Ancient History Books

If you require information about anything the internet has probably become an unbeatable source of knowledge but for me maybe I am old fashioned there is still nothing to beat a good book and this is a good book. It is full of facts and photographs laid out in such a way that they are interesting to the reader.

The main reason that I personally bought the book was that I had visited the site a dozen years ago and my memories of the place were starting to fade in my mind. As soon as I opened the book and the photographs of various parts of the site shone back at me from the pages, all the old memories flooded back and it was as though I had been there only yesterday. The book covers virtually everything that anyone is likely to want to know about Pompeii nd the surrounding area. Also about how one of the largest archaeological sites in the world is still developing with new things being discovered all the time.

The destruction of Pompeii is well documented, but little is known of the lives of the people who lived in Pompeii before the disaster. This book goes a long way towards telling the story of the unfortunate people who were caught up in one of the worst natural disasters in history. How they lived their lives, the work they did and how they spent their leisure time.

This book is a comprehensive treatment of this significant heritage site. It has a lot to offer for both the interested amateur as well as those who teach it at schools. The photos are well chosen and the diagrams are well drawn and very helpful. The text is accurate and very readable. This is amust have book for those teaching Ancient History in NSW, Australia. Highly recommended. Thanks Ms Berry.

I have to agree with the other reviews about the quality of this book. The publishers have produced several books under a similar title (e.g.'The Complete Tutankhamun'; 'The Complete Valley of the Kings')and all are of a very high quality. This book stands out for several reasons. Firstly, the text is of a high quality - suitable for the general reader, but also for school and university students, and the information is very complete and up-to-date. Secondly, the photographs are again of a very high quality. I think there are no photographs that I have not seen before, but the quality of these is superb - - undoubtedly they have been digitally enhanced. As a teacher, I will be able to use these very effectively to teach about Pompeii, but equally, the general reader will get great enjoyment and some learning because of the quality of them. As I write, I have 26 books besides me about Pompeii and/or Herculaneum. I have no doubt that this is probably the best of them.

This book summarizes everything you ever wanted to know about Pompeii, with chapters on the story of the eruption, history of excavations, origins of the town, Pompeiians' daily lives, leadership and politics, housing, religion, economy, and the 16 years between a destructive earthquake and the death of the town. There are over 300 illustrations enabling the reader to visualize what Berry is saying. The information is current as of early 2007, so it includes the latest findings and theories. The author is not squeamish about showing nudity or quoting obscene graffiti, both of which helped archaeologists decipher the daily goings-on in Pompeii.

The information is very up to date (in 2007)and provides good reference material for the Ancient History course that I am teaching at high school. There is some new information that I have not found in other reference books.

I am traveling to Pompeii in January and hope that what appears to be very useful information about getting to Pompeii is accurate.

Julius Caesar is rather an avocation of mine, and I've tried to read all available fiction about him, as well as all available scholarly resources. I haven't been this impressed with a book about ancient Rome in a very long time. Jaro's writing style is effective and lyrical, her evocation of Rome hits all the right notes (and those are NOT easy to hit for many writers). Making Caelius her narrator is an effective, indeed fascinating, plot device; the man knew everyone, apparently, and Catullus, Antony, Curio, Cicero, and others are solidly grounded in her story. But of course, this is a novel about love and about Julius Caesar (not a phrase that automatically leaps to mind). The love of a young, ambitious, rebellious Roman for what appeared to be the most brilliant, charming political operator of his day, a reformer who, too, was disillusioned with the power establishment? Yes, that and much more. There is a tone of wistful "what-ifs" in this book I feel strikes a realistic note for those living through the turbulent, violent last years of the Roman Republic. Although I have minor qualms about the author's choices - her Cicero is a bit too noble, her Caesar's hinted bisexuality arguably too emphasized - in all the primary elements she finds an admirable balance in tale-telling between the history of the period (which she obviously knows intimately) and the projections we must all bring to it to make it come alive. Thoroughly recommended and fascinating.

I enjoyed reading this book. Benita Kane Jaro has an engaging style, combining vivid description of scenes, lifelike if somewhat fictionalized characterization of historical characters and events, and, in this novel, an intriguing literary device: Marcus Caelius Rufus's "final" report as a Roman Praetor, which he is trying to write. In this first-person account of an actual character, Caelius repeatedly turns to the draft of the report to ask himself on which side of the emerging conflict between Caesar and Pompey he stands. The cast of characters includes many of the great figures of Julius Caesar's reign, including the statesman and writer Cicero (who comes off as the most honorable character of the book), Caesar's sometime rival Pompey, the noted independent-minded Senator Cato (the Younger), and Crassus, the third member of the Caesar-Pompey-Crassus triumvirate, Mark Antony, Cassius (of the "lean and hungry look" -- one of Caesar's assassins),the influential poet Catullus and the seductive Clodia, among others. In this account, Caelius has personal relationships of one kind or another with many of these characters, including notably Caesar himself. The book incorporates in its plot the actual texts of some of Catullus's poems and letters of Cicero, contributing significantly to its verisimilitude.

