Mini Reviews | Natural Disasters

 Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Natural disasters have long been a source of endless fascination for me, starting when I was a child. No surprise then that books like this continue to interest me as an adult.

The book focuses on California and the San Andreas Fault and the information contained within it is not entirely new. Everyone knows the fault is massive, and has spawned countless secondary faults, many just as potentially deadly as the big one. Yet people live over the fault. People drive across it everyday on one or more of the dozens of highways and interstates. Both San Francisco and Los Angeles sprawl out over the fault - and no one seems keen to move away any time soon.

I found this to be an easy enough read, no science background required. yet still well-researched and in-depth as well, thoroughly explaining the geology needed to understand the San Andreas Fault. We are also given a history of the area and pertinent people, such as Andew Larson, the UC-Berkeley prof who named the fault in the late 1800s and Charles Richter, who developed and refined the scale we still use today to measure these beasts.

It is interesting to compare the jump in knowledge from the 1906 SF earthquake, to nearly 60 years later when plate tectonics were discovered. Up until that time, scientists believed that underground volcanoes caused the earth to move. Needless to say, the science has come a long way since then.

But even so, it has not come far enough, and I don't know that it can. We still can't predict earthquakes, and it is possible we will never be able to. Major earthquakes will continue to happen. But don't expect California to one day just go floating off into the Pacific Ocean. Instead the author maintains that the San Andreas Fault and all of its offshoots are actually pulling California apart. Between the fires and the earthquakes, California doesn't stand a chance.

 Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I did not realize this was an older book, published in the 1970s. Even as a I read it, it seemed as if it were a more recent publication, while at the same time also reading as though it was an eyewitness reporters account. Not too shabby to make a reader believe to completely opposite things at one time.

The authors make fantastic use of sources not previously available to the public. They acquired documents from insurance companies, the Red Cross, the military, and also collections of eyewitness accounts of those who managed to survive one of the worst disasters in US history.

As with any other catastrophic event, there are heroes and villains. It will surprise no one that the powers that be were incapable of handling a disaster of this magnitude for a couple reasons - they were corrupt beyond reproach and had no idea what the hell they were doing.

Just as the title says, this truly is a minute-by-minute accounts, from those first terrible seconds in the early morning of April 18th, beginning at 5:13 AM. The book moves quickly and the reader can only hang on for the ride as we move quickly through the city, witnessing the horrors of that day and the aftermath of the fires raging.

One thing I also really appreciated was the interviews the authors did with survivors. It must have been quite difficult for them to share their stories, but I am so glad they did. They gave a depth to the story, sharing their grief over such an awful experience.

 Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Our planet would not be what it is today, giving us life, were it not for natural disasters. We need them for our home to flourish and without these life-giving forces, our planet would die and so would we.

If we were not so arrogant, and did not think that time and time again we could thwart Mother Nature, these disasters would not so often result is huge losses of life.

Yet here we are, living on super active fault lines, building cities below sea level...you get the idea.

This book looks at several incredibly devastating disasters that have impacted humankind. From Pompeii to Katrina, there are many here that prove that not much has changed, and we still think we are in charge.

We know that our world is changing. As climate change continues to wreak havoc, we must learn from past mistakes. Temperatures are rising around the world, ice caps are melting, eventually major life changes are going to start happening for a lot of people living on the coasts. All kinds of natural disasters are getting worse, and will continue to do so. It doesn't have to be this way though, if we could just take five seconds to learn from our past.

The author does a fantastic job examining each natural disaster, then exploring how each impacted society dealt with the aftermath - what they did differently, what they predicted, what they got wrong. Not a bad way to spend a couple hours.

What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled the World: The Roman Empire, 100 BC - AD 200

Rating: 4 Stars

I love books like this, that get to the heart of daily life in a particular time and/or place. I feel like sometimes these books are judged too harshly. Some say they lack detail or research. To those people I would suggest then finding a book on something more specific to the topic they are interested in. Books such as these are meant to give a broad picture of their overall topic, and provide little morsels that might then interest someone into seeking out other books more specific to certain aspects discussed therein. Books like this are also good reminders when you need or want a quick refresher. They often times help me remember things I already know.

