One of the main aims of my history books is to make history fun and more accessible to ordinary people. I’ve found a book that does that in a new way.
Greyson Beights is a student who came up with the idea of combining his two great passions: medieval history and Lego. He got medievalist scholars to write short 200-300-word pieces on people and events in medieval England. Then he got expert Lego builders to illustrate the articles and took pictures of them. This is the result. You can buy Medieval Lego on Amazon UK and US.
Even better, you can read an interview with the author and see a flip-through of the book on this post from Medievalists.net.
As I have read the articles I have been impressed with the lack of obscure language and the effort the writers have gone to in order to make things clear. In fact, I bought one for myself, not just for amusement but for source material. I have also bought one for my ten year old grandson, who loves to read and loves Lego, as does his Dad. Keep it secret until Christmas.
The Lego scenes are wonderful, I had no idea that the bricks I knew from my own children had grown so versatile and detailed. Lego today produces sets for all kinds of franchises, like Harry Potter and Star Wars, plus inventions of their own. There are board games made of Lego and video games using it. If you haven’t seen The Lego Movie I recommend it, whatever age you are.
And now it has been put to use to teach medieval history. Brilliant!