The Peloponnesian War was a world war, drawing in all the Greek polities through a network of alliances, and, over twenty-seven years, involving diverse foreign powers, from Persia, to Egypt, to Italy, and even parts of Europe. To the Greeks, that was the world, and for twenty-seven years the world warred.
Hume’s Essays Review
To say that Hume’s essays are not worth reading would be untrue. There is a reason that they endure, and, as is evident from this review, there are insights to be gained. Perhaps it is unfair of me to compare a collection of essays to some of the most influential works of political thought in the past thousand years.
New Spring Review
It is Jordan at probably the height of his powers, managing with skill and finesse a task that stumps other skilled authors.
Philip and Alexander Review
I could have read about Alexander the Great from one of the many historical sources who wrote about him, either contemporaneous with his campaigns, or within a few centuries, but such ancient works tend not to capture what I hoped to find in Philip and Alexander: an exploration of both kings’ reigns, and how the one informed the other.
The US Constitution and Other Writings Review
This is a review for the collection of American writings assembled by Canterbury Classics, and not a review of the US Constitution.
Three-Body Problem Review
This is one of those rare hard science fiction books that contrives to both invoke rigorous scientific concepts and offer interesting plot and characters. If some of the more advanced technology revealed at the book’s conclusion seems a bit like magic, well, that’s probably rather the point.
Eye of the World Review
The Wheel of Time turns, and the ages come again – in this case, it brings at long last my reread of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.
War and Peace Review
It luxuriates, meandering through lives and small events that stack up into occasional flashes of intense conflict. Instead of following a central plot thread all the way through in a direct fashion, as a modern novel would, Tolstoy leads the reader on a winding path that, while you’re walking it, can feel unfocused, but that somehow still conveys a sense of progress.
Wisdom Sits in Places Review
I was left pondering this idea of perception and the environment, too nebulous as yet for me to fully express it myself. Wisdom Sits in Places is the answer for which I did not realize I was looking.
A Psalm for the Wild Built Review
I can’t tell if my lingering dissatisfaction with it is because it really wasn’t as good as it could have been, or because it didn’t match what I had in my head for the concept.
