It is said that the historian tells you what happened, and the historical novelist tells you what it felt like. Kevin Hardy, in his book The Scipios in Spain seeks to do both! Several times he asks the reader to imagine what it was like to be a velite or a hastatus in the […]
Book Review: Kindred by Rebecca Wragg Sykes
November 14, 2021 By Leave a Comment
This book brings us up to date on the latest scientific thinking about the Neanderthals. The book is for readers who are intensely interested in the subject. It contains a lot of archeological jargon and minutiae, but an interested reader will learn a lot from reading it. For me it raised more questions than it […]
Book Review: Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh.
February 18, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh Battling the Gods explores the ancient origins of atheism. Most of the book deals with ancient Greece. Most other civilizations of the ancient world were decidedly not fertile grounds for nurturing atheists, but the culture of ancient Greece bred philosophy, and some of the strains of Greek philosophy allowed […]
Book Review: The Invention of Yesterday by Tamim Ansary
October 25, 2019 By Leave a Comment
For anyone who wants to understand the past and how it has shaped the present, The Invention of Yesterday is a must read. Tamim Ansary traces human history back to the invention of true language. Other animals, such a dogs and apes can, if taught, associate words with objects, but, according to Ansary, “True […]
How Does the Political System in Ancient Rome Differ from That of Modern Day America
September 1, 2019 By Leave a Comment
How was Roman democracy different from American democracy? Robin Levin, The Roman Republic was not a democracy. It was a plutocratic oligarchy. And the U.S. Republic is also not a true democracy, it is also a plutocratic oligarchy. The Greek historian Polybius, lived in the second century B.C. and spent seventeen years as a hostage […]
Book Review: Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths by Joseph N. Abraham
June 4, 2019 By Leave a Comment
If you are at all interested in politics and in the future of our country and, indeed, the future of mankind, this may be the most important book you will ever read. Dr. Abraham delved into human history and reveals that, since the dawn of civilization, we have been generally been ruled by what he […]
Book Review: Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean
August 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacLean How is it that a party that only 26% of American voters belong to has come to control most of our state governments and all branches of the Federal Government? Nancy MacLean, in her book Democracy in Chain describes a long term and effective movement to undermine democracy in […]
Book Review: Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King
June 6, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Feast of Sorrow is a brilliant work of Historical fiction which seamlessly interweaves fictional and historical characters and, in addition, provides an insight into how the Romans conducted their famous feasts, what foods they ate and how they were prepared. Apicius was a famous gourmand of first century A.D. Rome, the beginning of the Julio-Claudian […]
Book Review: Surviving The Fatherland by Annette Oppenlander
August 23, 2017 By 1 Comment
If nearly all of your relatives in Europe died in massacres and concentration camps your natural reaction when reading of the suffering of Germans during and after World War Two, might reasonably be “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” Looking at these events from a broader perspective, however, one sees that Germans were also […]
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