The History of Mr. John Decastro and His Brother Bat, Commonly Called Old Crab Book

I decided to read this because my knowledge of French history is patchy at best and I wanted to learn something new about something old. I learned more than expected, as one chapter summarizes the history of the French monarchy from the days when the country was known as Gaul up until events in the life of Henry IV.

The main focus of this tome is the continual conflict between the Catholic and Protestant faith and I think the title of this volume is perhaps misleading. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning about France or European history in and around the sixteenth century, but wouldn't recommend it to someone specifically looking for a detailed account of Henry IV alone.

The text covers the period of 1475-1610. The opening chapters feature Henry's great-grandmother and grandfather. There is as much info on Charles IX and Henry III in this as there is on Henry IV, who rarely appears in the first third of the book. As stated, this is fine for someone such as I, who is interested in learning about this period in general, but could prove annoying for someone wanting specific info on Henry IV.

I was shocked at some of the events that transpired in France during the 1500s. The massacre of St. Bartholomew was particularly disturbing: Catholics murdered 70,000-100,000 Protestants for practicing a different religion to them. This kind of thing continued for years. One horrible account was an eight-year-old boy offering a 'man' eight coins to spare his life - this innocent child was one of thousands murdered without mercy.

Henry IV saw both faiths as political parties and he himself converted back and forth between them since his childhood. He was a very humane king. His ascension to the throne helped bring peace to the war-torn France he so dearly loved. He set a great example. He didn't abuse his power like so many rulers have in all countries throughout history.

The author has done a good job of presenting this history in an interesting way and not offering the reader a dull 'text book'.