Rating: 
Summary: Forget the size of it
Review: This is a well written historical novel. It spans a huge period in history, from 10,000 years before Christ until the 1980's. Sarum follows the fortunes and failures of 6 families in the Salisbury area of England. While this book is quite long, it is easy to look past that as each chapter is broken down into a certain era of history. Rutherford takes a complex idea and makes it so well written that one tends to forget how long it is. This is one of those books where you can pick it up and find yourself lost in the past. At times it will be quite hard to put it down. Sarum is also full of fun little tidbits such as how people acquired their last names in the UK. The most amazing and best part of Sarum, is how Rutherford weaves his characters and plot lines into actual events in history. Read about his take on how Stonehenge was built (quite ingenious) to the Roman conquest and settlement of Britain to the English Civil War and its affects on everyday Brits. This is one book that is well worth the money. If you are a fan of historical novels you will appreciate it. If you are a fan of British history you will appreciate it. If you are a fan of great writing and look past page amount, you will appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book...
Review: This was a truly wonderful read. Other reviews have pointed out certain facts though. If you want a straight read of one time period or one family, then this is not for you. However, if you want a sampling of history covering about 10,000 years and want a wide range of stories, then this book is perfect.
You really need to pay attention and then you can see how different lineages keep cropping up throughout history. Sarum also has the little people of Salisbury bumping into great figures of history.
One thing I loved about this book, was it was honest. Most novels, you have the good guys win and everyone lives happily ever after in the end. If a bad guy wins, don't worry, justice will soon prevail. That's not real life. I like those books, but Sarum was wonderfully true for a change. Here, the badguys were defeated for a while, but sometimes they one. Then sometimes they became more powerful than the good guys. Some good guys were ruined and never recovered. Some did recover. there were also characters that Rutherfurd would develop, then let them die unfairly. But guess what. That's what happens in real life.
The only negatives were mentioned by others. The little stone figure's story did end too soon. We know about this figure now and it would have been nice to read how it was finally found again. Also, the ending was a little choppy. I was surprised Rutherfurd left out WWI entirely. That was a big time and should have been included. Also, the names were confusing in 1985. I knew who most of the characters were, but who they had married didn't make sense and the family names were messed up in the end. That was too confusing. Even still, he did end the book nicely as a whole, bringing Sarum into the present day. Definitely an excellent read and I'm off to get his other books now.
Rating:
Summary: Worth The Price
Review: Yes its almost 2000 pages, but at least 1500 is good material. If you want indepth detail of the book look at the top 5 reviews. But I a simple american girl who never really enjoyed history. I simply bought this bok from a store book shelf because of its size, and I enjoyed it. It was full of rich characters and scenery.
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