As stated above, this book looks at the basics of every-day life as a Roman citizen. There were even things I learned as I was reading that were new to me and not just reminders. One such new tidbit came in this quote: "Finally, the two came to blows, and Romulus prevailed, consecrating Rome with his brother's blood" (page 8). How did I miss this part in school, that Romulus killed Remus? In the fog and cobwebs that surround my knowledge of Ancient Rome and its mythological creation, I was under the impression that the story went that they founded Rome together. Good to know.

As I am fond of doing, I picked out another quote that seems to me bests encapsulates this ancient civilization: "More concerned with the here and now than the hereafter, they took the world by storm and left it a different place - and in doing so, made sure that their deeds would never be forgotten" (page 11). How true indeed. Even in 2016, the lives of the Romans still seem to hypnotize us. I personally am so eager to see Pompeii some day, to walk the ancient streets and see the ruins, to see this place frozen in time when Vesuvius covered the land with ash and debris. Speaking of Pompeii and Vesuvius, I loved the photos from the preserved villas in Herculaneum and Pompeii (page 49). I only wish the captions would have specified which villas were from which city. That bothered me a bit. But for the most part, the captions were pretty informative and there were tons of photos throughout.

The following quote (page 27) attributed to Caesar about Brutus struck me rather ironically. Caesar was very observant. If only he had been moreso to the Ides of March: "I do not know what this young man wants, but everything that he wants, he wants very badly."

My only major issue with the book, and this will not be major for most people because most people do not know who I am talking about, is the lack of any mention of Boudicca. There is a section related to Roman Britain, so you would think the fierce Iceni queen who defeated the Romans twice before dying herself warranted at least a blurb. But alas, there is none. Surely, information about the various rebellions of the native British peoples would have impacted the daily lives of those Roman citizens living in Roman Britain, no?

Really, this is a decent introduction for those new to learning about Ancient Rome. It is also a nice refresher for those who have some background in the subject, but would likely be pointless for those who already have a large library of knowledge on Ancient Rome, physical or otherwise. 

The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia: From the Heart of Rome to Hadrian's Wall

Rating: 4 Stars

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I. Loved. This. Book.

Right off the bat I appreciated the use of maps with this book. I am a visual person so I am fond of books that do make good use of maps and photographs. As you begin your journey in Rome and meander your way toward Hadrian's Wall, there are maps along the way to help you trace your journey. I was frustrated by the lack of photos, but naturally as you made your way farther and farther from Rome, there is less that survived elsewhere - especially in Britain of course - to mark all the places the empire expanded to and flourished.

One thing I noticed right away was how well-researched this book is. I like that it is written in the present-tense, as if you, the reader, are making this journey yourself. There were tons of tidbits along the way, things I had never given any thought to, really, despite my deep interest in Roman times and Roman Britain in particular. For example, it would be interesting for us to really know why emperors restricted which kinds of foods could be sold at bars or cook shops along the way. The author suggests that it was because kitchens were such fire hazards, as they were often located in the center of town and it would be kind of a big effing deal if a fire broke out. Another possibility was that the fumes were too nasty or there was simply too much smoke.

Throughout this journey, you travel both by land and by sea. I found the sea portion of the travels just as interesting as that by land - though I was disgusted on many levels to learn that travelers would use tombs as bathrooms. Seriously. Yuck. And so disrespectful. But, back to the sea travel. I thought it was interesting that the ships leaving Roman ports did not actually have accommodations for passengers. I wasn't expecting the Titanic or anything, but basically passengers had to find space on deck or below to sleep. For all the advances ancient Rome made, they couldn't figure out how to build a ship with cabins or some sleeping areas? Seriously?

I find learning about the whole Roman Empire kind of daunting. I mean, it was this vast, sprawling empire and there is so much history, even I almost get bored just because there is SO MUCH to learn. I think this is why I focus more on Roman Britain (plus, Bouddica. Duh...And literally as I typed her name, I realize I spell it differently almost every time. Looking up how I have it labeled for my blog posts, I spelled it 'Boudicca'. Oops. But I have seen it spelled so many different ways and no one can even agree if she was actually real, let alone how to spell her name).

Anyway.

My purpose for mentioning my intimidation by the Roman Empire was to illustrate how little I know about the actual governing and politics. As you are, so to speak, traveling to the edge of the Roman empire to take up your governorship at Hadrian's Wall, it was interesting to learn some detail about the job itself. Imperial Governors had no set term limits. They would be assigned to their post for as long or as short a time as the Emperor chooses. Once the governor has arrived at his post, he must stay until his tour is over. He is not allowed to leave the boundaries of his province for any time. Even if he were conducting official business, referred to as "the fulfilling of a vow", he is not allowed to spend a single night away from his province.

