Tag Archives: Near East

The Spice Route

Posted on September 1, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Spice Route© 2005 John Keay308 pages Spock was right. Having a thing is often not as pleasant as wanting a thing. It is not logical, but it is often true. Such was the case with the spice trade, which so … Continue reading →

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Before the Throne

Posted on July 28, 2015 by smellincoffee

Before the Throne: A Modern Arabic Novel© 1982 Naguib Mafouz, trans. 2008 Raymond Stock128 pages In ancient Egyptian mythology, the souls of the dead were weighed before the gods. In Before the Throne, the dead pharaohs, generals, leaders, and dictator-presidents … Continue reading →

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The Great Cities in History

Posted on July 23, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Great Cities in History© 2009 ed. John Julius Norwich302 pages             The Great Cities in History takes readers on a literary world tour, traveling through space and time to visit the greatest political bodies in history.  Civilization is nothing … Continue reading →

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Engines of War

Posted on July 17, 2015 by smellincoffee

Engines of War: How Wars Were Won and Lost on the Railways368 pages© 2010 Christian Wolmar An army marches on its stomach, but for a hundred years it rode to victory only on the rails.  It was Napoleon who observed … Continue reading →

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Sailing from Byzantium

Posted on December 17, 2014 by smellincoffee

Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World© 2005 Colin Wells368 pages                   Isaac Asimov referred to Byzantium as a forgotten empire, lost and dismissed to the western mind as a decayed remnant of a once-great … Continue reading →

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Gallipoli

Posted on November 25, 2014 by smellincoffee

Gallipoli© 1956 Alan Moorehead416 pages           As the Great War ensnared powers beyond Middle Europe, it became  in truth a world war,  providing the spark to reignite old tensions in places like the middle east.  In late … Continue reading →

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A Short History of Byzantium

Posted on November 8, 2014 by smellincoffee

A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich© 1997 John Julius Norwich431 pages             Rome fell in a.d. 474? Tell that to the Byzantines, who for centuries persisted in being an afterimage of the classical world, … Continue reading →

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A Splendid Exchange

Posted on May 6, 2014 by smellincoffee

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World© 2009 David Bernstein496 pages            History oft moves with the caravans and trade fleets, and its journeys along the routes  of the past and present are given a storied account … Continue reading →

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The Crisis of Islam

Posted on November 25, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror© 2001, 2003 Bernard Lewis184 pages Bernard Lewis’ What Went Wrong? examined the failure of modernity in the middle east, but did not address its role in the rise of terrorism. The Crisis … Continue reading →

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What Went Wrong?

Posted on November 4, 2010 by smellincoffee

What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle-Eastern Response© 2003 Bernard Lewis180 pages (adopted from lectures) In essence, this collection of modified lectures is a brief history of modernization in the Islamic world and its aftermath. The fist three chapters focus … Continue reading →

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