a bookstore visit for Fathers Day. Couldn’t resist!
Built myself a home-made Pell, for sword practice. Let’s see how long it survives!
Captain Alatriste by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. A gritty, yet heady & poetic set of adventures following Spanish soldier Captain Diego Alatriste, world-weary veteran of the Flemish wars, as he tries to make his way as a blade-for-hire in Madrid. A fantastic, evocative & swashbuckling series.
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. Continuing with Cornwell, and his epic, grounded re-telling of the Arthurian legends. It follows Derfal Cadarn, in the service of Arthur, warlord of Britain, in a relentless war with the encroaching Saxons. Brilliant writing, as sharp-edged as Excalibur.
Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell. A brutal, action-packed highly readable account of the events leading up to the famous harrowing battle of Azincourt on St. Crispin's Day (Oct 25, 1415). The tale follows archer Nicolas Hook as one of Henry's "band of brothers".
Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Forget about 300. Read this page-turning, stellar tale of the Battle of the Hot Gates, told from the perspective of a Spartan perioikos (free, but not a Spartan citizen). Authentic, brutal, almost Homeric in it's intensity.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Dense, mesmerizing, challenging. Set in an remote Italian abbey in 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville must puzzle out a brutal series of theologically-tinged murders that carry more than a whiff of the diabolical & the apocalyptic.
Shōgun by James Clavell. Fantastic dive into feudal Japan. A shipwrecked Englishman trying to survive in a totally alien culture, deadly samurai, warring daimyos, politics, conspiracy....Shōgun has everything.
One thing the Tudor era does not lack is written documentation. You can read plays (Shakespeare, Marlowe), commercial & court records, crime & religious pamphlets, travelers tales, cookbooks, even books that delve into the vagaries of cozenage (con-artists), gambling, roguery, crime & begging.
There are terrific primary sources that touch upon the social structure, geography and commerce of the day. I recommend John Stow’s A Survey of London (1598), which offers up a richly detailed survey of the city and its inhabitants.
The first & best starting point is a map! This is a critical source that you can use to dive into the structure of the city. Understanding how the city developed, the population, infrastructure, points of entry, industries & social structures provides insight into the experience of those streets.
The streets are different. There, he moves with ease, he blends in, finds his way. He can move through bustling crowds, hawkers & carters. It is a rhythm & pace he is familiar with. In that familiarity, he brings the reader along to discover the discord & colour of the Elizabethan world.