Living for the Good Life: history

Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

I'm really enjoying reading at the moment, so I thought I may as well share with you my current list of books that I'm either reading at the moment or waiting to start.

Currently I'm seriously into the Wolf of Wall Street book. I'm totally in love with Leonardo DiCaprio (YASSSS BABY ON YOUR OSCAR) and the Wolf of Wall Street is one of my favourite films, so when I watched it again recently I was so hooked and just wanted to know more about the real story, so I bought the book and it's amazing! Jordan Belfort is seriously honest, witty, and a charming story teller. Although he warns against thinking this early on in the book, god he is goals! As messed up and full of debauchery and illegality his life as the Wolf was, it was also amazing what he managed to achieve.

I bought this book quite a few months back now, and it's one of them books that I will read a bit of, put it down for months and then pick it right back up again. It's one of the most interesting books I have ever read, as personally I love finding out about human nature and reasoning behind our existence and how we live and do what we do. It's super easy to read, and you'll learn so much whilst enjoying it.

Again, I have had this book for quite a while now but still haven't finished it. Not because it isn't good, but just because it is a book that you do not need to keep a pace with. It's aimed at business/management people, but basically it explains to you the reasoning behind everyday actions, thinking patterns, and decisions - both individual and collective. It really makes you think and makes you consider your actions. Another book that will teach you so much and you won't even realise you're being taught.

Keeping my love of fashion satisfied, this book was bought as a little indulgent read. Ralph Lauren is one of my all time favourite designers, and possibly one of my idols, and so the chance to find out more behind his life and his designs seriously appealed to me. Super easy to read and filled with pictures to go alongside the text, it's almost a mini coffee book style piece. Plus, it's by Vogue.

The story of Dorian Gray has intrigued me for a long time now, and whilst I have seen portrayals and odes to it within film and television (most recently in Penny Dreadful), I have never actually fully understood or read the original tale. I'm very excited to start this one!

Like I said, I really enjoy learning about the human race and the human body, and reasoning behind everything we do, so books like this seriously appeal to me. I hadn't heard anything about this and was simply intrigued by its blurb and so picked it up. I haven't even opened it yet, so I can't tell you at all whether it is any good or not, but I'm sure it will be as Sunday Times bestsellers are usually pretty on point. Plus I like the colour scheme...

Let me know if you have any recommendations of books you think I'd be interested in, and which ones are your favourites both at the moment and of all time.

1. Any clothing that is camel/tan/. Especially coats.

2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Truly brilliant so far.

3. Turtle necks jumpers. (I never thought I'd see the day...)

4. Mulberry Bayswater. Just cannot get it out of my mind. I'm thinking Christmas present to myself...

5. House of Cards - my current night-time Netflix obsession. Feel like I should dislike Frank and Claire Underwood but I unashamedly cannot, they're just so compellingly clever it's admirable.

What are your current fixations?

(All images sourced from Pinterest).

This August bank holiday, around 2,000 re-enactors have flooded to Chester in order to perform a re-enactment of the historic Battle of Rowton Moor, which was the last major battle of the English Civil War.

Although the original battle, which took place on September 24, 1645, was actually fought around 2 miles away from the city, the re-enactment's make-shift battle ground is Chester Racecourse.

I actually had no idea this event was taking place until around lunch time today, when I was sitting eating my lunch and watching YouTube videos and all of a sudden started hearing booming drums in the distance outside. I popped my head out of the window and saw the great hoard of re-enactors marching in formation across the bridge from Handbridge to Chester, making their way to the racecourse. I ummed and ahhed for a few minutes as to whether I should venture outside and see what was happening, and eventually decided that I couldn't miss it.

A little known fact about me is that I actually did exactly this type of re-enactment, same time period and everything, from basically birth until I was around 10, and so seeing so many re-enactors brought memories flooding back and filled me with nostalgia.

I raced down to the racecourse (sorry, had to be done), settled down in a prime viewing grassy spot and watched the battle unfold. This is a pretty picture heavy post, so brace yourself!

The troops marched onto the field...

As the Royalist forces took position, the Parliamentary forces began to march onto the battleground.

As they did so, the Royalist musketeers started to open fire.

In no time, the cavalry were charging around the field.

More musketeers began firing and the battle truly started to commence, with both sides starting to march towards each other, ready to fight.

By now, the field was starting to become clouded with gunpowder smoke, as the battle's intensity grew and troops were edging closer and closer to each other.

Cannons were firing left, right and centre, and the troops collided.

After watching the battle unfold spectacularly for about an hour, I'd had my fill of action for one day and decided to head back, not before taking one or two overview snaps of the battle as I left it raging on.

I didn't get to see the battle end, but what I did see was truly brilliant to watch. I'm so glad I chanced upon hearing the troops marching to the racecourse because otherwise I would of missed out on the whole spectacle! It was a really brilliant event, which will be carrying on into tomorrow with the battle being played out all over again for the spectators to goggle at. Seeing the battle and all the re-enactors made me feel truly nostalgic and almost made me yearn to be a re-enactor again. However, I do think I've had my share of it for one lifetime and will perhaps just stick to watching it as a spectator whenever the opportunity arises. That said, I think it will always spark memories and yearning in me - they were such fun days and I couldn't recommend it enough.

Congrats on making it this far, and here's a bonus fact for you before you leave. One of my middle names is Fairfax, which is after the Civil War general Thomas Fairfax, who controlled the parliamentary forces at the time - the forces that me and my family re-enacted when I was younger. I was born into re-enactment and dressing up and acting as one of Thomas Fairfax's followers, and so I guess my mum and dad saw it fitting.

Let me know if you've ever been to or even taken part in any kind of re-enactment - I'd love to know what you thought of it!

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