Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar

This book is amazing. It made Julius Caesar (and the rulers who followed him, although only the ones in his direct line) absolute accessible and understandable. It made the history funny and fascinating and easily digested. It was the kind of book where you go to a party and you suddenly find yourself asking people if they want to hear an interesting fact about Augustus Caesar! (They probably don't.)

Grade: A

2015

In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of the Global Arab Empire, by Tom Holland

That's a very flashy name for a book that's basically just about the historicity of the Koran. I have read a bunch of books about how the New Testament was assembled and picked over by early Christian church; this book is a very interesting look at early sources about Mohammed and how he fit into the landscape of the late antiquity Middle East, and how/when the Koran was put together. I enjoy the way Tom Holland writes; all his stuff is good.

Grade: B

Originally posted 2012

Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West and Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic, Tom Holland

(I'm halfway through his other book, but I can't seem to concentrate on it enough to get to the end.)

So interesting, so well written, so full of information I will never have time to teach my students. I was particularly enamored of Holland's descriptions of how the Persians viewed the battles at Marathon and Thermopylae, instead of a narrative from the Greek perspective which I'm more used to. The book on Rome is equally interesting but less of a story and more just an explanation of all the things that happened in the centuries before Caesar killed the Republic. (It would help if every single name in Rome didn't start with a C, boy I get them confused.)

Persian Fire: A

Rubicon: B

Originally posted 2010

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