This has turned out to be one of the more interesting books on Caesar I've ever read, although a fictional account (and little can match the history itself for fascination). But this writers did a very good job in tracking Caesar's career the last 20 years of both his life and the Republic's; her narrator is Marcus Caelius Rufus who was, of course, the infamous lover of Clodia, accused of attempted murder, defended by Cicero. And involved in multiple aspects of the Civil War. As narrator, we see Caesar, Cicero, and others through Caelius (Cicero was a good friend and teacher and Caelius wrote him many notable letters in 50 when Cicero was governing Cilicia and Rome was falling apart).

That said, Jaro's writing is elegaic and (I think) quite good - she picks up her story while Caelius, having turned against Caesar in the Civil War, is waiting fatalistically to be overwhelmed by one of his armies and reviewing his past life to see why he fell in with this extraordinary character. Occasionally the tone dips a bit too much into modern self-analysis, but I read it with pleasure. I'm not too sure if I agree with her portrayal of Caesar in some details - his alleged bisexuality being one of them - but I think her portrait of the man himself is pretty fascinating. He feels very authentic.

That said, most of the books I've read which try to delve into Caesar's fictional personality fail miserably because Caesar is such a chameleon in history - they try to come down on one side or the other (devil-Caesar, noble Caesar) and go splat. Or, like Allen Massie's book, it's just a hodgepodge of his own writings and the character of the man himself never peeks out of the book.

So I'd give it a slightly cautious recommendation if you want to try a fictional work on the great man. There are those who love Caesar who will take issue with some of her conclusions, but much of the picture she paints of Caesar rings true, which is an accomplishment in itself.

The Door in the Wall proves that Gore Vidal hasn't cornered the market on fiction about ancient Rome. The character of Marcus Caelius Rufus, politician and rebel, is superbly and sympathetically drawn--the novel's supporting cast (Caesar, Catullus, Mark Antony, and Cicero) has been equally well brought to life. Jaro is erudite but never ponderous in her recreation of some of the seminal events in western history. She's also an elegant prose stylist, something one sees all too seldom these days.

Reading "The Door in the Wall" was a wonderful experience. Ms. Jaro's elegant prose transported me to ancient Rome. The characters came to life vividly, and I've never felt so connected to a main character in historical fiction. The book is beautifully researched; throughout it reads as a personal document by the main character, Marcus Caelius Rufus. My interest never flagged, and I'm on my second re-read.

Edith Hamilton, known best for her anthology of ancient Greek mythology, describes brilliantly the origins of democracy and political freedom in Western civilization. Building on her vast knowledge of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, she explains the miraculous emergence and practice of these concepts in a small country, sparsely populated, and surrounded by hostile despotic civilizations from the East. Her simple but hardly superficial account of about 300 years of intellectual history helps both historians and weekend-readers to understand why these and other ideas, such as the sacred relationship between man and the divine, were so strong then and have endured for 2,500 years, despite the destruction of most of the ancient writings and the brief period of their expression, roughly 200 years, known as the Golden Age of Greece, a half century before the life of Jesus. Edith Hamilton's description of the heroic victories of Athens and other Greek city-states reads like an exciting novel and will make readers appreciate the vital yet fragile nature of our freedoms and our responsibility for practicing them as caretakers, not only beneficiaries, of a precious history.

Few writers have captured the miracle and magic that was ancient Greece as compellingly as Edith Hamilton.Classical Greece (appx 450-325BC) can safely be viewed as the crucible in which modern thought & sensibility were wrought .The "modern" values we take for granted____democracy,freedom,human dignity,resisting tyranny,free speech & the Promethean quest for knowledge___all trace their umbilical cord to that fleeting,lifegiving period in human history when Man became HUMAN for the first time .Whether it is the sublime majesty of the Parthenon or the heartrending pathos of Euripedes___humanity pervades every word & stone. Hamilton's love for classical Greece shines forth through each page of this delightful book .After a brief introduction in which she contrasts the achivements of Classical Greece with the preceding civilisations in Egypt and Babylonia ,she touches upon some of the characters in this extraordinary period____the soaring mysticism of Plato, the oratory of Demosthenes ,the scientific rigor of Aristotle,the "Academy" at Athens and a brief chapter on the poet Menander .Alexander's enigmatic character is touched upon ("he set out to Hellenise the whole world but ended up dying an oriental despot " etc) followed by chapters on the Stoics and Plutarch.Ms.Hamilton's prose itself is almost Hellenic in its simplicity ,elegance and directness.In a word___SUPERLATIVE.

I had pursued and read Ms. Hamilton's earlier volume "The Greek Way" based on an article about Bobby Kennedy, related to the 30th anniversary of his assassination. I found it thought provoking.

I purchased the "Echo of Greece" at a used book sale for $1 basically to have the companion to "The Greek Way"--both are hardcopy editions. The first chatper enthralled me as Ms. Hamilton reviewed the qualities of a dying democracy. We live in a Republic, which uses democratic principles. I could draw many parallels to Ancient Greece and the America of today. A resounding principle: When the term "freedom means freedom from responsibility" to the populus. Many Americans want their freedom, but want to be free from responsibility. We want to be free from being involved in the detailed decisions in governing a society, but not give up our freedom to complain about the "poor job" civil servants attempt to perform. One small example, but excellent thought provoking stuff.

The middle chapters focus on ideas and individuals in the final centuries before Christ. Building a context of where Greek thinking had evolved to during a 500 year period. To have dialogue as the basis of increasing their knowledge and understanding about themselves and their society. Not having a strong Western Civilization background, both of Ms. Hamilton's books were an excellent source to build my foundation upon.

