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Summary: Reading it now for the fourth time!
Review: Bought this book in Glasgow in 1992 and am now reading it for the 4th time. Wonderful detail and animation make you want to read paragraphs over again before moving on! Rich in historical perspective and story-telling. This book is a 10-plus. Will make you want to book the next flight to Britain!
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Summary: A MUST READ FOR FANS OF HISTORICAL FICTION
Review: This book brings characters from all ages to life. Anybody who likes historical fiction will love this book. It has enough history to make you feel that these people and events are real.
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Summary: The best!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I can only say one thing: It's the best! I am only 15 years old, and from denmark, but better book (also Russka! but it is not that good), can not be read on this earth! The way he writes... uhmmmmmm. He makes all the familys so living in my mind. It is not done better in my mind. So: your the best Rutherfurd!!!!!!!!!
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Summary: Excellent fictional treatment of history!
Review: How can an author treat the history of a country in one volume? Read Rutherfurd's "Sarum" and find out. It spans an incredible time period (pre-historic times to the present day). He does so in an immensly interesting and readable way. It's easily one of the best books I've ever read. Rutherford has a new book out called "London", and if it's anything like "Sarum" it's sure to be a winner!
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Summary: Spectacular depth. Rutherford gives history a personality!
Review: Edward Rutherford delves into the recesses of English history, weaving an elborate tapestry that brings to life all of historical England and its people. From the ice age to the '80s something for everyone.
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Summary: Sarum - the story of Wiltshire England in a bottle
Review: As a casual traveller in Southern England, I walked into Salisbury and sensed the history before reading the book. "Sarum" (named for the Bronze Age hillfort settlement above modern Salisbury) puts historical dimensions on general knowledge of the people who lived during the various eras in Wiltshire over a span of 10,000 years. Weaving fictional family characters throughout the many ages of English history (and prehistory), Edward Rutherfurd provides a rich tapestry of human emotion on the backdrop of otherwise dry events and dates of historical note. A particularly interesting observation of family interaction over many generations is a depiction of many aspects of human nature which have affected the fortunes and misfortunes of individuals and family welfare. Rutherfurd manages to provide villans who "win" and good people who "lose" in the cycle of life's adventure, whether during Roman times or under Elizabeth I. History becomes understandable for this part of teh world because Rutherfurd makes it human.
For anyone with English origins who is remotely interested in history, "Sarum" provides a terrific overview with a climax in the 1980's when it is decided to make extensive renovations in the Salisbury Cathedral, built 700 years ago. Since one cannot critically review history, it would be safe to give Edward Rutherfurd high marks for telling the story of his "home town".
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Summary: A must-read for Anglophiles
Review: Rutherfurd takes the reader on a magnificent journey through thousands of years of English history. The interweaving of character family trees, richness of historical detail, and sheer love of the subject matter provide the reader with an unforgettable experience that will leave him/her with a strong desire to call British Airways and book a flight.
Martin H. Ornstein
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Summary: Sarum --a tapestry embroidered with history & drama.
Review: Sarum is a book which covers English history at a glance. It starts in the depths of prehistory and follows 5 families throughout the times in a the area around Salisbury, England.
E. Rutherford paints such a vivid picture of the times around these fictional families, while maintaining the integrity of the era in which the story takes place. You watch the founding of family dynasties, the fall of others, and your emotions tend to run high as the story progresses.
Rutherford ties each chapter together with a binding storyline, and objects; older than written history itself, near and dear to the characters, become your own.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves the high drama of history
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Summary: Too long & inconsistent quality
Review: The book is too long - over 1300 pages. I found some of the Chapters very interesting, such as the Roman-Britons, the Black Death & the Civil War, but many others just went by as a blur, seeking the next interesting bit.
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Summary: Epic Novel but a little boring
Review: I won't bother telling what this novel is about again as every other reviewer has done that. As someone pointed out, there are boring tedious bits and some very interesting bits like the Black Death chapters and the long chapter that deals with Stonehenge. Of the parts that are exciting, they do not seem to go on long enough, maybe 60 page chapters. Then the boring legal chapters seem to go on for 200 pages. I ask why? What with all the intermarriages, it soon becomes very confusing. And to make matters worse, you find one character you like and you want to know how their story is going to finish, you turn a page and you're on the next chapter and it's 80 years since the death of that person. Not many individual stories are ever completed as such.
This is an Edward Rutherfurd book that I gave up on only 400 pages from the end. I have read London and The Forest, and both of them are better than this one, just as long, especially London - but it doesn't seem to drag on endlessly about boring political and legal matters. Unless you really enjoy historical political shaping, then there are better reads out there.
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