Hello Hivers and Book Clubbers,
As far as deadlines are concerned, I've always been one to turn in my work right before that deadline expires. So if a context in the Hive Book Club runs until January 24th, expect me to deliver it the 22nd, as is the case. Let's get into it.
I've selected five unread books on my shelf that I'm looking forward to reading this year, and I'll go by them one by one here, to tell some background, specifics etc. We go from top to bottom, from the smallest in size to the largest in the image shown above.
#1: 'La chute de Constantinople, 1453' by Steven Runciman
The title translates to 'The fall of Constantinople', a well-known historical event that heralded the end of the Eastern-Roman/Byzantine Empire, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Steven Runciman might have been the world's most knowledgeable Byzantinist around when he was alive. I read his three books on the Crusades (which also include a lot of Byzantine Greek history) earlier, and enjoyed them thoroughly.
So I decided to look up more of what he has written, and fell on this subject, one of the most well-known sieges of medieval times. Yet, I couldn't find it in English in the Netherlands on the websites I frequent. And then I DID find it in French. Now, my French is decent, but not great, so that will be an additional hurdle. But I bought this at a far better price than to find an English version and then to ship it here, so this will have to do. Looking forward to it.
#2: 'Das Silmarillion' by J.R.R. Tolkien
The only work of fiction of my five books imaged above, it will also quite likely be by far the most well-known of the five. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings will always remain one of the best fictional works ever written. Yet he himself devoted perhaps more time to the stories that would become compiled in the Silmarillion by his son Cristopher after his death. I've read the Silmarillion once before, and it's quite complicated, a vast history and mythology surrounding it.
I stumbled upon it in the second-hand section of a bookstore I visited, and bought it for 2 Euro's, which is a steal, because the book is in great condition. One thing that stands out; it's in German. I've been looking to improve my German for some time, so this might motivate me to devote some time to it. DAS Silmarillion indeed.
#3: 'English History 1914-1945' by A.J.P. Taylor
If you look closely, you can see my bookmark sticking out of this one! AJP Taylor is a historian that has baffled me before with his impressive off-hand knowledge of 19th and early 20th century European history. This is the 4th book of his that I have acquired. Others were on subjects like the Habsburg Empire (reviewed on my channel), 19th century diplomatic history, and a biography on Otto von Bismarck.
What better than for an Englishman like Taylor to tell of his own country's history? The book numbers about 700 pages, but knowing his other works this won't be an issue at all. I've enjoyed the first 100 pages or so already.
#4: 'Herman Bavinck als dogmaticus' by R.H. Bremmer
This will be the entry that will leave most in the dark without a serious explanation. Translated from Dutch, the title is 'Herman Bavinck as dogmaticist'. This book has been staring at me from my shelf for two years. I find theology interesting, but complicated. And Bremmer wrote this as his doctoral thesis in the 60s. My copy is second-hand, and I bought it for 3 Euro's a while ago. I couldn't resist.
Herman Bavinck was an influential Reformed (Protestant) theologian and vicar in the late 19th, early 20th century. Dutch politics and society were trending towards the liberal and secular during those times, and the Protestants were scrambling to respond on all fronts. Along with Abraham Kuyper (who took the lead), Herman Bavinck was a leader of the Calvinist part of the population, both spiritually and literally; he preached before congregations, was a member of the Upper House, and a great theoretician. It's mostly the last subject that will be dealt with in this book. A complicated but interesting read, I think.
#5: 'Jan Smuts: Van Boerseun tot Wereldverhoog' by Kobus du Pisani
The last entry is a recently written biography on Jan Smuts, the Boer general, who turned out to be one of the most influential statesmen in South African history. You cannot think of early 20th century South-African history without him.
As mentioned before, I prefer to have a people tell their own history by themselves. Du Pisani is an Afrikaner, and thus the book is in Afrikaans as well. It will be an interesting mirror to one of my most-read book, a biography of D.F. Malan, who was Smuts's main political opponent in the 1930s and 1940s. I'm familiar with the subject, so I'm interested in what this quite massive book can add in terms of insight and perspectives.
Conclusion
So that's it for now. Five books, five languages. Five quite different subject, of which four are non-fictional. Perhaps I'll write reviews on some of them here in the book club. Time will tell. Maybe I've given you all some ideas for what to read next. I'll see you all in the next one,
-Pieter Nijmeijer