Book Reviews

[mmcnealy]

Here are a lot of book reviews

A Bitter Living: Women, Markets, and Social Capital in Early Modern Germany
by Sheilagh Ogilvie
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 7, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0198205546

My review:
This is a very interesting book if you wish to examine the role of women in labor markets in the 17th century, but its scope is very limited in the eras prior to that. The book mainly focuses on the time period of 1646-1800, and has some very good empirical data from court cases describing women’s tasks, wages and so forth. A great book, but not for 16th century research.

Buy/ILL? ILL it if you are interested in working women in the 17th century


Shopping in the Renaissance: Consumer Cultures in Italy, 1400-1600
by Evelyn S. Welch
Publisher: Yale University Press (September 29, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0300107528

My review:
If your area of study is 16th century Italy, then this is a great book for you! If you are looking for information on trade between Italy and Germany, you will get tantalizing hints of fantastic stuff but nothing more. For the Italians, it has lots of great tidbits about who went shopping, appropriate manners while shopping, prices for new and used goods and how the pawn system worked. There is good Italian artwork showing people shopping, markets and shop fronts. Its also got some great material on the shopping habits of Isabella d’Este and how she ran her household from the financial aspect. Its amazing how many people they had make up their courts and what they had to provide for each of them.

Buy/ILL? Buy it for Italian research or if you are just into researching consumer habits, ILL it for other areas




Landsknechte und Reisläufer: Bilder vom Soldaten. Ein Stand in der Kunst des 16. Jahrhunderts.
by Matthias Rogg
Publisher: Schöningh (July 1, 2002)
Language: German
ISBN-10: 3506744747

My review: If you don’t read German, ILL it just for the pictures there are some that are not in Birgit von Seggern’s dissertation or in the German Single-leaf woodcuts. If you do read German, you’ll definitely get more out of it. The partial English translation that is out there is rough, and some things that I think are worth translating are considered not to be by the translator…. but if you are looking for a good source of information on the actual life of the landsknecht and the women in the baggage train, this would be a good resource. If anyone needs the partial English translation, email me and I’ll send it to you.

Buy/ILL? ILL it unless you are creating a comprehensive library of all things Landsknect or you read German.



Peasants, Warriors, and Wives: Popular Imagery in the Reformation
by Keith Moxey
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; New Ed edition (April 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0226543927

My review: Most, if not all, of the woodcuts and paintings that are used for clothing recreation purposes have an allegorical meaning. This book offers a great introduction into the meaning behind the imagery that we use in our research.


Buy/ILL? A highly recommended Buy, but if you are on a tight budget and are unsure, ILL before purchasing.



" --Wider Laster und Sünde" : Augsburgs Weg in der Reformation : Katalog zur Ausstellung in St. Anna, Augsburg, 26. April bis 10. August 1997
by Josef Kirmeier; Wolfgang Jahn; Evamaria Brockhoff

Language: German
Publisher: Köln : Du Mont, ©1997.
ISBN: 3770140451

My Review:
Not worth buying, or ILL’ing unless you can read German fluently or are just crazy about Augsburg.

Comments

[mirazandar.livejournal.com]

i've read parts of a bitter living and seem to remember it was worth reading

[mirazandar.livejournal.com]

d'oh. it was a short review. i thought it was a part of the "what to buy-" thing

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Its OK, I can see the confusion. Its definitly a book worth reading for the women's history aspect and historical wages. I wish she would have broadend her scope of research materials and covered the 1500's, to me that would have made the book much more useful.