Ancient History Books

After reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, what a delight to read about Gibbon in a mere 111 pages (harmonious with Gibbons under five foot stature). A short treatment about such a large subject as Gibbon and his work could have been a problem, but Burrow pulls it off. After an opening mini biography of Gibbons life, the remainder of the book is an overview of 'Decline and Fall': chapter titles include "Rome", "Christianity", "Barbarism" and "Civilization". The best chapter is "Civilization", it can be read as a standalone essay about Western history, it is full of fascinating ideas and insights. The last chapter "A possession in perpetuity" ties together some loose ends and has an interesting discussion on the nature of art and immortality. Any book of this nature has to rely heavily on quotes and because Gibbons writing is so powerful he can steal the show, but Burrow more than holds his own, the cadence between Burrow and Gibbon is sheer pleasure. Yet, as Burrow says:

"To present a vast historical work like the 'Decline and Fall' as I have done, chiefly in terms of its organizing concepts and the explanations it offers, is necessarily to travesty it: to reveal the bones is to make hard, angular, dry and summary what in the experience of reading is enjoyed as flexible, rich and leisurely."(p.80)

The "bones" revealed by Burrow include Gibbon's stylistic device of black/white polarities underlying his arguments: Liberty/servility, vigor/enervation, manliness/effeminacy, simplicity/luxury, fanaticism/moderation, superstition/reason, theology/morality, asceticism/nature, unsocial/social and of course barbarism/civilization. This is not to say Gibbons has reduced history into a child-like "good vs bad" view, he does show ambiguity in human action, but his style or technique is to create polarities and then play off between those positions. This is an excellent work of historiography and intellectual history, I highly recommend it for anyone who has read Gibbon to better understand his context and ideas, Burrow treats Gibbon with a great deal of sympathy and the reader comes away with an even deeper appreciation and passion for the man and his work.

This is one of the finest volumes in the ' Past Masters' series. Burrow tells Gibbon's story and outlines the major themes of 'The Decline and Fall' with concision and clarity .He sets Gibbon in the context of his time and shows how his Augustan eighteen century values effect his judgment of the second- century Roman height of development, and the decline from it. Gibbon sees the decline and fall as a movement away from Roman independence, hardiness, military self- sufficiency and virtue to social indolence brought by prolonged prosperity and luxury. The measured and balanced tolerant religions of paganism are weakened and defeated by the enthusiastic superstition of Christianity. The civilized West is overrun by those of the barbaric East. Burrow does a wonderful job presenting Gibbon's biography, the background and preparation leading up to the writing of his great masterpiece. He shows too how Gibbon's great style however it aligns itself in support of Roman social virtue contains a subtlety and elaborative greatness that enables it to capture the positive qualities of Rome's barbarian opponents. Burrow shows how Gibbon's masterful style of antithesis and balance, work to give his account a kind of aesthetic and moral subtlety and ambiguity.
This is a very good introduction to one of the greatest of all classics of historical writing.

This is an excellent book for those who are just getting interested in Southwest or New Mexico Archaeology. Definately a must read!

This is a great book for the casual reader on archaeology! The essays are entertaining, yet still enlightening, and are beneficial for both the newcomer to New Mexico and the long-time fan.

I read this book about two years ago--I'm a grad student, I read too many books--and it is actually burned into my memory (too many books fade from it). Hence why I feel obligated to hype it here, for my conscience tells me the neglect of this work is unacceptable. So then.
I am a Hesiod lover, which is why I picked up the book; David Grene's reputation precedes him (he tranlated the version of the Works and Days at the beginning of Nelson's book); yet I had never studied Virgil, and certainly not the Georgics. This is one of the best books I've read, perhaps ever--it is without doubt among the tippy-top in the classics genre.
Why? Well, if you love Hesiod and/or Virgil, I don't need to sing it for you. You probably came here to buy the book. So, do buy. For everyone else, what is to be noted is that this extraordinarily talented writer (professor Nelson, not me) has done a thing more lovely (if there is anything more lovely) than teasing meaning from Hesiod and Virgil--she has written something meaningful in itself, which at once depends on the greatness of her subjects and the way she reveals to us their greatness. I'll be damned if one does not walk away from this book feeling that the universe is Georgocentric, after all. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous thing, and to say it one last time, Nelson's prose is witty, often hilarious (I laughed out loud several times), and downright masterful English. Professors are not supposed to write like this, but one does, and let us thank Zeus for it.
To sum up my pangyric, you need not care all that much about Hesiod and Virgil to read this. You will when you finish. And you will cherish this book.

