More even than other historical works, it is a true portal to the past, replete with everything that implies for the historian, the author, the worldbuilder, and the simply curious.
A Story as Sharp as a Knife Review
The book spends more time on Bringhurst’s analysis, philosophizing, and linguistic and cultural musings than it does actually presenting Haida stories.
American Catholic Review
Perhaps of the greatest interest in American Catholic is the acknowledgement of some of the foundations, largely from the political and cultural movements of the 1960s, of the modern tensions between establishment and exercise.
The Healing Hand Review
The Healing Hand is a fantastic piece of nonfiction which I think anyone could find interest in, but it should be required reading for anyone writing about wounds in a historical (or secondary world historical) context.
The Light Ages Review
We continue to use insights developed during the middle ages, sometimes without even realizing it. If Falk spent more time examining ideas like that, rather than diverting into historical fiction, The Light Ages would be a far stronger book.
Charge Review
It is a pleasant change to find a nonfiction book which is heavy on nonfiction and light on narrative.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms Review
Sometimes likened to a Chinese Odyssey, the story is epic in a literal sense, at some eight hundred thousand words over one hundred twenty chapters, and its structure has more in common with modern storytelling than you might expect.
Atlas of Medieval Europe Review
Organized by both timeframe and subject, the collection presents the clearest maps I’ve ever found in a history book, which usually attempt to cram far too much information into a single, static map. With Atlas of Medieval Europe, you can instead experience a kind of stop-motion animation as you watch Europe evolve over the course of a few centuries.
Optimal Illusions Review
As the saying goes, “when you have a hammer, everything’s a nail.” In Krumme’s Optimal Illusions, we contemplate what happens when the hammer decides it is no longer content being a hammer, and would prefer to be a rock, instead.
Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Review
With many caveats, this is said to be the first autobiography, which is the reason it ended up on my reading list. To be more specific, it is the earliest surviving autobiographical text written with the intent of being autobiographical in nature, as opposed to serving some other didactic purpose while being incidentally autobiographical.
