Book Review: Aethelstan by Sarah Foot

Aethelstan: The First King of England by Sarah Foot

 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

 

 

 

Sarah Foot's Aethelstan is one of the few biographies written about the life of the West Saxon king, Aethelstan. The book covers every aspect of his life: Lineage, upbringing, travels, royal expenses, his Court, his private life and religious devotion (Aethelstan never married), and his success as a king who would rule all of England.

However, the mistake I made in reading this book, was that I chose to read it immediately following Neil Oliver's brilliant A History of Ancient Britain. I found myself constantly comparing how different the two were in the way they'd been written. Foot's biography, whilst containing a hefty amount of information, just isn't presented in a particularly interesting way. It feels hefty, daunting and, at times, completely overwhelming. It isn't free-flowing and it feels very academic.

I would not recommend this to anyone but the most ardent history-nerd who harbours a special interest in this particular era.

 

 

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LetterMo 2014: Let's do this!

 

Since I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew, this year I have decided to take part in LetterMo. 

LetterMo began in 2010 and takes place in February each year. A participant is required to send a piece of mail on every day the post runs. As Australia Post operates Monday to Friday (we do not have weekend delivery in Australia), this equates to 20 post days, and therefore 20 pieces of mail. 

If you read this blog, you would have noticed that I am somewhat partial to letter writing. I thought LetterMo might be a good opportunity for me to send some snail mail to those people with whom I would normally either text, email or Facebook (and let's be honest: I hate all those things).

 

But, alas! I am also a slave to the wage, and during the week I simply do not have the time and/or energy to write a full-length letter (and for me, a full-length letter can be pretty darn long). So, I have decided to incorporate postcards into the challenge. On the days that I work, I will send a postcard to someone. On the days I am at home, I will send letters. I know this is the ONLY way I am going to send something every day.

Postcrossing cards will not be included. Since I send these out every week anyway, including them would kind of feel like cheating.

At the end of the month of February, I will share with you my success - or failure, whichever it may prove to be!

If you'd like to have a crack at the LetterMo challenge too, you can find out more information here.

 

But HURRY! It starts next week!
 

The Place of Stone: Kanyaka Station

 

It was the Australia Day long weekend this weekend, which meant that we had a little bit of extra time up our sleeves to get out and about, and do a bit of investigating.

 

Yesterday we ventured out to the old Kanyaka sheep station between Quorn and Hawker, to have a look around, take the Bailey-dog for a walk (and a sniff!), and snap some photographs.

 

I find Kanyaka a particularly interesting location due to its rapid expanse in the mid-1800s, with 40,000 sheep being shorn at the woolshed in 1864 alone. But, the boom wasn't to last, and drought immediately followed with the loss of at least 20,000 sheep over three years. The isolation and the harsh conditions meant that eventually, Kanyaka had been to be abandoned, and its buildings left to ruin.

 

Their stone skeletons, however, remain.