The last chapter is equal in thought provocation to the first, yet in an entirely different perspective. She discusses the differences between the Greek Way and the Roman Way and how the fledging origins of the Christian church had to decide which Way to go. The Greeks were the powerhouse of thinkers and artisans. While the Romans were the powerhouse of efficincy and organization, and, of course, the military. Ms. Hamilton poses the thought as to what the world would have been like without the fear aspects of the Spanish Inquisition aspects of Christianity's history, all based on the Roman Way, had the Christian Church gone the path of the Greek Way. Of course, the concern is would Christianity survived the Roman Church, had she gone the Greek Way.

I already was aware that the new testament was written in Greek. I was not aware that the earliest teachers of Christianity were Greek. But it made sense. Christ's teachings and the Greek Way are directed towards the individual finding truth deep within themselves. The Roman Way added all of the ceremonies and group policies, making people feel inadequate to be God's servant. It is an excellent read for a person who has an open mind to learning about the roots of mankind based on written accounts and not based on myth and folklore.

Edith Hamilton did it again with the Echo of Greece. This book looks at and explains, in a colloquial manner, the rise, apex, and decline of Greece during their golden age (from the beginning of the 5th century B.C. to the end of the 4th century B.C.). After finishing this book, the reader comes away not only with a better understanding of the Greek ethos, but also with an explanation of why things happened the way that they did. It is the latter accomplishment, I think, that readers will most appreciate.

Hamilton's book is divided into 10 chapters: I. Freedom, II. Athens' Failure, III. The School of Athens, IV. The School Teachers, V. Demosthenes, VI. Alexander the Great, VII. Menander, VIII. The Stoics, IX. Plutarch, and X. The Greek Way and the Roman Way.

The organization is brilliant, and leads the reader by their hand through the intellectual and artistic accomplishments of Greece not only during her height, but as you can see from chapters VI.-X., examines her influece on the world she helped create.

There are, however, a couple of frustrating parts about Hamilton's book as well. She provides excellent quotes throughout, but never explains where the reader can find them. A typical example appears on page 157, where she states that Aristotle said "The true nature of anything is what it becomes at its highest." But in which of Aristotle's myriad books should the reader begin to look to find this quote? Sometimes, even worse, Hamilton will just say "And a Stoic said that ..." Which Stoic?

A second complaint I have is that Hamilton spends a good deal of time talking about Greece's political, philosophical, and artistic achievements, but never really delves into Greece's artistic accomplishments. If she would have done so, it would have greatly improved an already great book.

But in comparison to the strengths of this book, these complaints are minor. Overall, I highly recommend this book both to the novice and expert alike. I couldn't put it down.

Edith Hamilton was one of the greatest writers on ancient cultures of all time. This is yet another triumph for her.

This is the second of the two volume Loeb Classical Library edition of Epictetus' Discourses, with Greek and W. A. Oldfather's English translation on facing pages. For those who have no intgerest in the Greek, purchasing this volume may seem like a bit of overkill when compared with inexpensive reprints such as the one from NuVision Publications (September 19, 2006). As someone who bought the reprint first, I must tell you I tried to use it once and was immediately disappointed. Just as with my copies of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, and practically every other classic author, I rarely read them or parts of them from start to finish. Rather, I look up sections when I find references to them in commentaries on, for example, parts of the Old or New Testaments. In order to find the appropriate passage, one must use the established section and paragraph numbering. Unfortunately, this numbering is entirely missing from the reprint, which I have donated to my nearest library after receiving my Loeb copies. These little gems cost about four times the reprint, but for that, you get a book you will be proud to own, and even show off a bit on your bookshelf, plus a great little commentary on the Discourses, as well as the 'Fragments' and 'The Encheiridion', a summary of Epictetus thoughts by his secretary, Arrian. The reprint has none of this and, for the third time, I suggest it is less than useless, as it gives the illusion of value, and you will be disappointed when you find it missing.

I bought this book to help me improve my New Testament Greek because I was told that Epictetus' koine Greek is fairly easy. It was a good choice because although no Greek is really easy, this is much easier than say Plato or even some of the Church Father's I have tried. I have read through the Encheiridion and have found the vocabulary, and, to a lesser exent, the syntax, to be very similar to the New Testament. This is important because for those of us whose goal is to read the Greek New Testament well, we don't want to spend a lot of time learning vocabulary not found in the N.T. Almost every word I had to look up in the Encheiridion is either in the N.T. or has a similar cognate that is. Epictetus uses several words that appear in the N.T. only once or twice quite often, which means that if you read and re-read Epictetus you will begin to master rare N.T. words. The other problem with finding good non-biblical Greek to read is that a lot of it is either worthless or anti-Christian or both, but Stoicism is a worthy philosophy in its own right and does not conflict with the Christian faith. It is of great comfort and the Encheiridion is that rare book that one wants to read over and over again, which, like reading the New Testament over and over again, is the only way that I seem to be able to master Greek to the limited extent I have.
The Loeb classical library is renowned but not exactly ideal. Having a tranlsation on the facing page is a must for non-biblical Greek, because again one does not WANT to master every word or construction if it is not found in the N.T. What I do is to annotate my copy with vocabulary words I am trying to learn or cross reference to similary N.T. words. Oldfeather's translation is not the best, nor even is it literal enough to unpack the Greek, but it is okay and the main thing a reader of this book would want is a Greek text. The book's small size allows one to carry it around easily, although a larger Greek font would always be appreciated. The footnotes are adequate. Bottom line; this is one of the greatest works of philosophy and very helpful to those learning New Testament Greek.

