Review: Bodyguards! by Ed Butts

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Meet the heroes, villains, and bunglers hired to protect others.
We might think of bodyguards as a modern concept, but they've been around since ancient times. The rich, the powerful, the famous, and the infamous have all placed their safety in the hands of bodyguards. From Caesar's Praetorian Guard to Japanese samurai warriors to Wild West outlaws, bodyguards have played a vital role. They've even changed the course of history.
There are notorious bodyguards who protect gangsters from the police and those who are paid to shield celebrities from the paparazzi, while others escort children in danger of being kidnapped. In BODYGUARDS! you'll meet both heroes (like the quick-thinking guard whose spear saved the life of Alexander the Great) and villains (like the elite Hitler Bodyguard, later tried as war criminals), and even some bodyguards who have failed in their job to protect.
Brimming with vibrant action-packed illustrations in graphic-novel style, BODYGUARDS! opens the window on the fascinating stories of those entrusted to protect people's lives.

MY TAKE:

For kids and adults who are fascinated with kick-ass historical figures and warrior classes, this book is the perfect weekend read.

Bodyguards! discusses the different bodyguard and warrior types in history. There are also stories about the heroics of warriors such as Sempronius Densus, a Praetorian Guard who stayed loyal to emperor Galba even when the other bodyguards turned against Galba.

I liked the way the book was structured. There are plenty of encyclopedia type facts, but the stories, which are sometimes illustrated in comic strip form, make it more interesting and breaks the monotony of facts, facts, facts. While most of the groups of warriors/bodyguards are already familiar to me (ninja, samurai, etc.), most of the stories regarding great warriors for each bodyguard type are stories that I haven't really heard before. This is great because I certainly don't want to read a book wherein I don't learn something.


Thanks to NetGalley and Annick Press for the e-ARC. Publication date of Bodyguards! is on September 1, 2012.


THE GOOD:

1. It covers all types of bodyguards from the past and present and from different countries around the world.
2. There are anecdotes about notable battles and bodyguards.
3. There's a chapter that details what you might need to know if you want to be a bodyguard.

THE BAD:

1. The illustration style might not be everyone's cup of tea.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

An international academy called ATHENA trains women to be bodyguards.

READ IT IF:

1. You like reading about warriors.
2. You're a history buff.
3. You like reading trivia books.

RATING:
 


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