Read Historical Enigmas by Hugh Ross Williamson

So much earlier I commented on how the opening introductions of this book had a very distracting theme of "historians other than me don't know shit about how to properly appreciate history." Fortunately after the first chapter, Hugh Ross Williamson lays off on that line of thought and we get a nice look at various conspiracies, murders and scandals throughout the history of (mostly) the United Kingdom, starting with the death of William Rufus in 1100 and ending with the Pains and Penalties Bill of 1820. (a.k.a. King George IV's Desperate Attempt to Divorce Caroline of Brunswick.)

Hugh Ross Williamson offers his own theories to various mysteries involved in the events he describes, which I generally try to take with a grain of salt. Since I am fairly ignorant about a lot of history I was more interested in learning about the various events rather than his specific solutions for them. Alas, I don't think I absorbed a great deal of info, but here's what I've more or less come away from the book with:

• Wow, the Protestants and the Catholics really fucking hated each other! I mean, I had a vague idea of this already (Hello "The Orange and the Green," song from my childhood) but wow, the Protestants and the Catholics really fucking hated each other!
• Roundheads, Cavaliers, and Oliver Cromwell! I actually know a bit about that!
• Why does the name "Sir Robert Cecil" sound familiar? *googles* Oh, okay, he was in Cue for Treason, I remember my mom getting me to read that.
• *cringes at the Campden Wonder*
• I do not think I actually learned much about the Man in the Iron Mask (or just The Mask, since it was made of silk) that I didn't already know, but I remember it.
• So that's what Jacobite is! Okay, that gives a bit more context for those historical romances I read.
• The Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which is a story I found interesting enough that I could probably remember a lot of the details if you asked me.
• King George IV was technically married to two women, apparently. Except the first one wasn't technically legal since she was a) Catholic (see my first point) and b) George IV didn't have his father's permission. And probably some other stuff. This lead to a great deal of political awkwardness.

Anyway, it was pretty enjoyable although it took me forever to finish the darn thing. In fact, it is technically due back to the library tomorrow! I still need to finish reading Scott McCloud's Making Comics but it should be easier going since it's a comic itself (and comics are very easy for me to breeze through in comparison to pure prose.)