I found epictetus' guide for living in a bookstore, and I had to read more. Discourses is wonderful book on many levels. It is disorganized and at times anachronistic, but it is well worth reading.

It is one of the most comforting books to read if you having trouble in your life. It should be required reading for anyone who is depressed. His simple lessons allow one to overcome fear and recognize real priorities. His style ranges from brilliant clear logic to deeply and beautifully spiritual. Thus he reaches the skeptical critical thinker as well as the more emotional type.

The book is also a window into the mindset of the Roman Empire in the first century. Though Epictetus was a pagan his concept of God is very Monotheistic. Clearly stoic thought and philosopy influenced early Christians. Interestingly Epictetus argues that we ought to live a way of life that is very similar to what Christianity prescribes. Forgivness of self and others is just one of the similarities. However, he argues not that each of us carries original sin, but that each of us carries a spark of divinity: We have been given understanding and intelligence to recognize right from wrong as well as the ability to choose. The shear wonder of this gift and of creation in general motivates us to choose right, not fear of Hell or desire for Heaven.

It is amazing to me that one who spoke so long ago can speak so clearly to the real life issues we face today. Read it to understand history. Read it for a fresh view on Judeochristian thought and morals. Read it for your own mental and spiritual health. Read it.

This is volume two of a two volume set. The first volume is "Epictetus : Discourses, Books 1 and 2 (Loeb Classical Library, No 131)". The contents for both volumes are as follows:

VOLUME I:

Introduction (editors)

Bibliography

Symbols

Discourses, Book I

Discourses, Book II

Index

VOLUME II:

Discourses, Book III

Discourses, Book IV

Fragments

Encheiridion

Index

The first thing worth noting is that although the titles of the volume refer to just the Discourses, the set is really a complete set of extant works, including fragments from other sources as well as a complete copy of the Encheiridion.

As is typical for the Loeb classical library books, the volumes are physically small, and the original text (Greek, for Epictetus) is given on the left hand page, with the English translation on the right.

The Introduction gives a brief biography of Epictetus and background information concerning Stoic philosophy. The Bibliography (which contains an update note from the original 1925 edition) gives the state of Epictetus scholarship. In the actual texts, footnotes are abundant and explain unfamiliar names, places, difficulties with translation, uncertainties about the source text, and Epictetus' quotes from earlier writers are more fully referenced. In summation, the background material supplied with these books is excellent.

As for the texts themselves, they were not actually written by Epictetus, but were notes taken by Arrian, one of his students (not unlike the Nicomachean Ethics, which were notes taken by a student of Aristotle). The Discourses are quite lively in style; Epictetus' personality and teaching style comes through vividly. This is not true of the Encheiridion, which Arrian abstracted from the Discourses and which had the life wrung out of it in the process.

The Discourses are not a well-organized body of work, as their origin might suggest. They are repetitive, and points that should have been grouped together logically are dispersed throughout.

The content is almost entirely ethical. Epictetus emphasizes the spark of divinity within man - that a man should always behave honourably. External things, such as wealth and power, are not things to be valued - they can be lost at any time, and are not worth a man's honour. Because his teachings are ethical, Epictetus is not concerned with what a man knows, but how he lives. The point isn't to understand his philosophy (which isn't hard), but to live it (which is).

In the first volume, Arrian builds up a few foundational concepts while tearing down a few others. In the second volume, comprising Books 3 and 4, along with the Encheiridion, Arrian's Epictetus continues an in depth broadside on many topics.

The book deals with a huge array of topics, from the very interesting calling of a Cynic, the type of training one should cultivate, the attitude to news, to circumstances and so on. This book contains such a large variety of teachings from Epictetus, I think one could spend a lifetime implementing it all. It would certainly, like the previous volume, deserve additional readings.

Throughout, Arrian's Epictetus maintains his direct, forthright verbal assault on a variety of characters who have both high and humble positions and stations in life. Epictetus' style is very much "in-your-face", and he leaves no doubt as to what his opinions are.

In short, if you have read the first volume, you get a lot more from this one in terms of practical every day living. This volume goes beyond the basics and the foundation, and takes you into the real world of everyday life. It is a great book, and one that will soon have you asking for more.

Anna Carson is brilliant, the arguments set forth in her book are incredibly valid and reinforced with brilliant examples from ancient Greek poets one of which is Sappho. Very enlightening read, will change the way you view love, desire and want, it will change the way you view Eros forever. If you havent read it yet i suggest you do NOW.

This book applied to life. No only did the book put into words what can only be thought but it speaks to you. It starts out over most heads but then comes down to relate to all those in love.

This is a delightful book that analyzes love [desire] through classical literature. It is an academic treatise, poetical prose, and philosophy all at the same time. Carson's close reading and her wit make Eros the Bittersweet a must read.

