History Books that Impressed (November-December 2008)

History may not be for everyone but it is one of my greatest passions. Each novel or article I read based on or filled with history teaches me something new. Each book gives me a new point of view on human nature, from amazing women who nursed Anzacs back to health to mysteries concerning royalty.


A Rose for the Anzac Boys by Jackie French (2008)
The wounds from this book are still open as it was Christmas night when I set the book to rest on my desk after hours of reading as I let the book captivate my mind, my soul and my heart. “A rose for the Anzac Boys” is not for the faint hearted. It describes the war and the trauma experienced both during and after in such great detail you can picture each and every sentence in your head. My heart actually skipped a beat quite a few times when the character felt a great shock.

The story is about Midge, a New Zealander during the war, who at the beginning of the book is only sixteen and learning how to be a young lady in England. Her two brothers are both in the war and when one is pronounced ‘missing in action’ she decides she has to do something. She and two of her friends open up a canteen at a train station that is passageway to both the war front and the hospitals, so that they can serve the soldiers nice warm cocoa and other warm foods. She soon finds herself helping the wounded in other ways including driving an ambulance and working as a nurse’s aid. This opens her eyes and mind to the many horrors of the war, leading her to experience war firsthand as she gives herself to the cause appreciating every moment life has to offer.


The Diary of a young girl by Anne Frank (1995)
This book was first published in 1995 but was written many years earlier during World War II. The book was so good I was unable to put it down, and so it only took me five days, if that, to read it. Anne Frank’s story is so different from those written in textbooks and historical articles about World War II. For one thing it is written by a girl, who is, as she is writing, experiencing that time in history.

The diary is written by Anne Frank during her time in hiding. The last entry of her diary was written only three days before her and the other seven Jews she is hiding with are found and taken by the authorities. Anne talks about her feelings about hiding, the war and her family friend whom she has come to grow fond of; She also writes about “after the war”, which makes it so painful for the reader because they know there was no “after the war” for Anne.


My story; Titanic by Ellen Emerson White (1998)
This story like many others is fictional although based on historical events, in particular, the sinking of the grand ship the Titanic. It pulls the reader into a world of parties, seven course dinners, lace up boots and excitement, as well as pain, suffering, poverty, homelessness and fear. While reading this book I actually cried, a rare occurrence for someone who likes to look at things, such as literature and film, with an objective point of view.

Margaret Anne writes her diary, at first, during her residency at an orphanage in England. Her brother lives in America and both her parents have passed previous to the diary. One day she is lucky enough to be chosen to accompany a rich woman on the new ship the Titanic. Margaret is delighted as this is a chance to reach her brother in America, all expenses paid. When she steps aboard however she suddenly realises that although the ship is grand and is home to so many marvelous parties, foods and guests, it is not the all expenses paid trip she had thought it.



Anastasia by Colin Falconer (1953)
“Anastasia” is a household name to many a family. Yes, there was a fictional cartoon made about her in the nineties. Yes, she died at age seventeen. Yes, she was the youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia. Not many people know however, in which circumstances the reality became a childish cartoon. Not many people know that it was Colin Falconer who first pieced together a piece of fiction based on rumours that the Duchess had survived her fate. Yes, it is not a childish book but a book of romance, courage, passion, hatred, pain, suffering and above all hope.

The piece is split into two, with the chapters moving backwards and forwards between Anna’s life and the life of Michael Sheridan. Sheridan is an American journalist that stumbles across Anna, who has a striking resemblance to Anastasia, in one of Shanghai’s Taxi Clubs (brothels). They have awkward sex and he is left entrapped in her beauty, her mystery, the lonely eyes. After saving her from her attempted suicide he becomes her guardian and they trail through many challenges, both together and apart, seeking happiness for those lonely eyes.



♥ Clairzy