Once we were on the road to Londinium, I was especially interested in this section and beyond because, of course, I love all things related to Britain before 1603. I mean, I don't love Elizabeth I, but that is neither here nor there in relation to this text. This was by far my favorite section, though I really enjoyed the book as a whole. As we enter Londinium, I decided I want my own Transport Officer because I still don't know where most of the stuff in Omaha is after living here for a number of years. To be fair though, I do not actually live in Omaha-proper, nor do I even really care about Omaha, because I hate living here, so there's that. Maybe I don't need a Transport Officer after all.

I loved the section dedicated to Boudicca, the fierce Iceni queen. I'm not keen on the wholesale slaughter of innocent people that she spearheaded, but I understand her need for revenge. I so desperately want her to have been a real person and it just kills me that we will never really know for sure. Despite Tacitus writing of her, there are some historians who doubt her existence. I choose to ignore them and focus on the fact that there is literally a layer of earth below London referred to as the 'Boudiccan Destruction Layer', which is described as a thick layer of red burnt debris which has been found to cover pottery  that dates to before 60 AD in what was then Londinium. Roman skulls were also found a few years ago that were possibly Boudicca's victims. She was real, I know it. She has to be.

Aside from the trip through Londinium, I was just as excited about the jaunt through Bath, perhaps my favorite city in England (though to be fair, I did not get to spend a ton of time in London, which I am sure I would love just as much). There was a whole chapter dedicated to Bath and as the author was describing the great bath, I could picture it in my mind exactly and I was right back there, as I had been physically a few years ago. it's a very calming place, even now with tourists traipsing through. I'd love to be there when it's quiet, but even when it's not, you get this very cool, peaceful feeling. Plus dusk was settling as our time there was ending, and it was very surreal, very cool. I'd like to go back in the future and experience it without my camera so I can just BE there. Also, the curses discovered at Bath are hilarious.

There were many little things throughout the book that really made it for me. Throughout the trek from Rome to Hadrian's Wall as Julius Severus would have done, the author includes the modern name in parentheses after the Roman name. Additionally, with a lot of the quotes the author uses, she then puts its translation into Latin after giving the English version.

Seeing Hadrian's Wall, walking some it, is high on my bucket list. But the author brings up a great point about the families who were displaced by the building of this marvel. These families may have been on that land for hundreds of years, but their homes were demolished after having to be abandoned because the wall was built. That bums me out because those Romans were just kind of jerks all around and didn't care who they displaced in order to try to bring order to the ends of their empire.

The final chapter of the book actually ends at 48%. A post-script follows that is entitled 'Beyond 130 AD: People, Politics, and Places." We kind of find out what happened to Julius Severus after he was recalled to Rome. The politics section goes over what happened to Rome and the 'Places of Note' section gives a bit more information about all the places mentioned or visited in the text. I also appreciated this section because it then gave a little info about what those places are like today.

Before the bibliography at 54%, the author also included a list of the Latin place names and their English counterparts. I found this extremely helpful, as was the bibliography section itself. It reiterated just how well-researched the book is, so even though the actual text was only 48% of the file, it was definitely worth the read.

The only complaint I really have about this one is that due to the asterisks throughout the chapters corresponding with notes at the end of each chapter, a hard copy would have been easier to go back and forth between. There were points where I would get to the notes section at the end of a chapter and sometimes forget what I had especially wanted to know more about. Otherwise, this was a really fantastic read that I enjoyed. Highly recommended.

The Real Lives of Roman Britains

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was hesitant at first to read this one, as the last book I read by this author started out promising, but I did not finish it due to losing interest. This could be because I was primarily reading the previous book for the section on Boudicca (the book was 'Defying Rome'). It was not the writing or any fault of the author that I did not finish that one, I have just found that my reading tastes have changed and I am less interested in Ancient Rome than I used to be. I am still, however, quite interested in Roman Britain and so this one was easier to stick with.

The book goes into as much detail as one can expect, considering Roman Britain gradually ceased to exist 1500 years ago. However, new discoveries are being made all the time - pieces of walls, old forts, shards of pottery. Unfortunately all we have are pieces. While the picture gets clearer with each discovery, I doubt we will ever have enough to make the whole picture, so to speak.