The Greeks did not cover everything but they made a pretty good start. Anne Carson has always been the queen of fitting classical allusions to the evident. The book could be described as an extended exploration of `Odi et amo: quare id faciam, fortase requiris/ nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.'- Catullus. (I hate and I love/ Why do I, you ask ?/ I don't know, but it's happening/ and it hurts.)A splendid place to mine for obscure quotes: `We aren't shutting you out of the revel, but we aren't inviting you either/ For you're a pain when you're present, and beloved when you are away'- Theognis

Carson is an inspired guide through the tangled and fragmentary corpus of Greek lyric love poetry. She has a whirlwind mind and a gift for pithy expression, though once in a while she slips into a kind of gauzy equivocating that weakens her arguments. Still, this idiosyncratic take on ancient eros has moments of great insight and deserves the attention of classical scholars and non-specialists who are interested in the topic.

This book describes many impacts of environment destruction in many countries like Egypt, India, China and Arabia. But the best thing is its explanation of how this has affected women. The parts on the ancient Middle East offer important insights for understanding what happened to the women's roles in history.

I was surprised how much is packed in this book. It mixes the history of religions, empires, migrations of people, with big movements of environmental destruction and healing. Somehow it all fits into one huge story of people's efforts to live on our planet. Sometimes it's so detailed I had to put it down for awhile, but then I got curious about all the questions it raises. I never thought that making deserts could generate so many waves across the world, or turning the land green again could change life so much.

According to Griffith, we have been slowly denuding the land and turning it into desert for several thousand years. The places where civilization began in the Middle East were degraded first, and a circle of largely man-made desertification has spread outward ever since. As we've depleted nature, people in the affected areas often moved away in waves of migration toward greener areas. And where people degraded their environment, there have been big impacts on their culture and way of life. Griffith describes how environmental destruction has affected things like politics, religion, or economics. It's a very colorful, expansive book, and makes you realize how old a lot of our modern problems are. It also makes solving these problems seem quite possible, since many groups of people are having some good success. I found it a dense book that's packed with information on many countries in many periods of history. It took me a long time to read, but was well worth it.

This book tries to explore what happened in the past when people have turned their land into a desert. How has that affected society, politics, women, religion, etc? To answer, Griffith gives many stories from Africa, the Middle East, India, China, or Europe. One thing he looks at closely is the fate of women in areas where the land became unproductive. And in this he gives one of the most convincing explanations of of why inequality developed between men and women in certain parts of the world. To balance this Griffith tells inspiring stories of how local people have struggled to heal their environment and recover the benefits of a healthy countryside.

This book covers over 10,000 years of social, economic and environmental changes. It shows how our destruction of nature has changed society over time. The stories it tells are powerful and well written. I think it's a great book for anybody who really likes history and wants a peaceful and healthy environment in the future.

I read this book when I was a teenager & instantly identified with the hero & the characters. The characterisation of the Spartan & Athenian lifestyles is excellent and the intermingling of historical figures such as Socrates, Plato, Euripides, Alcibiades, Demosthenes etc is superb. This book alone forms a significant portion of my knowledge of ancient Greece. If you enjoyed the movie "300" then you should read this book. Even if you didn't enjoy the movie "300" still read this book. It is a tragedy that the author Frank Yerby did not achieve the acclaim he deserved for his novels as this definitely ranks among the best I have ever read. I am greatly surprised that he was an African American and disappointed that his great talent went virtually unheralded by the "critics". Read this book. You will not be disappointed.

Frank Yerby's 'Goat Song' is a book I would describe as 'almost perfect'. Not since Mary Renault's 'Last of the Wine' have I encountered such a complete telling of the life of a man in Ancient Greece.

Born to a Spartan General and his beautiful wife; who maintains that her son was truly sired by the God Dionysus, Ariston discovers his true parentage, and his first love, only to lose them to cruel fates.

Surviving these loses, Ariston is then sold into slavery, taken to Athens, and given over to a brothel to have his 'favors' sold time and again. Here in his life he develops a deep, loving friendship with Orchomenus; who remains a constant figure in his life for many years to come. Ariston and Orchomenus' friendship is reminiscent of many others that I have read of from the time period; in terms of the depth of the love between two men, and how once their lives were tied together by their great affection for one another, the bond was difficult, if not impossible, to break.

Once Ariston is freed from his service to the brothel,and adopted by a wealthy figure in Athens; his life takes a more favorable turn. Ariston; through virture of his unparallelled looks or kindly nature, draws many friends and loves to him. Danaeus; Autolykos; Chryseius; all people who will play important roles in his life.

But Ariston; too haunted by the loss of his first love, finds himself unable to return their affections fully. Though he takes Chryseius into his home and bed, his is not free to marry her; under Athenian law, as he is a 'metic', or free citizen, but not of birth, to the city of his residence. Therefore he builds his life as a businessman, philanthropist, athlete, and student in Athens, all the while hoping for eventual citizenship to fulfill his promise to Chryseius and one day marry her.

The book is sweeping in its scope; and epic in it's storytelling capability. The first few chapters virtually turned me away, as the tone and 'repetition' of Ariston losing his first love, Phryne, were tedius to say the least. The discovery of girls in general to him, as well as Phryne herself entering his life, seem contrived, as if they were hastily added to give Ariston a foundation for the 'loner' quality he maintains throughout most of the rest of his life.

