This is the definitive biography of one of the Christian Church’s most prominent figures. St. Augustine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Augustine) was born in A.D. 354 in the town of Thagaste in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother. From these inauspicious beginnings, he would eventually become one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the […]
Augustine of Hippo by Peter Brown Read More »
Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beard_(classicist)) wrote the following at the time of the major exhibition about Pompeii at The British Museum (http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/past_exhibitions/2013/pompeii_and_herculaneum.aspx, ran from 28 March – 29 September 2013 ) and the publication of her book Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. ‘Natural disasters create household names. If it wasn’t for the eruption of
E. H. Gombrich’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Gombrich) bestselling history of the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Little_History_of_the_World) for young readers tells the story of mankind from the Stone Age to the atomic bomb, focusing not on small detail but on the sweep of human experience, the extent of human achievement, and the depth of its frailty. The product of a generous and humane sensibility,
A Little History of the World Read More »
The pattern of European development since 1789 can be understood only by study of all those all-embracing forces that have affected the whole Continent, from the British Isles to the Balkans. David Thomson (Master of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge 1957-1970, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thomson_(historian) first published this magisterial and acclaimed history in 1957. The book deals with all those grand
Europe Since Napoleon Read More »
Chris Harman (http://www.marxists.org/archive/harman/index.htm, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Harman) offers us this magisterial volume on the history of humans from the Stone Age to the present day. Originally published in 1999, Harman has had the heroic ambition to tackle the entire sweep of our past. Bombarded with daily news of international events as we are, it might be understandable that
A People’s History of the World Read More »
50 million dead. Western civilization shattered. The Second World War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_world_war) boggles the mind on every level. Of the hundreds of histories on either the whole, parts, or aspects of this recent conflict which should you choose? This is one that I really ‘enjoyed’ if that term is appropriate. Roberts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Roberts_(historian)) sheds great illumination. His style
Lisa Jardine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Jardine) argues that the creation of culture during the Renaissance was inextricably tied to the creation of wealth — that the expansion of commerce spurred the expansion of thought. This is a superb and fascinating read, especially for those who are drawn to the Renaissance as a subject. Do also listen to
Family history searching is a highly popular pursuit these days. If you’re lucky you might get back two or three hundred years picking out your ancestors. What of the whole human family, though? How far do we go back as Homo Sapiens? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens) Cyril Aydon presents the story in 400 pages covering 150,000 years. From
A Brief History of Mankind by Cyril Aydon Read More »
A noted author of several books as well as articles in such publications as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsday, and Vogue, Susan Jacoby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Jacoby) attempts to set the record straight by demonstrating just what sort of role both individual freethinkers as well as more general movements and groups have had on significant
Freethinkers by Susan Jacoby Read More »
