The Malik, the Malang, and the Farengi Afghanistan, graveyard of empires. I’ve visited it from time to time in the company of Rudyard Kipling, M.M. Kaye, Joseph Kessel, and James Michener, but this was the first time I have visited it in the company of an Afghan novelist, Tamim Ansary, who has an insider’s knowledge […]
Book Review: We, Monsters by Zarina Zabrisky
December 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Zarina Zabrisky is a highly talented writer whom I met in one of my writer’s groups. No one excels at writing eloquently about the seamy side of life like a Russian writer, and Zarina Zabrisky follows deftly in the footsteps of Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Nabokov and Solzhenitsyn. In We, Monsters Zabrisky valiantly explores the pathos and […]
1906 by James D’Alessandro
November 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I found 1906 enthralling from beginning to end. San Francisco, at the time of the historic earthquake was in the grip of one of the most corrupt political machines we have ever seen in this country. James D’Alessandro’s novel is as much about the efforts of brave citizens to end this corruption as it is […]
Book Review: Total War. Destroy Carthage by David Gibbons
October 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I knew I was in trouble when I read the dramatis personae of this book and found that Scipio Aemilianus was married to a fictional person named Claudia Pulchra (or Pulchradina, as the author puts it.) It is well known that Scipio Aemilianus was married to Sempronia Graccha, the daughter of Cornelia the Mother of […]
Whatever Happened to Hannibal’s Elephants?
October 2, 2013 By 5 Comments
In ancient times there was widespread use of elephants in warfare. The first use of elephants in military campaigns probably occurred in India sometime during the first millennium B.C. The practice eventually spread eastward to Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, and westward to Greece and North Africa. In 326 B.C. Alexander the Great invaded India, […]
Book Review: On Writing, By Steven King
August 31, 2013 By 1 Comment
I must confess that I’ve never read a novel by Steven King, nor have I ever seen a movie based on one of his works. Horror is just not my preferred genre. I did, however, find On Writing a helpful and engaging read, abounding in humor and sound advice. For example: “Pace is the speed […]
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