However, once through these few almost unpalpable chapters, the story unfolds; page after page, without ever slowing. Yerby's pacing is excellent; his character development full and believable; and his painstaking attention to the everyday detail of life in Athens and Sparta in classical times is rich and rewarding to read. Ariston's own character and character flaws are well played out against the backdrop of the supporting and secondary players to the story. And while the 500 page novel is full of well-developed, interesting persons, Yerby never loses sight of his protagonist, even against such famed historical figures as Sokrates, Sophokles, Alkibiades, etc, etc, etc.....each of these persons influences Ariston, but never overshadows him.

For that I give Yerby 5 stars, and label the book as almost perfect. Although a bit difficult to involve myself in it initially, I was greatly rewarded for my tenacity. Hopefully other readers will agree. I highly recommend this story along with my other favorites written about the time period; Mary Renault, Homer himself, and newer author Steven Pressfield. Though Yerby leans more toward Renault in overall tone, his style and quality of storytelling are all his own.

This book was stunning, harsh, real, and violent as well as beautiful, romantic, and poignant. The story of a man's life is always complex, but Yerby demonstrates that so wonderfully in this classic. I can't believe that this book isn't more popular. Goat Song literally took my breath away and the characters lingered with me long after I closed this book. I would highly recommend this epic tale to everyone.

This work is incredible; I couldn't put the book down! He portrays ancient Sparta/Athens in ways that make me feel like I've visited there. His descriptions are wonderful, as well as his dialogue. The hero, Arison, is all I could want in a hero. I strongly recommend reading this book!

The story of a young man that suffers all kind of pains in his life and remains incorruptible in his mind, with capacity of loving and learning. Yerby makes a unforgetable story of the life of young Ariston with a master style. I have read a lot of Yerby's novels, but this one is on the top, in my opinion. Iam very sad to tell you that this book was stolen from my house almost ten years ago and that it has been imposibble for me to find it again. If you have the fortune to get it, read it and take care of it.

Intriguing mankind for millenia, the pyramids of Eqypt have prompted numerous investigations by scholars and scientists over the centuries. In this book, John Romer's most impressive achievement is his extensive analysis and masterful synthesis of these investigations, enhanced with his own on-site studies and observations. The ease and clarity with which he presents his conclusions, and the scope of the material covered, is astonishing. Many photos, line drawings, and other visual aids complement his presentation.

Even if this had been a strictly scholarly book of dry facts and observations, it would be significant enough, but Romer also brings to life the society and people that produced the pyramids, revealing them to be skilled and dedicated craftsman who created works of timeless beauty with simple tools, professionalism, and perseverance. The idea that "ancient man" could never produce such structures is quietly, confidently, and thoroughly refuted. This book is a "must read" for any layman who wants a clear and compelling answer to the age-old question, 'who built the pyramids?'

It is difficult to imagine how anyone is going to top this treatment of the Great Pyramid. Romer, an Egyptologist for more than 40 years, describes in unprecedentedly precise detail how the pyramid was designed and built. There is none of the mystical nonsense that has appeared in some books about the pyramids. This massive structure was built by humans like us who learned from their mistakes on earlier pyramids and adjusted their plans to the realities of the Giza plateau.

Romer brings out the sophistication and architectural subtlety of the Great Pyramid, and the clever alignments that made its construction possible. This was an astounding feat of planning, organization, and execution for people living 4,500 years ago. Medieval cathedrals look relatively modest by comparison.

Romer admires the dedication and skill of the stone-workers, giving the reader a good feel for the adjustments they used to make their ambitious plan work. Some of the most interesting chapters show how pyramid-builders learned from the mistakes made in building pyramids for Khufu's father.

Romer tracks down related parts of the pyramid project such as quarries and ramps. He provides intriguing sidelights, such as the huge amount of copper needed to make chisels for the masons who shaped the stone blocks.

Romer describes the pyramids as the physical residue of establishing the Egyptian state. This age was short-lived; the pyramids that followed the Great one were less ambitious, and the pyramid age soon died out.

Romer writes with style, though he occasionally dwells too much on certain features such as the "prism point."
He praises some earlier Egyptologists such as Flinders Petrie. The accuracy of Petrie's surveys, made over a century ago, has never been surpassed.

This is a large format book of more than five hundred pages. It is well illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and black and white photographs, including well-chosen photos from as early as 1865. This is not a book for the lazy reader, but it rewards those with sustained interest.

A new book by John Romer on the library shelf! I could hardly contain my excitement since his books have always had fascinating views of Egypt presented in a readable way that suddenly opens vistas of ancient Egypt and puts things in a new light, brings the people more to life than most other authors. I adore his "Ancient Lives" TV series. Here was a new and fascinating book to read - photos of parts of the Great Pyramid and views of parts of it I'd never seen in the books I had available; discussions of sources of minerals, stone and copper; calculations of awesome quantities of resources and how this changed Egypt; methods of transport and calculations of manpower needed; details of quarries; details of earlier pyramids that made it clearer how they "evolved" and were planned. This was also a frustrating book to read and I returned again and again over about 2 months - "squaring the circle" had me going in circles trying to reproduce, from the description, what was intended, and deciding he must mean circumference, not diameter; finding some of the diagrams on how the builders worked things out confusing until finally about page 364 (?) a reasonable diagram finally was clear. Frustrating because I'm sure I could explain the basic idea to my 14 year old students in about 10 minutes with that last diagram and wondering why it took so long to get around to that diagram. Fascinating in the simplicity of the overall method of control once it was clear the east field could be used as a full size planning area. As a teacher always on the lookout for things from the real world to base problems on for maths or science, and as someone used to teaching areas, nets and scale models for a technology unit, maybe the placement of the Great Step didn't seem quite so miraculous to me. I still think the book is a monumental work and should be read by anyone interested in Egypt and the pyramids. John Romer has again given a fascinating and different view of ancient Egypt and its most well known monument.

