Completed: Louisbourg Portraits by Christopher Moore

As a fan of both history and human stories, I thought I would absolutely love this book. In truth, I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as I thought I would.

I think it is difficult to write something like what Moore has tried to do. He wanted to write an accurate historical portrayal of true histories of these people, but also tried to write them to be as fun as a fictional tale of adventure. He succeeded in some respects, but a true 'story' doesn't have as many maybes and perhapses as Moore's writing does. I think that's where I lost interest a bit. I recognize that he was, indeed, telling a history rather than a historically-inspired story. I just can't help but feel that I would have become more submerged in the stories if they had used a bit of 'inspired by' instead of 'historically, it went down in one of these ways to the best of our knowledge'.

For the history itself, I was entirely unfamiliar with Louisbourg, and the fact that Ile Royale was important enough to compete with New England on an international stage. This is a piece of Canadian history that I did not know. (I have had several conversations with fellow Canadians about this book, and so I don't think I'm ENTIRELY alone in not knowing, but I still feel a bit doofish). This is one of many reasons why I am excited to be going back to school for history in the fall - the history that I don't yet even know the basics of, in many ways. I randomly selected this book from the bargain book bin at the university bookstore and learned something new. I'm so stoked for what is yet to come from my upcoming history courses!

Title: Louisbourg Portraits - Five Dramatic, True Tales of People Who Lived in an Eighteenth-Century Garrison Town

Author: Christopher Moore

Published: 2000 (originally 1982)

Pages: 270

Total Books Blogged: 29
Total Pages: 8184