Nelson brings a new perspectinve to this subject, an insight that only someone versed in classics and the realities of farming could bring. This book is the best argument yet for scholars to get out of the classroom on occasion and into the feild, as it were.

This is one of the best, most informative books I've ever read. I am teaching my son about ancient civilizations and came across this book. I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I finished it. The book contains serially related myths from ancient Egypt and is written in a very engaging style. The author is clearly an expert on ancient Egyptian civilization and writes very well. The chapters are of a length appropriate for bedtime story reading as well as for school-related activity. Furthermore, there is a nice taxonomy of the ancient Egyptian "pantheon" and an interesting, if too short, discussion of glyph writing. The text is beautifully illustrated and has interesting footnotes about many of the illustrations.

How did Osiris die?
Who took the throne then?
Who is the eye of the sun?
How was Egypt made?

You can find all the answers in this book. Through this amazing novel, many Egyptian myths are told with dramatic pictures and excitment. The myths in this book are the most exciting myths out of all of them. Even if you read the book once, you'll want to read it agian! Each story will capture your imagination each time.At the end of the book there is also a short lesson on writing hieroglyphics. All in all, this book adds up to be the best book I've ever read.

Block has come out with his second edition of _Gods of the Nations_ in which he proposes that peoples in the Ancient Near East saw themsleves as members of a national state. Members of a national state were ones who saw themselves as related not just as members of a certain territory but related by other factors as well. Foremost among these latter was kin relationship.

Block proposes that there was a relationship between the deities of the ANE, the land, and the people which was similar to a feudal system. The land was given to or reserved by the deity who gave it to the people. Each member of this triad had responsibilities which Block investigates. Thus the conduct of the people was subject to the accounting of the deity.

Too bad this book is so short. Block spends too little time addressing the fact that political realities in the ANE shaped theological documents. For example on page 118, Block notes the titular deity of Ur is forced out because Ur has been destroyed.
Block could use these political realities to explain the religious syncretism of ancient Israel as known from the archaeological record. Rather than do that, Block concentrates upon biblical texts to explain the rights and demands of the deity upon the people, and then he uses extra-biblical texts to explain the end of the deity-people relationship.

A fascinating thesis worthy of a second edition. I will refer to this book often during future reading.

Dr. Block takes us on a tour of the Ancient Near East, comparing Israel and Yahweh to the neighboring gods and religions.

Using this book, one will be able to gain a working familiarity with some of the more common religious thought forms of the Bronze and Iron ages. A major conclusion of his work is that Yahweh is distinct from all the other gods in that he cares for a people while all the other gods care only for their lands. Yahweh is the electing God of love and mercy.

For gaining a better understanding of the Old Testament world, books such as this are indispensable. Block is a master teacher who knows how to systematically present ancient texts and beliefs. In the end he arrives at a profound restatement of Yahweh and His relation to Israel, resulting in a summary exposition of Ezekiel 8-11. In that text we discover how the Glory of Yahweh leaves the temple and heads east to leave Jerusalem and depart from Israel. This movement is explained in the Babylonian context where gods often leave temples when they are dragged away by captors. Yahweh, however, is unique in that his departure is voluntary and under his own power, for he is doing with the other gods can not and do not do. My summary can not do justice, you really need to get the book and read all the details for yourself.

The book is divided into five basic chapters that can each be read in one sitting. As a result, I found myself reading this book in less than a week -- and with little effort, which is good for me being that I am slowest of all readers. That is, I did not find myself spending all my free time reading, but the pages evaporated into the past as quickly as they appeared: the reading was over before I realized what hit me.

I have spent a good amount of time reading Ancient Near Eastern material, and I feel like this treaties has been the most pleasant and enjoyable. One critique I would give, which is really a wish and not a critique, is that it would be nice if there were a chapter on the New Testament. I would like to see Block develop his theme in relation to Jesus, who is the Lord of the New Exodus. Jesus is the "Yahweh-Saves" Man, and it would be wonderful to see how Block would incorporate this into his overall scheme (in my mind, the idea is perfectly complimentary to Blockýs present thesis, and Iýd like to read the good professorýs take on the matter). Where Block does not develop the theme, I recommend reading "God Crucified" by Richard Bauckham (available on Amazon), or "The Challenge of Jesus" by N.T. Wright, esp. chapter 5, also available on Amazon.