Since many illustrious and famous Egyptologists have already written their praise for this book on its cover, I shall not try to emulate their eloquent praise for John Romer's quite extraordinary book. However, as an amateur lover of ancient Egypt's history, engineering and artistic achievements, I was spellbound by Romer's quite amazing conhesion of painstaking research and found myself totally absorbed and amazed. The reader is taken on a spellbinding journey through every aspect of the building of the great Pyramid and back in time. His text is elegant and fluidly written, the pictures and diagrams most interesting and easy to understand. I loved this book.
Out of Africa. Johannesburg

John Romer has outdone himself with his book, The Great Pyramid. Highly readable, this well researched book shows the remarkable engineering skills of the ancient Egyptians. For those who will look for such silly theories as building assistance by extra-terrestrias and other rubbish, this is not the book for them. It is a book for rational, intelligent readers who admire and wish to have a better understanding of the creative abilities of older civilizations.
Greg Slater
Australia

Although a philosophical work, I found this book immensely stimulating and made me want to read more and more. Its gradual development of the concepts, its clear and essential interpretation of the Greek philosophers' sayings, along with its references to their works helps the reader to achieve a great deal of understanding. To sum up, the references to the Greek philosophical terms, which are very well interpreted, make the book an illuminating and useful guide for any student of philosophy.

This little 'Handbook of Greek Philosophy' introduces the reader to all those authors who have become a staple of any history of European philosophy: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus, the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics.

The author had the good idea to devote nearly half of the pages to the Pre-Socratics from Thales to Democritus. As a result of this, much of what we know from Plato becomes better understandable, and besides this reader's awareness of the wealth of thoughts debated before the rise of Socrates is much heightened.

The term 'handbook' is a bit misleading, since this is not a magisterial work bringing several pounds of heavy scholarship onto your desk. It is more aptly called 'a first guide to the origins of European philosophy for the uninitiated.' However, this should not devalue the book. The book radiates the charm of old diaries and notebooks. There are many valuable nuggets strewn throughout the text, so one gets hooked and reads on.

There are some minor technical weaknesses. Readers looking for a synoptic vision which puts all things in their proper context and builds a grandiose web of cross references will be disappointed. But the bottom-line is: Read this book and you will have not wasted your time but on the contrary gained a strong feeling of what philosophy is all about and how the Greeks did it.

From the countless citations an intense feeling of immediacy develops, of being near to the sources from where philosophy once sprang like from a well of fresh water. What looks like a weakness turns out to be a strength: The author is not standing in the way of getting at the sources of original insight but makes you go there yourself.

I have to admit that I am no specialist on Greek philosophy, while the author seems to be. Thus I cannot evaluate the quality of the selections. But this does not change my evaluation as a reader that the book deserves close reading and will repay study.

Because there remains much to be improved in technicalities as is cross-referencing and index etc. I gave only 4 stars this time.

Finally I found the right book, which helped me to understand the main concepts of ancient Greek philosophy.

I am a student of philosophy and I have had many difficulties in understanding the Greek philosophical terms and concepts. This book with its countless citations enabled me to understand all these terms like logos, phronesis, doxa, episteme, nous, eudaimonia etc. Due to its essential reference to the most of the Presocratics I could finally grasp the metaphysical and epistemological concepts of Plato and Aristotle. The author does not only show the way to discover the Greek wisdom through the innumerable fragments, but he also helps the student to do a further research into the enormous work of Plato and Aristotle, since he quotes the references of their work related to certain topics.
Really amazing and helpful work!!

I find most of the reviews really enlightening on the qualities of the book; so to say ` an excellent guide and interpretation of Greek philosophy and not a mere collection of translated texts of the Greek thinkers'. However, I would not agree with such a discriminating proposal as `to rewrite the book in native speaking English', unless we mean to suggest that Leibniz and Beckett's excellent writings in French and Wittgenstein's works in English should be rewritten by a native language speaking person.

The author, by developing progressively the concepts and due to his brilliant interpretation of the different philosophical schools of thought, leads the reader to gradual comprehension of the Greek philosophical conceptions. The `Doric' style of the language (poor), following the Greek philosophical tradition, does not interfere with the reader's understanding, but on the contrary develops a feeling of immediacy and prompts the student to go on and to search through the original writings of the philosophers by himself. All that makes the book valuable as a guide and introduction to Greek philosophy, because it increases the reader's awareness of philosophical questions and consequently it is getting more people interested in philosophy.

This highly engaging book makes the Hittites accessible to the general reader. It opens with the story of the discovery of this culture with reference to the Old Testament, Egyptian records and the work of various scholars in the 19th and 20th centuries plus discussions of their various publications.

The main text is divided into State & Society, Life & Economy, Law & Institutions, Warfare, Religion, Literature and Art, as well as Languages & Peoples which includes discussions of Hittite, Hattian, Luwian, Palaic, Hurrian, Mitannian, Akkadian, Sumerian and Tabalic (hieroglyphic Hittite).

