Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


When Women Play the Game of Thrones

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

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I found out about Queen Brunhild through an old website entitled History Behind Game of Thrones. The article was detailed but it painted Brunhild in a titillating way as a promiscuous intriguer doing all she can to maintain her grip on power. It was supposed to compare to her to the villainous Queen Cersei. I was fascinated with the story and had recently reached out to find it again, only to discover (sadly) that the site folded. Which was doubly disappointing because there was scant enough info […]

Fourteen Hundred Years of History; Still Uncovering the Women whose Achievements were Hidden.

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

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I work in Public History, but any good public historian (or historian of any stripe) will tell you that it is nearly impossible to know all eras and areas well. There are inevitable blind spots – you must choose where to apply your limited time. When this year’s Read Harder challenge asked us to read a history about a period you know little about, I was stoked, an excuse to go back further than I normally do and read about some women doing the leading. […]

The Original Elizabeth and Mary

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

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Two women, rival queens, rule kingdoms that lie side by side. Over the course of decades, they scheme and intrigue and fight both to keep their crowns and to take away the other’s. One will die peacefully, the other violently, and from their actions a dynasty will come to an end. The Dark Queens follows the lives of Brunhild and Fredegund, who were Frankish queens during the 500s. They had extremely disparate origins, with one starting as a Spanish princess and the other as a palace […]



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