Just Finished Reading: The Last Assassin – The Hunt For the Killers of Julius Caesar by Peter Stothard (FP: 2020) [246pp] 

One of the things that has long fascinated me in my reading of History is what happened afterwards – after the liner sank, after the bomb was dropped, after the battle was won (or lost) and after the assassins had suceeded (or failed). THEN what happened? Unfortunately in my experience the 'afterwards' part is all too often relegated to a few pages of epilogue (if you're lucky) as the majority of the book is focused on the events that led TOO the event and then the event itself. For me that's often 2/3 of a job done. Not so here. 

Here we spend a handful of pages going over the fact that JC crossed the Rubicon (where the phrase comes from of course) and then, eventually, had himself appointed as 'Dictator for Life' rather than accepting the short-term elected position that had gone before. However, the Romans were generally very fond of their Republic and had no intention of suffering under a King and some at least decided to remove that option permanantly (the idea of a No Kings Day protest was no doubt considered either too difficult to organise or would have taken too long). The solution was to put the knife in on the Ides of March.  

The interesting thing I found here was the fact that the 'conspiracy' seemed to be more open than it really should have been – although SOME effort was taken not to involve any of Caesar's actual friends or supporters – and yet no one uncovered it or tried to stop it. The warnings from sooth sayers were characteristically ignored by JC himself as unfounded. The other thing that I was previously unaware of was that the assassins themselves – some 18 in number – had as many reasons for killing him as the toga's they wore to the event. A few were indeed dead set againgst being ruled by a King, but others had personal grudges against the man himself and a few simply expected to profit from the murder. The thing they most expected to happen once the blood was washed off the marble (you have NO idea how difficult that is) was that they would be lauded as heroes. They were wrong, VERY wrong. 

The major thing they wanted to avoid – apart from their own deaths – was a Civil War as JC's potential replacements fought over the vacant throne. Yet, almost immediately (once the initial shock had passed) this is exactly what happened as JC's grandnephew Gaius Octavius (later Augustus) – who Caesar had adopted as his son and successor – and JC's friend Marc Anthony began manouvering for position and finally coming to blows. Along the way, where opportunity or circumstance allowed Octavius had each and every named assassin hunted down and killed. The process took years but Octavius was determined that no one should prosper (or indeed drawer breath) after being involved in his adopted fathers death. So much so that those who bragged about being involved – despite evidence to the contrary – and many of the assassins associates were executed wherever they were found across the empire. 

This definitely filled a hole in my knowledge of Roman history. I knew some of the story, a few of the highlights, and some of the main players but reading this detailed and well written account showed me just how much I DIDN'T know. Although it took me a little while to get into, this was a very imformative and indeed gripping look at one of THE major events in Roman and indeed European history. Recommended.   

Just Finished Reading: 24 Hours in Ancient Rome – A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Philip Matyszak (FP: 2017) [253pp] 

History is written by the victors and, by and large, historical documents are written by (and about) the rich, powerful and educated. So, its unsurprising that most – but not all – historical writing centres on the rich and shameless. The fact that this book focuses on people at street level – in the main – therefore made this doubly interesting. 

Going through a typical day, hour by hour, the author takes slices of the lives of night watchmen, prostitutes, slaves on their way to market to buy food, bakers producing the daily bread for the city, farmers bringing in their crops to feed the hungry mob, gladiators ‘moonlighting’ as bodyguards and leg-breakers, Vestal virgins gathering water from a sacred well, lawyers offering advice to busy magistrates and so on... 

My favourite insight was during a dinner party given by the wife of an up-and-coming merchant. One of his guests, invited because of his entertaining story-telling ability and who is only apparently well-travelled, is roundly ridiculed by a spice trader who has indeed been all over the Mediterranean and even as far east as the west coast of India in his search for the much sort after and very profitable condiment pepper. It is all too often assumed that ancient peoples stayed close to home and inevitably knew little or nothing of the world much beyond their borders. Nothing could be further from the truth. Certainly not everyone travelled long distances, but a surprising number did so – either for conquest (I’m looking at YOU Alexander), pleasure, exploration or trade. Rome traded with half the world and a great deal of its silver ended up in India and points east in its never-ending search for spices. Romans, and indeed Greeks, travelled FAR beyond the Mediterranean basin to the far north of Europe and Britain, beyond Egypt into the Middle East and, as did the spice trader here to India. They knew about China and were certain that the world was much bigger than the Empire. European coins as well as European genes spread across the known and the ‘unknown’ world. 

This was a fast, fun and informative read. It was nice to step out of the palace and into the street (but watch where you walk and what you step in), to see the markets, schools and law courts, to hear the traders shout their wares and smell the cooking in people's houses. Recommended if you have an interest in the Ancient World or Rome in particular.    