The book includes a Table of Hittite Kings, a bibliography and an index. There are black & white figures throughout the text and many plates with works of art, statues, seals, pottery and cuneiform tablets and photographs of the remains of Boghazkoy, Yazilikaya and Alaja Huyuk, plus a map of the Middle East and one of the layout of Boghazkoy (Hattusas).

For a brilliant discussion of the Hittite language, please consult Whence The Hittite? by Jaan Puhvel in the book Sprung from Some Common Source: Investigations into the Prehistory of Languages, edited by Sydney M Lamb and E Douglas Mitchell.

Gurney's book was my first introduction to the Hittites. And despite the passage of years and several revisions, it remains one of the three best general introductions. Even a general reader limited to the English language, however, should not stop with this book. Two books by Trevor Bryce ("The Kingdom of the Hittites" and "Life and Society in the Hittite World") complement Gurney's treatment and are both up-to-date, well-informed and written in a readable style. Well written and inexpensively priced collections of Hittite texts in translation authored by G. Beckman and H. A. Hoffner can be found in the Society of Biblical Literature's series "Writings from the Ancient World".

The Hittites are one of the better-known unknown peoples - they are well known from the Bible; mentioned as one of the peoples in the Syro-Palestinian area during the time of the Patriarchs, they continued to be mentioned through a long span of the history of the Hebrew Bible. At some point, they stop being mentioned - most likely, the Hittite Empire collapsed just as Israel was growing strong under the united kingdom monarchy (or perhaps just before) and was later absorbed by the various empires (Assyrian, Greek, etc.) that swept across Asia Minor.

There aren't many texts on the Hittites; what books are available are often written for archaeologists and other scholars. O. R. Gurney was a professor at Oxford specialising in Assyriology, that branch of archaeology and history that studies the empires of the Fertile Crescent. This book is accessible and interesting; originally written in the early 1950s, it has been updated to take account of later archaeological finds and interpretations. The history of publishing in this kind of field is such that often the 'latest' book will be something decades old, so the 'antiquity' of the book here should not be an issue, and generally isn't, for the student and for the general reader.

Gurney discusses in his introduction the earliest archaeological discovery of the Hittites, lost for millennia to the world under the sands of Asia Minor (Turkey) and other countries at the northern end of the Tigris and Euphrates. From here, he looks at Hittite history in broad strokes - the earliest cities, the Old Kingdom, the period of Empire, the decline of Empire and subsequent rise of neo-Hittite kingdoms, possible connections with the early Greeks and Trojans, and finally the Hittites found in Palestine.

Gurney's following chapters look at the different aspects of Hittite life and culture - society structure from royalty to commoners; government and foreign policy; economy and lifestyles; law and institutions (there are tablets of laws found in various locations); warfare (some things shared with other nations at the time, and some uniquely Hittite features); languages and literature; religion; and art. With regard to languages, this continues to be a rapidly developing area, but the connection of Hittite to the Indo-European language family (through the Anatolian line) has been known since 1915; this was rather surprising, given that the other languages in the area are of the Semitic line, a non-Indo-European language family that included Sumerian and Akkadian, languages in evidence in Hittite areas, showing regional connections for trade and foreign relations. This shows that the Hittites are most likely of a different stock of people from the rest of the peoples of the ancient Near East -- strangers in the land, in a way.

Gurney's text adds details for the student that are worthwhile. For example, while reading about the downfall of the Hittites, Gurney mentions the Peoples of the Sea who were sweeping across portions of the eastern Mediterranean at that time, and tells how Palestine came to get its name, not data directly relevant, but useful and interesting nonetheless. The text is full of such things.

The book also contains many pictures, plates, and line-art drawings of inscriptions, maps, buildings and building plans, and other pieces of interest. There is a chronological list of the kings of the Hittites, ranging from early kings of unknown timing, to the known dated kings from 1740 to 1190 BCE. The bibliography is excellent, divided topically into eighteen different topics, for scholars and students to pursue particular subjects in relations to the Hittites in earnest. The index is very good, useful for Hittite, English and other words and names.

A fascinating book!

If you are not very familiar with ancient history, but want a good popular introduction to the Hittites, this is the book for you. Hittite is the oldest known Indo-european language, known mainly from thousands of tablets unearthed in central Turkey. The language is so archaic it is not classified with the others, but is considered derived from an earlier version. Hittite is the only language that preserves an explicit trace of the laryngeals, sounds that disappeared from all the other languages. The culture of central Turkey is identified with the Biblical Hittites. They just may have founded or helped to found Troy, and they may just be among the pre-Greek inhabitants of Greece. There are relatively few popular books on the Hittites, mainly because the field changes so fast. You scholars that are popular educators, get busy!

When Israelites arrived at their "promised land" land in Canaan, they met several other peoples, already settled there. One of them was the Hittites of Northern Syria - a civilized but also a "warrior" nation. The Old Testament told something about the Hittites but this civilizations' existence remained an enigma until the early 20th century. Since that time we learned a lot about this Indo-European people, especially after Hugo Winckler's excavations in Hattusa (Bogazkoy) of Central Anatolia. Oliver Robert Gurney, a well known hittitology specialist, presents us a rich summary of both Hittite history and culture in this excellent work. There are only a few books on Hittites, written for non-specialists, and this is probably the best one.