The Empire Books

Devotion Splendor: Medieval Art At The Art Institute Of Chicago catalogues over fifty medieval objects from the Art Institute of Chicago, including works from the early Christian era to the later Middle Ages. Black-and-white and some color photographs of priceless historical artworks draw the reader into a rich collection of vivid and beautiful works. An introduction offers and overview of medieval art for each century, and each photograph of an art object has an accompanying text segment describing its history, original use, artistic themes, and other significant features. Showcased items include a Siculo-Arabic Casket that once served as a reliquary, a double-sided manuscript leaf of sixth-century pope Saint Gregory, an embroidered retable and altar frontal, and much more. A captivating collection of artistic treasures.

Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise.

Diodorus a Greek historian who lived from 80-20 BCE wrote 40 books of world history. He is an uncritical compiler who used good sources and produced them faithfully. His work is one of the oldest works available and is based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows.

The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have.

Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man.

This book is a necessary read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work, and from contemporary writers, J. F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels.

As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ancient warfare, and history.

Excellent Book.
The Auther is an intellect the merits all the praises. His depth of Diplomacy as science and practice (Ambassador for over 20 years) and Academia and Knowledge of History made the book a unique book in the field. We hope we can find more references of this nature. I could not stop reading the book until I finished it.

This is one of the finest books to appear on the subject matter in some time. I am a graduate student in Jewish studies and this book has become invaluable to me in constructing a dissertation topic. I've even entertained transferring to the University of Virginia so that I could work with Mr. Grossman!

This book has struck a nerve in the historical profession by revealing that the longstanding narrative of German dominance in the Ottoman Empire leading up to WWI is both contrived and inaccurate. Distant Ties presents new evidence of how the best laid plans fail when one is culturally ignorant and imperially arrogant. The narrative on the difficulty laying the final lengths of track across modern Iraq is particularly fascinating and topical, as it shows how the seemingly innocuous and mundane terrain can in fact present tremendous challenges to novices. The author's masterful use of a broad range of German contemporary and archival material brings to life a story that would in fact make a terrific film. Moreover, the book opens a new era of exploration into the study of empire that historians would be wise to pursue. One only hopes that a scholar will be as diligent as McMurray in unearthing complementary evidence of the Baghdad Railway construction in the Turkish archives. Highly recommended.

This work acts as a social history of the rise of nationalism in Syria during the short-lived Faisali gov't prior to the implentation the French and British Mandates following WWI and the King-Crane Commission. He aims at challenging two views prevalent (though quickly dying) of Arab nationalism: 1) that what occurred was an awakening of a perennial identity in remission rather than a construction of a national identity and 2) that intellectual histories of elites suffices to show the development of nationalism in the Middle East. Using an uncanny array of sources, novel approaches to investigation, and a particularly lucid picture of Syrian events of the time, he successfully demolishes both views.

What emerges in its place is not only more cogent and probable but also bespeaks the multi-layered experience of nationalism and mass politics as it developed in Syria as he narrates the dialectic between the top-down efforts of the Faisali administration to secure a broad and stable influence over society and various, polyvalent efforts of local popular committees to appropriate national discourse into their own emerging interpretations.

Gelvin's work should be read by any student of the modern Arab World.

This was a good, well-written, interesting book. It gives you a peak at the horrible lives of people living thousands of years ago. It is a good overview while at the same time it gives you enough detail that you really understand what was going on. You should really read this book, although it's not a pleasent topic, as such. It creates some vivid pictures in your mind, but ones that could be importnat in many lines of work.

Once upon a time a river forked, and one family went West and the other South. The one who stayed in control and healthy prospered; the other just seemed to lose its way, dissipate, and fade away. This is the legacy of Orrin Ingram. For those who enjoy the very early days (1850-1900) of our historically significant industries, this book establishes the creation of the Empire Lumber Company, which became in time, the base which produced Inram Industries and Weyerhaeuser Company.

This is a groundbreaking work from the medical editor of Mother Jones Magazine. It's a shame that it's out of print; I made the mistake of loaning out a great book, and because of this I'll probably never see it again. Drummond combines Marxism with Freud, with Darwinism to editorialize his personal experience practicing medicine in Free Market America. It's amazing how one can read so many different books on humanity and turn around and find a small gem tying it all together as efficient as Drummond's Spirited Guide has. Note to the wise: keep this book around as reference, but don't loan it out.

An excellent survey and discussion of adventure novels of nearly three hundred years along with the imperialist history of that time. Contents: 1. Modern Empire, Caste, and Adventure 2. Narrative, Other Forms, and Literature-As-A System 3. Defoe 4. Scott 5. Cooper 6. Tolstoy 7. Popular Literature and Children's Literature 8. Twain 9. Kipling 10. Conrad 11. In the Trough of the Wave of Imperialism: Adventure Images after 1918. Conclusion, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Written for the general reader but well worth the price to get such a good survey of this genre.