Something I appreciated as much as the actual content was the extensive resources that made up the last 20% or so of the book. There was an extensive notes and bibliography sections. There was also a section on how Roman names were created, and a timeline of events in the history of Roman Britain starting with the first contact on the island. Additionally, there was a plethora of information on museums around the country where one can see artifacts from the centuries of Roman rule. My particular favorite, is, of course Bath. In previous posts about Roman Britain I have always included a few photos from my trip to the UK in 2009 with my mom. Here are a few of my favorites. All photos were taken by and belong to me:

The Great Bath (Bath, 2009)

The Great Bath (Bath, 2009)

Semi-Circular Bath (Bath, 2009)

The hypocaust (Bath, 2009)

Overall, this is a thoroughly researched, highly informative book. There's not necessarily a TON of new information if this is a subject you are already very familiar with, but still a good read nonetheless. There are several photos prior to chapter one depicting some of the many artifacts found over the years. My only real complaint is that these photos would have better served the text by being included within the chapter they were related to. I'd like to take a look at the physical copy of this book to see some of the photos in color, as opposed to the black and white photos of my Kindle.

A History of Civilization in 50 Disasters

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

I have this habit of going through the new release section of the public library catalog and putting a bunch of books on hold that I am interested in. Half the time, the books end up being YA/juvenile, despite me clicking specifically on the history section on the adult list. Sometimes I read the book anyway and this is just such an occasion.

First, I love these kinds of history lessons, these sort of lists that look at some sub-section of human history and how those pieces matter and come together to form one aspect - another good one is 'The History of the World in 100 Objects'. Very interesting.

Anyway, despite being about a depressing subject matter, the content was highly interesting and worked well for an adult, as easily as it would for a YA reader. The book covers a wide range of topics, from earthquakes, plague, volcanoes, to a molasses flood. For real. A flood of molasses. It would be funny if people had not died. I guess the phrase "Slower than molasses in winter" is not really accurate after all. I don't say this to be cheeky, I had never heard of this disaster and it was very interesting, I love that Santorini, the burning of Rome, and Pompeii were included, though the majority of the disasters that the author focused on were 13th century and beyond. This makes sense of course, those darn dinosaurs Neanderthals never bothered to write anything down.

Each chapter is between two and four pages long, so not overly detailed for the intended audience, but still giving enough information to keep the reader interested. This would be a great resource for research, or for a reluctant reader to find topics that might be of interest to them. In addition, there are a few further resources - a glossary for readers who might be unfamiliar with the terms in the book, and additional resources related to each topic, as well as a brief introduction to the research process. There are also tons of maps and photos throughout, great color photos that add to the content.

I like this series, I think it is an interesting way to hook those readers who have had a hard time finding things that they want to read about. Short chapters, with addition resources if they do find something of interest.

My only real, tiny complaint is in the form of the 50th disaster - it was actually called 'Disaster in the Making' and discussed climate change in our century and the possible ensuing consequences that will come if we do not reverse course and try to get global warming under control. So really, this is not actually a disaster that has happened, but one that is in the process of happening as I type this review. And even then, this is not major - more of an aside.

I recommend this both for those YA readers looking for something engaging, and those who are interested in learning more about these types of disasters and how they have impacted our history.

100 Documents That Changed the World: From the Magna Carta to WikiLeaks

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Review:

I really love books like this, the '50 Objects..." or "12 Maps..." that 'changed the world' type books. This book is no exception, as it covered several documents that truly did change the world, for better or worse. While I disagree somewhat with some of the items included ('War and Peace' and '1984' - I do not consider books to be documents per se), the majority really do help the book live up to its name. How can you go wrong when writing about Magna Carta, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Apollo 11 Flight Plan, and Anne Frank's diary in one volume?

Turns out, you can. Or, at least not 'go wrong', but you can be lacking in detail and description at times. I understand this is not meant to be exhaustive, seeing as how it is quite slim to begin with, so I will get my complaints out of the way before I delve further in to discuss some of the specific documents addressed that I felt were among the most important. There is only one actual page of textual information devoted to each document, though that page often included a small picture of those who signed, witnessed, wrote, etc. the document. The opposite page was usually a picture of the document itself. Additionally, for a good portion of the beginning, nearly all of the documents were from Western Europe. Not all, but a good majority. Surely there were other important documents that could have been included from around the world and not just those few.