This new anthology by a Lithuanian scholar provides readers with a collection of fundamental texts by Plotinus, Jamblichus, Porphyry and others. Usually, these texts are not easily available to non-specialists. As a general reader, one may gain access --thanks to Uzdavinys-- to the essential teachings of Platonists and Neo-Platonists. But the main merit of this book is that it clearly demonstrates that Platonism used to be much more than a mere philosophy, in the modern and reductive sense of the term. Platonism was a spiritual way leading to the One. This is most often missed by academics who flatten Platonic and Neo-Platonic teachings down to the level of rational dialectics. In light of this book we understand how Platonism could be integratred into the Jewish, Christian and Muslim intellectual traditions in a way in which no secular or rationalistic philosophy can.

The Golden Chain: An Anthology Of Pythagorean And Platonic Philosophy by Algis Uzdavinys (a Research Fellow at the Institute of Culture, Philosophy, and Arts) reveals that Platonic and Pythagorean philosophy is not directly equitable with our contemporary concept of "rationalism" and therefore devoid of any spiritual content. Rather, Platonic and Pythagorean philosophy in ancient Greece was seen as a way of life and as a means of spiritual realization. The object in Hellenic times was to establish for its practitioners of the philosophy of Plato and Pythagoras a harmony with the cosmos, purifying their souls and leading them into union with the Divine Intellect and the One. The Hellenic philosophies were closer to the Eternal Mysteries than to the 20th century fashions of Western logicians. The Golden Chain is informed and informative reading which is most especially recommended to the attention of philosophy students and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in how philosophy can free us from the chains of desire driven materialism and the rationalized hubris that is such a hallmark of contemporary western cultures.

This book was wonderful for those who are ancient Egypt and King Tut afficianados. It tied together many important aspects of the King Tut timeline, from his ancestoral line to the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter. The pictures were excellent. As much as I've learned about the subject over the years, there was a plethora of new or expanded information I hadn't heard before. Great value, great read.

There have been plenty of books on Egypt and Tutankhamun; so why the need for yet another? This rich history does more than provide a colorful review; it goes into detail to capture the shifting political climate of the times, contrasting facts with fictions and providing stories, insights, images and review to enhance a foundation of historical understanding of Egypt. Over a hundred fifty pages of lovely color images illustrate relics from the times and highlight the riches of King Tut's chambers, while accompanying history link artifacts to events. A highly recommended pick not just for school collections, but for any general interest library offering any books on Egypt for the general public.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I got this book to help me prepare a special meal for my Bible study group and I am thrilled with all the great receipes it has in it. It covers basics as well as detailed receipes and many references to scripture also. I recommend it for any cook book collector, like myself, or for anyone in a Bible study group as well.

Alive with biblical flavors and aromas, The Good Book Cookbook provides authentic recipes for the foods, meals and feasts mentioned in the Old & New Testament. Besides a beautiful gift, TGBC is an intelligent book for Bible study classes and Sunday schools. Use the receipes to prepare an original Chuch Supper such as Jesus would have dines. Excellent.

I had a lot of fun playing around with these projects and I'm way too old to be a kid. They're clearly described, simple to do, historically interesting, and they're just plain fun. A great way to get kids interested in the history of one of the world's most important countries, while still letting them make a mess and have fun. It's just the kind of book to pull out on a rainy Saturday.

An engrossing read for children and young people. The integrated hands-on projects offer the young reader the chance to experience the excitement of technical and scientific discovery.

David Ehrlich, Professor of Film and Media Studies, Dartmouth College

It is ammazing how Seiss reads the physical structure in light of biblical history. The comparison of the dimentions of the Great Pyramid to Scripture and history of Gods' people both Jew and gentile is very thought provoking. I have found that recent findings do not discredit any of Seiss' observations. This just helps to enforce the divine being active in the building of this Great Pyramid as Seiss explains. The nonbeliver will have difficulty not to investigate further.There is very strong EVIDENCE of the divine intervention in the building of the monument. Divine science is displayed or should I say Science before science was discovered is displayed. For those who need proof of a God this book is a strong evidence that can not be overlooked. A must reading for those who wish to see where the divine is active in the physical aspect of man's workings. Another foot print of the almighty creator left on his creation for man to see and ponder on. Seiss is a man who has been blessed with great insight to the workings of God. His book on the Apocalypse also displays this.

This is a wonderful book! Seiss does a first-rate job of concisely introducing the reader to the fundamentals of the Judeo-Christian spiritual content of the Great Pyramid. He does this in a way that is very engaging, and it makes the book hard to put down. It is also easy to read, despite Seiss' use of Victorian English writing, which is another plus. All in all, this is a book that I would highly recommend for anyone interested in studying the spirtual and scientific truths embodied in the Great Pyramid. It is concise, practical, and informative. In other words, it is excellent.