GAME OF THRONES VERSUS HISTORY

From various perspectives and, at times, expressing opposing views, 22 authors examine characterizations, plots, and settings and discuss, from the vantage point of history, which parts of Martin’s creations are fact and which are fantasy. Topics include the Wars of the Roses, barbarian colonizers, sieges and the nature of medieval warfare, women and agency, slavery, celibate societies in Westeros, myths and legends of medieval Europe, women rulers, quizzing Machiavelli about advice he might offer to rulers, the role of knights, strategies by which kings attain and use power, the cultural history of those on the fringes of western Europe/Westeros, the possibilities for women to direct their own lives, the limited perspective of children, the tension between the tendency toward violence and the desire to live in harmony, communication, the qualities of medieval and fantasy names, and the ways in which Martin’s work evokes the Middle Ages. Chapters are grouped according to themes: Kings, Queens, Knights, and Strategy; Slaves, Barbarians, and Other Others; Women and Children; Religion; and the Background.