Now, to the documents I found most fascinating - it is also kind of embarrassing to admit that I did not know some of the facts I learned from this text. In my defense perhaps we were not taught those aspects in school? So many of these documents today exist now in the National Archives and I wish desperately to see them - namely the Fort Sumter Telegram announcing they were surrendering, and the Emancipation Proclamation. These were two hugely important documents that exist as a testament to the resolve of our young country - we were willing to go to war with ourselves to achieve the ends we wanted. The telegram began the war and the proclamation set us on the road to ending it. As an aside, I never knew that the E.P. ONLY freed slaves who were living in the states that had succeeded from the Union - AND applied only to those held by the Confederacy. So, apparently it was a shrug and a 'sorry' to the slaves living in areas recaptured by the Union, or the nearly 500,000 living in those border states who had not succeeded.

I am curious about the exclusion of the Gettysburg Address as an important document and thought perhaps it was excluded due to the inclusion of the Emancipation Proclamation. But both Martin Luther's 95 Theses were included, followed directly by the Edict of Worms. Those documents were separated by only four years, but concerned the same topic, so not sure why Lincoln's famous speech was not considered important enough?

Fun Fact: Apparently our Founding Fathers were not terribly responsible. The original copy of the Constitution had vanished at some point after its signing and no one knew where it was until 1846! Also, it has only been on display since 1952; I didn't realize it was such a short amount of time when I visited in 8th grade on a class trip.

A little dirty laundry gets aired here in the form of which states ratified the 19th Amendment and when - you keep it classy Mississippi, not ratifying until 1984. I am not surprised that many southern states were among the last to ratify it.

The 15 year old girl in me who will forever love Titanic could not help but be wistfully glad to see the inclusion of Titanic telegrams included as important documents that changed the world. Movie references aside, it really was a wake-up call to these shipping companies that safety measures needed to change and improve to avoid another tragedy on such a scale.

There were several documents relating to World War I and II, which should come as no surprise. The Treaty of Versailles is always troubling to me, as it basically assured that there would be another war - how could there not be? Germany was forced to take all the responsible for the Great War, only for the fact that they were the last ones standing when the war came to an end. It should shock no one that the Nazis were able to rise and grab power so swiftly; the treaty was crushing and the reparations were impossible.

When I think of a document, I think of something of the non-fiction, factual variety. This is why I struggle with the inclusion of books - manuscripts - in this text. However, I feel that Anne Frank's diary certainly deserves its place. The importance of this diary can not be overstated and if you do not believe me, try standing in the Annex and imagining living in this cramped space with seven other people, the majority of whom you struggle regularly to even get along with. It is one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had in my life and could not imagine spending two years in that place. Anne's diary gave a voice to the millions who had theirs cruelly and violently taken away. I did NOT like, however, that Miep Gies was simply referred to as the 'family friend' who later saved Anne's diary after the family had been taken away. Even with the focus being on the document itself, surely Miep deserves much more credit than that.

There were so many documents that I found interesting, I could keep writing for a while. I will finish this up with reference to a certain CIA document, dated August 6th, 2001, that stated very clearly an attack on the US by bin Laden was imminent. Unfortunately, this memo was handed to one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of our country, while he was staying at his ranch in Texas. You know, one of his 406 vacation days taken in his presidency, or some absurd number that the GOP conveniently likes to forget whenever they complain about Obama playing a round of golf. As a follow-up, the Iraq War Resolution was included but I couldn't even bother to read such garbage.

So, overall, this really is 3.5 stars. There were so many documents that belonged here, but at times their importance almost felt diminished simply because often only the bare facts were included. It is by no means a be-all, end-all for any of these documents and while I can recommend reading this one, I would also suggest further reading on any of the documents that interest you.

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

I never knew how little I actually knew about Alexandria until I read this book. The first book I read of Pollard's was about Alfred the Great and I absolutely loved it, it was well-researched and beautifully written. The Rise and Fall of Alexandria is no different. It is truly so beautiful and lovely and depressing to read about this great center of academia, and THAT library, and after centuries of surviving, it's just gone. Based solely on the book's content, I would give this a solid four stars, but given my love of all things academic and library-ish, I had to go with five stars.

There are so many directions I might go with this review, so many things to discuss and dissect, to relate to our modern world, I don't think I would have the space or time to even attempt that. So instead I will just touch briefly on some of the things that were most intriguing to me.

