Bentwaters Cold War Museum

   At the end of July I was lucky enough to visit Bentwaters Cold War museum in Ipswich.

   It is £5 for entry, and is only open the first and third Sunday of every month due to it being volunteer-run (so quite restricting)! The museum itself focuses more on the history of the former airfield rather than the cold war itself, however one of the exhibition rooms does contain a wad of information about the build up to the cold war, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Vietnam war. A collection of planes are situated outside the museum, and there is also a little cafe.   

   I'm in the process of doing individual posts about the trips I've done over the last two months, so the next post will be about Saffron Walden and Audley End.

   More info on the museum

Average Historical fiction novels

   Right, we've had best and worst... so here's my 'average' list of historical fiction novels.

1. Stormbird by Conn Iggulden
2. Trinity by Conn Iggulden
3. Hereward by James Wilde
4. The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory (don't judge me, I love Anne Neville)
5. The Eagles' Brood by Jack Whyte
6. The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham
7. Lionheart by Stewart Binns
8. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
9. Pirates by Celia Rees
10. The Strangled Queen by Maurice Druon. 

Historical Fiction - Best and Worst

   I've recently finished reading a novel by the 'acclaimed' Anne O'Brien about King Henry IV's second wife: Joan of Navarre, and it got me thinking about other history novels and whether accuracy matters, and whether writing them in the 'first person narrative' makes a difference in quality.

   The novel itself unfortunately is on my 'worst list'... for the sole reason of it being in the first person narrative. Joan comes across as petulant and childish, but she might not have been had we seen her from another person's viewpoint - Henry IV's, for example. And this is meant to be a love story? Come off it. There was no romance whatsoever, and he loved her at first sight? Give me a break. It's just too fanciful. In regard to accuracy I don't think this matters too much when Joan is applied due to there being scant information about her, however Anne could have made this a brilliant novel had she written it in the third person and included the battle of AGINCOURT! She completely skimmed over it. Baffling. On goodreads I gave this 3/5 stars, and I'm beginning to think that was too generous.

   Best:

1. The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
2. Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell 
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
4. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman
5. Harold the King by Helen Hollick
6. A King's Ransom by Sharon Penman
7. Holy Warrior by Angus Donald
8. Dan Leno & the Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd
9. Falcons of Montabard by Elizabeth Chadwick
10. The Clerkenwell Tales by Peter Ackroyd  

   Worst:

1. The White Princess by Philippa Gregory
2. The Queen's Choice by Anne O'Brien
3. The Constant Queen by Joanna Courtney
4. Anarchy by Stewart Binns
5. Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
6. The Forest Laird: A Tale of William Wallace by Jack Whyte
7. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
8. The Last Conquest: 1066 by Berwick Coates
9. The King's Mistress by Emma Campion
10. The Fallen Queen by Emily Purdy   

   Next on my history fiction 'to read' list is The Winter Crown by Elizabeth Chadwick so that should be far better quality than The Queen's Choice.