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Title: Beyond the Myth: The Story of Joan of Arc by Polly Schoyer Brooks, Polly Brooks ISBN: 0-395-98138-7 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Getting beyond the myths about Joan of Arc
Comment: In "Beyond the Myth: The Story of Joan of Arc," Polly Schoyer Brooks provides a biography for young adults that makes a point of separating historical facts from popular legends. One of the main strengths of the volume is how Brooks establishes the situation in 15th-century France which involved a king who suffered fits of madness and his weakling son and then tells the story of a peasant girl from the countryside who accomplished what appeared to be miracles in rallying the French to her banner. The result is a book about Joan of Arc that captures her humanity as well as her heroism.
Brooks neatly divides the story of Joan in half, with the first six chapters starting with Joan's life in the village of Domremy and ending with the crowing of Charles the Dauphin as King of France, and the last six depicting Joan's fall from glory, trial, and execution. Brooks emphasizes that the situations that brought about her martyrdom were beyond Joan's control and details the political calculations that ended up putting her in the hands of the English. However, as Brooks emphasizes, though the English burned Joan's body to ashes they could not wipe out the memory of her deeds from the French people. I appreciate that Brooks makes it clear to her readers how the effort's to restore Joan's name and honor after the English left France were just as politically motivated as the trial that condemned her.
This young adult biography is illustrated with historic prints and paintings, including a sketch by a clerk of his idea of Joan drawn in the margin of his report, as well as contemporary photographs of historic sites, such as Joan's stone-and-rubble house in Domremy and the statue on the post were she was burned at the stake in the marketplace at Rouen. Brooks has also written similar biographies of Eleanor of Acquitaine and Cleopatra. However, as Brooks notes, although more books about Joan have been inspired than any other women in history, she remains an enigma. In "Beyond the Myth," Brooks tries to answer the key questions concerning Joan's life and to restore her humanity, which in the final analysis, Brooks sees as being her greatest virtue. For students who are ready to get beyond your basic juvenile biographies of Joan of Arc, this is a thoughtful volume to which to turn next.
Rating: 5
Summary: Detailed biographical study garnered from intense research.
Comment: Like many females, I enjoy learning about female historical figures. I want to know as much truth as I can find. The author does exactly that for the reader. This book is a detailed account of the events that triggered Joan d'Arc's dedication to her country and its rightful king. The author traces the history based on documents and other works that have been carefully researched. She provides the reader with the personality traits and beliefs of the time which drove the events that led to Joan's trial and death. Accusations of witchcraft and sorcery were used by church and secular leaders to destroy the young life of a heroic woman because of jealousy, superstition, and shady business surrounding the church and state. In addition, health and medical issues of the times are revealed that are shocking and entertaining. Read this book to learn about Joan, but also about the way people lived. Just learning about the reasons for the need for all those castles made the read worth the time.
Rating: 5
Summary: Informative non-fiction--and actually interesting, too
Comment: I don't generally read non-fiction (I have the non-fictionattention span of a gnat). I'm glad I got my hands on this book. Itwas very well written, and so interesting that I ended up retelling it to several friends. Joan had a fascinating life and the author recaptures it very well.
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Title: Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses by Regine Pernoud ISBN: 0812812603 Publisher: Scarborough House Pub. Date: September, 1994 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Joan of Arc by Mark Twain, Jean Francois Alden ISBN: 0898702682 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: June, 1990 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words by Willard R. Trask, Joan, Edward S. Creasy ISBN: 1885983085 Publisher: Turtle Point Pr Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title:Joan of Arc ASIN: B00005QCVQ Publisher: Artisan Entertainment Pub. Date: 20 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $9.98 |
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Title: Joan of Arc: Her Story by Regine Pernoud, Marie-Vronique Clin, Marie-Veronique Clin, Jeremy Duquesnay Adams ISBN: 0312227302 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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