The book begins where you would expect - with the founding of the city. There is a solid foundation, figuratively, to build the rest of the book on. We are given a background of Alexander and Ptolemy take-over after Alexander's death. As time went on, the library accumulated more and more knowledge, just imagine all those scrolls, all that history in one place.

"Alexandria was built on knowledge, and at its heart was not a treasury but the greatest library and museum of antiquity" (introduction).

But, Alexandria was so much more than just the library and museums, if that is even possible. Truth be told, that is really all I knew of the great city prior to picking this one up, aside from knowledge too of its famous founder - who did not live long enough to see the glorious crown jewel of his empire reach its full potential.

I found the medical information to be among the most interesting facts (I mean seriously, despite the plethora of mathematicians who lived and worked in Alexandria, we all should know by now how I feel about math. I think it is a testament to how enthralling Alexandria is that I was able to muster through those sections - I am NOT a number gal!) Given my love for all things medieval England/Ireland/Scotland, I was familiar with the idea of the four humors, but did not know much about what they represented or how this information was used. Here the author goes into a bit of detail when discussing medical practices that were developed in Alexandria, including the understanding of anatomy. The disturbing way they came about this knowledge was that doctors were given LIVE condemned prisoners to experiment and operate on, so...not all was perfect in the city.

One of the both high- and low-lights of this one for me was a whole chapter dedicated to Hypatia. It's a highlight because she is such a fascinating figure in history, and while there is not a lot of information known about her, there is enough that tells us she is certainly someone who was held in esteem. The low-light of course would be her cruel and violent death, and the fact that Cyril played such a role in it and that later he was even raised to sainthood. That is a travesty to me.

"With the death of Hypatia, her city also began to die. Philosophers were still to found in the city's streets and the 'Alexandrian school' continued quietly - ever more quietly - to refine pagan Neoplatonism" (page 280). 

Overall, I really loved this one. I can highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in non-fiction. Even if you do not know much about this time period, the people, this city, the library, it is a great starting point. It is also great for those who already have a knowledge of any of those topics, as the detail and research is quite evident.

And oh, what I would not give to see that library in its full glory.

"And what of the books? The fate of the libraries of Alexandria is one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. It would still be tragic, but at least convenient, if a single moment of their destruction could be found, a moment at which the curtain came down on the classical world and a new and darker age commenced" (page 281).

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Review:

Omaha Public Libraries offers this really great service that allows you to submit the genres of books you are interested in, and in turn a librarian will email you a list of potential books you might enjoy. That is how I found this title and I must say that I was not disappointed. It was not my favorite that was recommended, but I found many parts of the story very interesting - though perhaps not the parts the author intended to be the focus.

Prior to reading this one, I had not heard of Lucretius or his so-called blasphemous poem On the Nature of Things. What can I say, I am just not terribly interested in reading all the ancient poets. Perhaps someday, but for now they do not hold my interest.

In 1417 a man named Poggio Bracciolini discovered this poem in a dusty collection of old manuscripts in a monastery that was all but in accessible. Bracciolini himself was far more interesting to me than his actual discovery. Here was a man who has held one of the highest offices working for Pope John XXIII, who was completely greedy and a bad guy, and when that position is lost when Pope John XXIII loses his position, he sets off in search of the ancient manuscripts. Apparently this was a big thing - these guys set of for these random, remote monasteries to see what they could find, if there were hidden gems being hidden away by the monks who themselves may not be fully aware of the ancient texts in their possession. Bracciolini is one of many men who embarked on journeys like these, and I found that far more interesting than the poem itself or what Greenblatt purports it to have done.

In short, On the Nature of Things was full of ideas that the church considered dangerous and heretical, false claims made by pagans. Lucretius' poem contends that there are no gods who tend to our universe, that they don't care what we are doing and our offerings/prayers do not entice them to intervene, virtue and pleasure go together, and that everything in the universe is made up of these small particles that collide and swerve in new directions. As one can see, this would be a big time blow to the Catholic Church at the time when they were already combating what they considered heresy from those who took issue with the practices within the Church.

Something else I appreciated from the book was the descriptions of how fragile these ancient manuscripts were - common sense yes, but I did not know the book worms were actual wormy things that ate books. Makes total sense to me now why we call people who devour books quickly 'bookworms'. Eleanor and I definitely fit that description! The work necessary to even put these books together to begin with is nothing short of a miracle. Thank goodness for the invention of the printing press. Gutenberg, you are The Man.

