The history of the 20th century is marked by two great narratives: nations locked in savage wars over ideology and territory, and scientists overturning the received wisdom of preceding generations. According to Paul Johnson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Johnson_(writer) and http://pauljohnsonarchives.org/), the modern era begins with one of the second types of revolutions, in 1919, when English astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington […]
In 1945 fifty-two papyrus texts, including gospels and other secret documents, were found by a local farmer named Mohammed al-Samman near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi. They were concealed in an earthenware jar. These so-called ‘Gnostic’ writings were Coptic translations from the original Greek dating from the time of the New Testament and
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels Read More »
Almost a decade in the making by Tony Judt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Judt), this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world’s most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar (2005) is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep
The World Until Yesterday (2012) is a visionary new account of humanity’s past from Jared Diamond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Diamond), author of the international bestsellers Collapse (2005) and Guns, Germs and Steel (1997), which have sold over 1 million copies and won the Pulitzer Prize. Indeed, anything by Diamond is worth reading and this is no exception. In The World
The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond Read More »
Why do we often have a fascination for the grisly facts of warfare? Is it because our behaviour in war reveals something about the truth of human nature? We find elements of the highest courage, heroism, self-sacrifice and utter brutality, cruelty, sadism, destructiveness. The outline of these features seem to stand out so much more
Mid-Victorian Britain was a period of enormous confidence and economic expansion for Britain. Geoffrey Best (http://www.britac.ac.uk/fellowship/elections/2003/best_g.cfm) gives us a history of great lucidity and readability. The Great Exhibition of 1851 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Exhibition) in fact represented the high-water mark of Victorian society, and the two decades which followed form one of the most fascinating and fruitful areas of British
Mid-Victorian Britain 1851-75 Read More »
The story of the Medici (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici) in Florence is one of intense power struggles and patronage of sublime art works which have made the city into a world class treasure trove of beautiful paintings, sculpture and architecture. This is a fascinating recent account which should leave you spellbound. Next thing – go and visit Florence for
Florence and the Medici Read More »
Why do Japanese businessmen wear Western style suits? Why are global financial markets run on Western European models? How have Western consumerist values come to dominate the world? How has English come to be the global language of science, technology, education, commerce, and just about everything else? British-born archaeologist, classicist and historian Ian Morris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Morris_(historian) and
Why The West Rules ~ For Now by Ian Morris Read More »
Treat yourself to this engrossing narrative history which reveals the roots of modern science in the medieval world. The adjective ‘medieval’ has almost become a synonym for backwardness and uncivilized behaviour. Yet without the work of medieval scholars there could have been no Galileo, no Newton and no Scientific Revolution. In God’s Philosophers, James Hannam (http://jameshannam.com/) debunks
God’s Philosophers by James Hannam Read More »
