Tag Archives: ancient world

Of Babylonians, demons, and bankers

Posted on August 16, 2022 by smellincoffee

Continuing in the Big Book Catchup… Paul Kriwaczek’s Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization covers Mesopotamian history from the establishment of Eridu to the rise of the  first Persian empire.  This is a survey of thousands of years of … Continue reading →

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The Histories of Herodotus

Posted on October 10, 2019 by smellincoffee

One doesn’t study history for very long, at least in the West,  before running into Herodotus.  I’ve meant to read him for years,  given his reputation as one of the earliest, if not the earliest,  historian —  that is, someone … Continue reading →

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Antiquity

Posted on September 10, 2018 by smellincoffee

Antiquity: The Civilization of the Ancient World© 2003 Norman F. Cantor256 pages Perhaps western history is all Greek to you. In that case, Norman Cantor’s Antiquity may shed a little light on the subject. It is a brief work, scarcely over … Continue reading →

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The Egyptians

Posted on September 26, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Egyptians© 1997 Barbara Watterson368 pages “We stand where Caesar and Napoleon stood, and remember that fifty centuries look down upon us; where the Father of History came four hundred years before Caesar, and heard the tales that were to … Continue reading →

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The Seven Wonders

Posted on February 14, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Seven Wonders© 2012 Steven Saylor332 pages A few years ago, I read through the Roma sub Rosa series in which a first-century Sherlock Holmes named Gordianus the Finder made his living investigating murders and other sundry mysteries which were … Continue reading →

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A History of the World in Six Glasses

Posted on May 24, 2012 by smellincoffee

A History of the World in Six Glasses© 2006 Tom Standage311 pages A toast to human enterprise! Pick your poison — beer, wine, rum, tea, coffee, or Coca-Cola. Three are alcoholic, three are caffienated: all were the stuff of empires, … Continue reading →

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The Near East

Posted on February 13, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Near East: 10,000 Years of History © 1968 Isaac Asimov 277 pages Come, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings. (“Richard II”, William Shakespeare) Civilization first began in the ‘land between … Continue reading →

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Our Oriental Heritage

Posted on September 3, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage © 1935 Will Durant 1048 pages “Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation.”  (Opening sentence.) Our Oriental Heritage is the introductory volume of a greater work, an eleven-book set covering prehistory to the last days of Napoleon. Judging … Continue reading →

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The Great Transformation

Posted on May 30, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Great Transformation: the Beginning of our Religious Traditions© 2006 Karen Armstrong469 pages I looked forward to reading this book, and my expectations were met. Karen Armstrong’s The Great Transformation is a historical narrative detailing the creation of four of … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (2/8)

Posted on August 2, 2007 by smellincoffee

Last week’s reading was primarily nonfiction, as half my reading pertained to the classes I’m going to be taking. The other two books — Theories for Everything and The Mammoth Hunters — were unrelated to my classes. The first book … Continue reading →

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