Greenblatt contends that this is 'when the world became modern', but my issue is simply that he does not tie the two together nearly as succinctly as he might have. He weaves the story well but the end is still kind of loose and it not nearly as satisfying as I expected. The vagueness of how it made the world modern, Lucretius and his atheism, just not wrapped up in a way that leaves the reader with a concrete base in which to put it all together.

The Oxford Illustrated History of Roman Britain

Peter Salway

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

This was quite an endeavor. I thoroughly enjoy all things British (until James VI/I has to go an die), so this was a no-brainer for me to pick up, despite its age (my edition published in 1993, but the first edition came out in 1981). This is 500+ pages of everything you would ever want to know about Roman Britain and everything we could possibly know up to that point. Of course there have been further discoveries made in the last 22 years, but this one is still very, very comprehensive.

I have always had good luck with the Oxford University Press books. I've never met one that I couldn't read quickly. This brick, however, presented my first challenge. Part of the reason for the slow-going is that I am far more interested in Roman Britain than Ancient Rome, and the two are naturally very connected, seeing as how you couldn't have the one I am interested in without the one I am less interested in. But so many things happening all over the Roman Empire had a direct impact on Roman Britain, primarily in regards to the Roman army and taking soldiers off the island when needed to quell outbreaks elsewhere - which directly led to the fall of Roman control.

Another reason for my slow-going could also be partly due to the fact that the writing was kind of dry at times. It just was not very exciting or inciting me to turn the pages very quickly - except for the photographs and maps. There are a plethora of both included (this being the 'illustrated' history and all) and I often found many of those to be more interesting than the writing itself. I don't think this is totally the fault of the author, as this is a huge section of time to take on, especially for a time period where we don't have a lot of contemporary accounts. We have the accounts by Roman citizens living on the Continent and in Rome itself, but far fewer from those living on the island of Britain.

This leads to my last sort-of disappointment. While the focus was of course Roman Britain and how it functioned as property of the Roman Empire, I was looking for more attention paid to the indigenous population. As always, Boudica gets her (well-deserved) moment in the sun, even if the facts are at best fleeting. (As an aside, how can one not admire this warrior queen who avenged her daughters in such a awesomely powerful way? It makes her later defeat that much more tragic. I tell Eleanor all the time she is lucky I discovered Eleanor of Aquitaine before I discovered this mighty Iceni queen, or her name might have been VERY VERY different!) I would have liked to see more focus on the people who the Romans conquered, and how profoundly their lives were changed.

Over all, this is a highly comprehensive look at the island of Britain during its time as part of the Roman Empire. There are several helpful maps, floor plans, and photographs. Highly recommended for those with a deep interested in the subject, though it might be a bit overwhelming for those with no background knowledge or just a passing interest.

As always, here are a few photos in connection with my own contact with Roman Britain - Mom and I at the Roman baths at Bath in 2009:


Looking down from the balcony into the main bath. The spring is in the upper right corner (Bath, 2009)


Standing my the spring, lower left, looking out to the main bath (Bath, 2009)

Roman Britain: Outpost of the Empire

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

Though the text is a bit dated (1979), it still contains a wealth of information, photos and maps. I have yet to find a book put out by Thames and Hudson that I have not enjoyed. Certainly I would recommend it still today, despite being 30+ years old. I find this time period so fascinating, more so in relation to it being Roman Britain specifically - not just regarding the Roman aspect. 

My only wish is that at least some of the photographs might have been in color - though it is possible that updated texts would have color photography. And, of course, I have my own photos of the Roman Baths in Bath, which Mom and I visited in 2009 as part of our UK trip. It was so amazing to see these structures that have existed for almost 2,000 years. That these ruins have survived as much as they have continues to amaze me and the preservation work that has gone into this place is wonderful. I can't wait to go back to the UK and see other remains from this ancient age (Hadrian's Wall, I'm lookin' at you!) The following photos were taken either by or my mom in Bath in November of 2009 and belong to us:

The Roman Baths; in the foreground to left is where the spring flows into the bath. It takes thousands of years (I think 10,000, but I am not positive) for the water cycle to complete. (Bath, 2009)

Mom and I (Bath, 2009)

The Roman Baths (Bath, 2009)

Remains of the hypocaust used for heating (Bath, 2009)

The bath lit up as dusk falls (Bath, 2009)

From Pompeii: The Afterlife of a Roman Town

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

First I have to say that the cover is perfect, and is what caught my attention right away. I am a firm believer in the importance of cover art and this was just too beautiful and sad to pass up. I am especially fond of black and white photos, particularly when modern photos are taken this way (which does kind of sound strange to say since Pompeii is anything but modern in itself). Plus, I am a sucker for anything related to Vesuvius and Pompeii, so there's that too.

