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Mathematics in Ancient Egypt: A Contextual History
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Alex Criddle

Mathematics in Ancient Egypt: A Contextual History

Mathematics in Ancient Egypt traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the 4th millennium BC to the end of the Pharaonic Period in Greco-Roman times. Imhausen uses mathematical texts that have been discovered, documents...
Roman Historiography: An Introduction to its Basic Aspects and Development
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Caleb Curry

Roman Historiography: An Introduction to its Basic Aspects and Development

We know the big names - Cicero, Diodorus, Caesar, Livy - but we forget how periods in Rome's history were recorded by multiple people, mostly at the same time. Many times history books were a not just a narrative but a composed book of first-hand...
Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Christopher Berg

Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity

J. E. Lendon in his book, Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity, uses Greek and Roman culture to explain fundamental changes in the conduct of war. Lendon persuasively argues that competition and an obsession with...
The Food of Oman: Recipes and Stories from the Gateway to Arabia
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by James Blake Wiener

The Food of Oman: Recipes and Stories from the Gateway to Arabia

While most people think of Middle Eastern cuisine, images of “Persian,” “Turkish,” or “Lebanese” food immediately come to thought. Set between the crossroads of East Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Spice Islands, the Sultanate...
Hadrian's Wall: Everyday Life on a Roman Frontier
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Jessica Settergren

Hadrian's Wall: Everyday Life on a Roman Frontier

Patricia Southern's writing breathes wit and entertainment into her treatment of Hadrian's Wall. Hadrian's Wall: Everyday Life on a Roman Frontier could easily have been yet another dry interpretation of the archaeological and historical...
Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by William Brown

Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction

Ancient Assyria: A Very Short Introduction provides an incredibly succinct and valuable introduction to ancient Assyria. At 112 pages of readable content, it is easily accessible to the general public, with not too many technical terms or...
Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by James Blake Wiener

Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestral Story

Blood of the Celts: The New Ancestry Story, by Jean Manco, a building historian and the author of Ancestral Journeys: The Peopling of Europe from the First Ventures to the Vikings, traces the complex story of the Celtic peoples through history...
The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Christopher Berg

The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe

Patrick Geary is alarmed by the rapid progression of nationalist movements in Europe and the popular support such movements receive. Historians bear the brunt of his displeasure because they are responsible, in his mind, for the re-emergence...
The Berthouville Silver Treasure and Roman Luxury
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by James Blake Wiener

The Berthouville Silver Treasure and Roman Luxury

In the 1830s, a French farmer in Normandy uncovered a hoard of ancient Roman objects – primarily cast in silver, weighing 55 pounds (25 kilograms). The Berthouville Silver Treasure and Roman Luxury, which accompanies the Getty Museum's 2015...
Philippines Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by James Blake Wiener

Philippines Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms

Published on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition of "Philippine Gold: Treasures of Forgotten Kingdoms", organized by the Asia Society, New York and the Ayala Museum in the Philippines in 2015, this eponymous exhibition catalogue...
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