Robert Easton (1)

This is a very interesting set of biographical sketches of noble/royal historical figures (most, but not all, from Europe) and their nicknames and how they got them. As Easton points out, nicknames are surprisingly important: how many people would remember Ethelred the Unready, if not for his catchy nickname? (A more appropriate if less catchy nickname for him would be Ethelred the Badly Advised.) Nicknames can tell us what the person's contemporaries thought about them, but they can also be surprisingly misleading.

This is not serious history, and I spotted a few errors. For example, Easton repeats the old canards about Anne Boleyn having six fingers on one of her hands (she did not) and Napoleon being short (he was of average height for a man of his time and place). But it's good fun nevertheless, and would make good toilet or bedside reading.… (més)