Unfortunately, I should have read the inside flap to get a bit more info about what the book was actually about. I was looking more for a text related to "life" in Pompeii since the eruption, primarily a focus on the excavation work that has been done in the last few decades. Instead, this was more a social history of how actors, writers, artists, and various others have experienced the ruins of this once-thriving city. It doesn't make it a bad book by any means, it just was not what I thought it would be or what I was looking for.

I particularly enjoyed the last chapter - or perhaps enjoyed is the wrong word, since it related much to how Pompeii is neglected and slowly being eroded and destroyed by all manners of natural means and otherwise. But I enjoyed it because the focus was Pompeii itself, a city I very much would like to see one day. I only hope it still exists when I get the chance.

The idea of Vesuvius erupting again is not something to be dismissed lightly and I found the information on the evacuation process interesting. As one can imagine, this will not be an easy task to evacuate the 3.5 million people living in the area. Still, these people know the risks, and many have lived on the same land as their ancestors, some of the families going back several generations. It would not be easy to just leave all that behind.

In the end, recommended for those who are interested more in a cultural history of the site since 79 AD. For those looking more for a book with a archaeological focus, you could pass on this one.

The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

This is a strange book and that makes it difficult to review in the classical sense. There is a wealth of information in general and I found that information very interesting. It was hard to follow at certain times in that the book is arranged by topic instead of chronologically, but overall was not a hindrance. My main issue comes from the chapters themselves, where we start out on the topic give in the chapter title and then leaps and bounds later, we land on entirely different topics. Some were much more tightly woven together than others, which leaves you sometimes with the sense of having skipped pages, when in fact you did not.

Despite that issue, I'd still recommend giving this one a chance. As I said, there's a ton of interesting info - perhaps just not quite all the info you're expecting.

The Battle That Stopped Rome

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

Normally I'm bored to tears when it comes to books about the Roman military, though I definitely enjoy the daily life aspects. Still, this was an informative read about a incredibly important battle that few people actually know about. There were a few overlapping sections that became repetitive, but overall it was an easy read. Though there's not a whole lot of information about this battle, Wells' does a decent job with what he has to work with. He provides background information in the years leading up to this complete decimation of three well-trained, highly-skilled Roman legions - who never stood a chance, trying to fend off a surprise attack in an unfamiliar environment against a diverse population they didn't understand.

Additionally:
Even a few days later, I am still thinking about this book. It was well-written and a surprisingly fast read, despite the subject matter. Perhaps it is just me, but I find a lot of work about Ancient Rome to be tedious when it comes specifically to military. I am not interested in this genre, whether it is modern or ancient. This book is important though, as it covers multiple aspects of this specific battle and how this came to be the borders of ancient Roman power. I find the Germanic peoples fascinating in their own right and only wish they'd have written their own histories, as it would be much better to see the victories and defeats through their own eyes, instead of only having Rome's perspective. They were neither accurate nor kind the majority of the time.

The Complete Pompeii

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

I absolutely adore this book and must have a copy for my very own.

If the burning desire to see these magnificent ruins did not already exist in my heart, this book certainly would have ignited it. Beautiful illustrations - both theoretical reconstructions and photographs of the site today, fill the pages. It truly is a complete picture of life in Pompeii, as much as we can know anyway - so much will remain a mystery. Additionally, the author offers travel advice and highlights specific points of interest upon visiting. I can't even imagine what it would be like to stand on a street in Pompeii and see Vesuvius looming beyond the city walls, but it's an experience I can't wait to have

The End of Empire: Attila the Hun and the Fall of Rome

Author: Christopher Kelly

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

The title can certainly be a bit misleading, but the problem with tackling a subject like Attila is the lack of recorded history of the Huns. The entire first half of the book was about the Roman empire in the generation before Attila lead his people. Even the second half of the book that actually focused on Attila is shaky at best, given that the information comes from a Roman historian - though he appears far less biased than those who were content to simply label Attila as a barbarian and leave it at that. Decent read, but sluggish in some places. Not really anything new to add to what is already known.