Medieval Lego History book REVIEW!

Medieval Lego by Greyson.

Medieval Lego by Greyson Beights is one of the best Historic books which is illustrated with Lego I have ever read. The whole book inside and out just shows high quality in the information and materials. 

Greyson and with the help of Medievalist Scholars, created a book that looks at the overview of important events which made  the Medieval world as a whole. You'll will be able to learn about the Battle of Hastings, the signing of the Magna Carta and other great events. 

Greyson gives us a nice balance of Lego Photography and information, which you don't necessarily see in a lot Historic Lego books. Most of the time Historic Lego books give you a lot of photos with so little information accompanying them. This book however gives you a equal display of both.
  

Even the price seems generous for such a great  and small book. The only thing bad, that I can think of, is there isn't enough of it. Give me more! 

The photos themselves are great, everything you see is done in shot, as it seems there was no use of Photoshop at all. Oh and the builds that make up the scenery are amazing. Beautifully designed and built. 

Magna Carta 1215.

If you're a Lego purist then you would be happy to hear that everything in this book is Lego, no custom accessories or minifigs. Definitely a great book for both Lego and History fans of all ages.  

Revolution! The brick chronicle of the American Revolution and the inspiring fight for liberty and equality that shook the world - BOOK REVIEW

Revolution is a history book by Brendan Powell Smith, which looks at the both the American and French revolution. Published in 2014. You can purchase a copy from Amazon. 

Revolution! The brick chronicle of the
American Revolution and
the inspiring fight for Liberty
and equality that shook the World.

Brendan is a Lego photographer, who has undertaken many different Lego projects such as the Brick Bible, where he has done a similar thing with his history books but also famous scenes from the Bible. Such as Adam and Eve and the Last Supper. 

Brendan's Brick Bible push started his new historic projects including the Assassination! and Revolution!; hopeful there will be even more of this calibre in the near future.

A scene of a Continental army massacre.

Looking at Revolution, I can see how much in approvement Brendan has made from his previous book, Assassination. Using the same methods of putting the events across to the read, with step by step scenes along side the facts. Although, the book seems to be divided in quality and realism. As I have said before in may last review of Assassination, he has made history seem more palatable but he somehow makes a lot of his work as realistic as possible, no matter how shocking or gory he has made it work in the materials he has available, Lego.

George Washington,
Commander-in-Chief
of the Continental army. 

The construction of some characters do sometimes spoil the amazing representation of history using Lego. He tries to recreate the fashion of the time of long stocks and high boots. His portail of this makes them look like they are short and standing on stilts to make them taller. Shown here with Washington. This seems to be very unnecessary creativeness but sadly doesn't look too good as the rest of the illustrations throughout the book.

Ichabod Alden being killed
by Iroquois outside
a fort at Cherry Valley.

It is also a shame that some of the scenes do look like that Brendan has used photo shopped for things that were hard to recreate out of Lego. Such as a scene of Ichabod Alden being killed with a tomahawk. Which is a shame as it destroys the idea of having all of it naturally made up of Lego. Although it does make it realistic.

On a happier note, in this book I could not find any typos, in comparison to in Assassination. Which is a great improvement.

Invasion of Quebec
by General John Burgoyne.

In Revolution, you will be able to see more hat and hair creations which make the scene so much more realistic. This technique can be seen in the recently released LEGO MOVIE. This is been portrayed in this book contrast to Brendan's other creations. Although this is a good thing, I have seen constantly inconsistency in the idea as well as the result of paint or colouring of the back of the heads to seem like there is hair. For example, the invasion of Quebec, General John Burgoyne has Lego hair and hat but the captured Continental soldiers have coloured in hair. Even though these are detailed in doing so, it doesn't look great with the inconsistence of Lego hair.

Brendan Powell Smith,
the Author of Revolution
and Brick Books. 

Moving past the mistakes and faults of the book, it is a great historic book to read and flick through. Has looked at both sides of the events of the revolutions which show bad and good events. Allowing the reader to gain all the facts to give their own judgement on the facts that are given to them. Making the book in some respects un-biased, which is rare in writing about history and past events. Most historians and writers seem to lavish themselves in putting their own point across but it seems that Brendan has skipped and ignored the idea. This makes a great read for history and Lego fans alike.

I can't wait to see if Brendan Smith publishes anymore books because I will love to read them and enjoy.

Assassination! The brick chronicle of attempts on the lives of twelve US Presidents. BOOK REVIEW!!!

Assassination is a history book by Brendan Powell Smith, who looks at the many attempts on twelve different US Presidents throughout history. Published in 2013. Which you can purchase a copy on Amazon 

Assassination! The Brick chronicle 
of attempts on the lives of 
twelve US Presidents.

Brendan is a lego photographer, who has undertaken many different Lego projects such as the Brick Bible, where he has done a similar thing with his history books but with famous scenes from the Bible. Such as Adam and Eve and the Last Supper. 

Brendan's Brick Bible push started his new historic projects including the Assassination! and Revolution!; hopeful there will even more in the near future.

JFK being shot by Oswald in 1963

With the Assassination book he has laid out it out to have step by step stages and scene of the event that have unfolded. Giving you the information as well as a photos of each scene that is described in Lego. He has made history seem more palatable but he some how makes a lot of his work as realistic as possible, no matter how shocking or gory he has made it work in the materials he has available, Lego. 

Although in most cases the scenes are amazingly constructed but in small cases there is some room for improvement which looks like he might have achieved in the next book - Revolution!

John Booth Shooting 
Abraham Lincoln
in 1865 at Ford's Theatre.

It is such a shame that some of the scenes do look like that Brendan has used photoshopped for things that were hard to recreate out of Lego. Such as the smock of the gun when John Booth, after shooting Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Which is a shame as it destroys the idea of having all of it naturally made up of Lego.

There could have been better attention given to the typos which should have been picked up before publishing. For example he meant to put "Schrank", who attempted to assassinated Theodore Roosevelt but spelt his name as "Shrank". This is quite obviously a typo because he uses the correct spelling throughout the rest of the chapter that uses Schrank's story.

As a dyslexic I can understand some of these mistakes but to get this far in production of the book seems silly, ignorant of the publishers, printers and sorry, the author. 

Brendan Powell Smith, 
the author of Assassination 
and other Brick Books.

Moving past the mistakes and faults of the book, it is a great historic book to read and flick through. Brendan has looked at the events from many angles, such as looking at the background of the assassins and looking at the facts rather than casting judgement upon them. This allows the reader to think for themselves to bring their own thoughts about them. Making the book in some respects un-biased, which is rare in writing about history and past events. Most historians and writers seem to lavish themselves in putting their own point across but it seems that Brendan has skipped and ignored the idea. Which makes it a great read for history and Lego fans worldwide. 

I can't wait to read his next book, which I will post my own judgement upon soon.