The Great Uprising: Doom Painting, by A.K. Blakemore, reviewed
From our UK edition
We can never know whether a historical novelist really gets it right, but there are clear missteps. One is ascribing anachronistic progressive attitudes – feminism or gay rights – to eras when they would have been unthinkable. Another is ignoring the vast impact of religion not just in everyday life but in the very psyche of historical figures. It’s not a mistake made by A.K. Blakemore in her weighty account of the torrid fortnight of the 1381 poll tax riots, also known (misleadingly) as the Peasants’ Revolt. The festivities of the church play a significant part in the rioters’ planning, with a culminating march on London at Corpus Christi, traditionally a day off work with exploitable drunkenness.
