Thursday, 5 September 2013

Barry Cunliffe, Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000



Fernand Braudel was namechecked quite often, and his spirit was ever-present in this sweeping history of a continent over 10,000 years. The Roman Empire just a blip, much more emphasis on 'pre-history' and the thriving cultures and communications links that pre-date classical civilisation and were based on the three 'oceans'; the Med, the Atlantic and the North Sea/Baltic.  We've just got back from a week on the Isle of Wight, staying just outside Newport on the Medina. Obviously I'm now a sailing expert having spent nearly 48 hours on a boat last April, so was confidently striding round the harbour giving my valued opinion to all. We spent an awful lot of time at a lavender farm, which was a beautiful spot, like Cold Comfort Farm at the end of the novel.
Fred and I built a Lego X Wing Fighter as our holiday project; obviously it’s been smashed up and fallen apart and we've lost Jek Porkins' blaster already. For the last couple of nights I've been using  the Star Wars Lego to act out Ep IV as Fred's bedtime story. Pretty sure Helen wouldn’t be happy If I bought/assembled a couple of AT-ATs and Bespin Cloud City out of Lego to enact The Empire Strikes Back. My story would really have benefited from a Lego Death Star though. . . .

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