Book Report

The 1300’s Headlines in History: Book Report

The 1300’s Headlines in History, written by Stephen Currie, is a very interesting book that is chalk full of great, useful, and sometimes surprising information. Topics included in this book range from The Battle of Bannockburn to The Tughluq Dynasty in India. Just about anything that you could wish to know about the 1300’s is conveniently found somewhere in this book. The topic that I found to be most interesting was the in the section titled “The Aztec Empire”. Before I read this book I knew little to nothing about the great Aztec people. This is because of the fact that these people have been long gone from our current society. After I read this book I can tell you almost anything that you would want to know about the Aztecs among other things that took place during the 13^th century. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody seeking knowledge about interesting events that took place during the 13^th century. If you need information on the 13^th century you should take a look at The 1300’s Headlines in History because it is accurate, reader friendly, and explains events with great detail all the while still capturing the reader’s attention.

            A part of the book that I found to be very interesting was included in the section titled “The Aztec Empire”. It read, “The Aztec practice of human sacrifice was an indispensable part of their religion. Through the terror that it generated it also helped them consolidate their power and prevent subject people from rebelling. Besides war captives the victims included convicted criminals whose offenses called for capital punishment”. I can draw comparisons from this to our modern day society but the differences are greater. Today we still punish criminals but not nearly to the extent that these Aztec people enforced on their subjects. This is just one great example that this book includes in their attempt to recreate the 13^th century. I know for a fact that this book contains accurate information because I looked up a few of the topics included in the book on the internet and found similar accounts. This means that these detailed descriptions were in no way shape or form a fabrication from the true events that took place during the 13^th century. As well as providing accurate information this book is very reader friendly. I found it reader friendly because the separate topics were clearly marked and easy to read. Not to mention they were very interesting.

            As I said before, I would recommend this book to anybody including students who need information on the 13^th century because it is reader friendly, accurate, and captures the reader’s attention with its detailed accounts. The 1300’s Headlines in History attempts to summarize the events of the 13^th century. It goes into great detail about each significantly important event that occurred during the century. Thus giving the reader a good understanding on the 13^th century. This book taught me about a whole century and I didn’t even have to look at anything else to get a good idea about the events that took place.

Book Report: Tanner Deniston   12/12/11    1^st Hour    World History