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briandbremer's review
funny
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Loxton clearly has great passion for the men and women at the center of her book. And her knowledge of the the political cartoonists and their publishers of the late 18th/early 19th centuries is encyclopedic. And her writing is, for the most part, engaging.
So why the middling score? Well it's because Loxton doesn't trust the reader with her prose. On multiple occasions, she takes page long detours into flights of fancy, imagining what a conversation could have been or what her conversation with the artists would have be like if they jogged with her around modern day Covent Garden. Her jokey asides referencing James Bond movies or other modern pulp culture touchstones are more akin to the worst of Family Guy than actually humorous. (On the other hand, her joking aside that she hopes her book sells as well as Thomas Paine's pamphlet was very funny in context.)
Ultimately, it's a wonderful book that's dragged down by poor style choices and the author being too willing to engage in idle speculation rather than simply focusing on the story that she clearly loves and that is begging to be told.
So why the middling score? Well it's because Loxton doesn't trust the reader with her prose. On multiple occasions, she takes page long detours into flights of fancy, imagining what a conversation could have been or what her conversation with the artists would have be like if they jogged with her around modern day Covent Garden. Her jokey asides referencing James Bond movies or other modern pulp culture touchstones are more akin to the worst of Family Guy than actually humorous. (On the other hand, her joking aside that she hopes her book sells as well as Thomas Paine's pamphlet was very funny in context.)
Ultimately, it's a wonderful book that's dragged down by poor style choices and the author being too willing to engage in idle speculation rather than simply focusing on the story that she clearly loves and that is begging to be told.
liedora's review
5.0
If this being a history book puts you off reading it in any way, you are sorely missing out on an hilarious, educating and entertaining read.
If you only read one historical book this year, make it this one.
If you only read one historical book this year, make it this one.