Gossamerchild reviewed Tudors by Peter Ackroyd
Review of 'Tudors' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
So...I took my time with this book. All in all it took about a month to read it. And when I got to the very end of the book, I was a little disconcerted to read (on the very last page, no less), "THIS ENDS VOLUME ONE." What? Volume one of what?? Excuse me? How did I not KNOW this was the second in a set? And who on earth publishes history/nonfiction in multi-volumes anymore anyway?!? Anywho, annoyed rant finished, I flipped back to the cover of the book, the title page, the cataloging information, the list of other books written by Ackroyd, and nada. The only place it said anything about this being part of a set was on the back flap/author blurb. I realize this has little to do with content and more to do with the packaging, but my point is (and I do have one!) my …
So...I took my time with this book. All in all it took about a month to read it. And when I got to the very end of the book, I was a little disconcerted to read (on the very last page, no less), "THIS ENDS VOLUME ONE." What? Volume one of what?? Excuse me? How did I not KNOW this was the second in a set? And who on earth publishes history/nonfiction in multi-volumes anymore anyway?!? Anywho, annoyed rant finished, I flipped back to the cover of the book, the title page, the cataloging information, the list of other books written by Ackroyd, and nada. The only place it said anything about this being part of a set was on the back flap/author blurb. I realize this has little to do with content and more to do with the packaging, but my point is (and I do have one!) my reading experience was slightly put off by not knowing until THE VERY LAST PAGE that the book I just finished was neither the first nor the last in a series.
The content itself was just fine, if a little dry at times. This was just a snapshot of English/British history, which is why I didn't think it was part of a series. Most of the book was concerned with Elizabeth I, and I must say I now want to read more about Mary, Queen of Scots. Fascinating stuff, that British history.