ASIN: B00ZPPJ93Y
Publisher: Simon Kitchener
Pages: 672
As a historical subject, the Hansa has been largely ignored. As a literary subject, it is usually a small ‘extra’, a player you recognise but need not remember. Most, if asked, would be unable to envision the Hansa. Holbein left us two pictures from the 16th century but little else has survived. It has never found itself the setting of a serious book in English literature. So this book is unique. The Hansa, a medieval association of German merchants, trade from Russia in the east to the Bay of Biscay in the west and this gives us the setting. All the historical events presented are true. The main characters are a fictionalised family of merchants who, like the Hansa, have conflicting desires and principles. Their lives evolve and inter-connect over sixty years, during which the plague, war, revolts, voyages, love stories and meetings with contemporary celebrities occur to help throw a ...
