Book Reviews
Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring: Adventures with the King of Fish
Who knew anyone needed to learn about herrings? Yet I do, and this triumph of curiosity, storytelling and wit from Tyneside-based Rigby casts a vast net to capture the mighty herring’s place in science, culture, war, art and food to show how it has shaped economies, inspired legends and sparked wars. This eccentric, encyclopaedic deep dive grew out of the BBC Radio 4 series Rigby’s Red Herrings, and the vast website www.herripedia.com (just go there…). Over 400 pages (I know!), it is packed with oddities: herrings’ high-pitched flatulence mistaken for Soviet submarines; vast spawnings seen from space; and the trillion individuals which make this one of the most abundant vertebrates on Earth. The book you never knew you needed, this is a rabbit hole the size of an ocean. Good luck . . .
GRAEME RIGBY
The Wolf of Whindale
JACOB KERR
The new chilling offering from Jacob Kerr, North East-born author of The Green Man of Eshwood Hall, is steeped in folklore, social unrest and a fair dollop of terror. Set in a storm-lashed northern pit community where tension simmers on the picket line, this story is defined by the Northumbrian landscapes that shaped the author; its brooding fells, treacherous moors and abandoned pit workings looming large in a place where myth and weather close in with equal ferocity. As people die in brutal, bestial attacks, the legend of the Wolf of Whindale takes hold in a taut, atmospheric tale that balances the earthy textures of English folklore with a sharp, contemporary edge. This is a chilling journey into a landscape where the past is never truly buried. Best read before nightfall . . .
This absorbing study explores the violent tapestry of the North East’s past via both the lens of significant events and the suffering of ordinary folk. From the great clashes that altered the course of nations to the routine brutalities that marked daily life, Dufferwiel excavates centuries in which Roman legions, Dark Age warlords, Viking raiders, Norman invaders, reivers and rebels all fought and bled on Northumbrian soil.
The author shifts deftly between the epic and the intimate, his explorations of great military confrontations told alongside the human consequences of plague, social unrest and long-running local feuds. Anchoring the narrative is a sure sense of place. The author examines battlefields and policy with a historian’s rigour, yet never loses sight of the communities shaped and often shattered by the relentless churn of conflict. The result is both panoramic in scope and profoundly human in its insights.
MARTIN DUFFERWIEL Northumbria’s Bloody History
Northumberland: The Story of Climbing in the County
A magnificent tribute to iconic climbing country, this landmark book spans more than a century of exploration, capturing the evolution of climbing in the region with authority and affection. It is elevated to the remarkable by the photography of Mark Savage, a climber who made first ascents of some of Northumberland’s hardest routes. He turned to photography after injury, spending more than two decades documenting the edges, tors and crags that define the region. His images convey not only the scale and solitude of climbing here, but its emotional texture, and at 472 pages, this is the most comprehensive account ever of Northumberland’s climbing heritage. It is a celebration of place from Bowden Doors to the coast, pairing vivid photography with anecdotes and route profiles to create a thoughtful and passionate account. For climbers, it offers fresh insight; for general readers it provides a sense of place, challenge and adventure. Climber and admirer alike will love this.
MARK SAVAGE, STEVE BLAKE, JOHN SPENCER 
The Home Bird: Creating Joyful Interiors where Old Meets New
Elle Hervin, the North East-based creator behind Instagram’s @elle_the_home_bird combines her passion for vintage finds and personal storytelling in her first book. It’s pleasing to be invited into her home (perfect, yes, but us mere mortals can borrow the odd idea . . .) and into others that embody Elle’s modern vintage style. If you’re seeking inspiration, or just want to look at photos of lovely houses, it’s rather nice. Just don’t look around your own living room and judge yourself, because this is a lovely book and it even inspired me to re-hang quite a few pictures. Which is a start..
ELLE HERVIN
The Northumberland-based historian and writer Richard Anderton’s portrait of the de la Pole brothers, Edmund and Richard – nephews of Richard III and the final Yorkist claimants to the English throne – is a fascinating analysis of their 30-year struggle against the Tudor Henrys VII and VIII.
Tracing murky domestic politics and a labyrinth of international intrigue that feels eerily contemporary, Anderton casts the brothers as figures of tragedy and ambition: Edmund, the pawn of larger forces; Richard, the wily White Rose in exile forging alliances with French and Scottish monarchs in an attempt to reclaim the English throne. This is medieval diplomacy, betrayal and dynastic claim-making laid bare, shining a light on a labyrinthine period and restoring two often-forgotten figures to their rightful, if uneasy, place in the story of England’s last great dynastic struggle.
RICHARD ANDERTON