Just Finished Reading: Priests De La Resistance! - The Loose Cannons Who Fought Fascism in the 20th Century by Fergus Butler-Gallie (FP: 2019) [260pp] 

To be honest it was difficult to resist a book with a pun both in the title AND the sub-title. No doubt it helped that the book also covered an odd aspect of WW2 and I’m always looking for the odd nooks and crannies of that particular conflict. I’ve long been interested in resistance movements across the globe and across time with a particular focus on the French resistance in particular. My reading, up to this point, has looked at the political aspects of this resistance especially focusing on the Communists and local Nationalist groups in various European countries. This was something quite different looking instead at the religious (exclusively Christian here) side of things. 

Looking at around 15 examples (all but 2 from occupied Europe during WW2) this was a fascinating, uplifting, harrowing and sometimes honestly funny look at some of the priests, nuns and other religious characters who put everything on the line to fight Fascism. Sadly (showing my lack of knowledge in this area) the vast majority of the people mentioned where completely unknown to me. The only one I recognised was Dietrich Bonhoeffer – not a name easily forgotten once discovered. Naturally one of the things I love about books like this is that they introduce me too a whole new side of things and to fascinating people of which I was previously ignorant. Being an ‘odd-ball’ myself (although generally I don’t think of *myself* that way) I was delighted to see just how ‘odd’ this cast of characters was. I think almost without exception they were outliers in their own faith organisations and all too often barely tolerated by their ecclesiastical hierarchy. Honestly, I liked them instantly! But it didn’t surprise me that someone who was a constant thorn in the side of their bishops or others above them was equally a thorn in the side (and often much more) to the Fascist authorities who tried to control them. Above all else it was their faith that not only sustained them through the years of Occupation but it was their faith that drove their opposition to Fascist ideology and the practical effects of it – from deportation of Jewish populations to the general oppression of the local population. 

Reading these potted biographies its difficult not to be uplifted by their efforts (often valuable, life-saving, inspirational) to fight a very real evil in their midst. I also found it difficult not only to admire these men and women who put their lives a distant second to doing the right thing but to love them for what they did. They were probably ‘difficult’ people in a whole host of ways but I do think they would have been fun – lovely provocative fun – to have in your community and most especially to know them or, if you were very lucky, to be friends with them. Told with a wonderful style I really enjoyed reading about a whole host of people that shouldn’t really be allowed to fade into historic obscurity. Definitely recommended and I’ll be looking out for the authors previous work on the English clergy. 

Just Finished Reading: Primitive Rebels by Eric Hobsbawm (FP: 1959) [231pp]

Covering (largely) pre-industrial, or at least pre-proletariat, rumblings of protest in Europe this is an interesting but often dry academic look at groups who used protest and violence to resist their ‘masters’. The use of ‘primitive’ here is used politically to denote a time before widespread identification with the idea of a Working Class or, in some cases, before the Working Class itself came into existence. The author focuses on rural rather than urban rebels – with one minor exception in Italy – who were more often coalesced around a village identity rather than a class one.

Ranging from social banditry, Mafia (not exactly what you would expect from movies about the 1920’s and 30’s in the US!), Anarchists in Spanish Andalusia, and Italian peasant communists – before moving onto urban mobs – the author covers a lot of unfamiliar (at least to me!) ground to show an often ignored or understudied part of Europe’s rural past. It was, at you might imagine, far from the idyllic pastoral myth that we are so used to.

Although this was a very short work it did take me a few days to work through it. It was, as I’ve mentioned, both rather dry and unfamiliar which didn’t help the narrative flow very well or very fast. Interesting at times but one for the more academically inclined rather than the casual reader.

Just Finished Reading: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age by Peter Green (FP: 2007) [184pp] 

It was, he knew, his destiny. His military campaigns would not only overshadow those of his father but would inscribe his name deep into history like no one before him or since. What Alexander cared less about was how, or indeed if, his empire continued without him. Creation was his task, to conquer lands that his ancestors or contemporaries had barely been aware of. This he did but did not live to see the greatest empire the world has ever seen fall into infighting almost before his body was cold. Indeed, one of his own generals stole his body enroute to Macedonia and had it interred with great ceremony in Alexandria on the Nile. In the decades that followed fighting broke out between the Alexander’s rival captains for control of parts of the empire he left behind. None was individually capable of holding anything but pieces and soon the parts became mini-empires in their own regard. The most stable of them over the coming centuries was the Ptolemy Dynesty in Egypt. Incredibly rich and, by extension, incredibly powerful Ptolemy and his decedents became one of the power centres of the whole Mediterranean world. The other players were Alexander’s home country of Macedonia (and greater Greece), Carthage and the upstart Roman Republic. Each vied for power and control and, at least at first, the Romans were largely ignored which allowed them to consolidate their position on the Italian peninsula and to eject all other threats to their domination there. With the Hellenes still very much in control of the eastern Mediterranean it was only a matter of time before they came into conflict with Roman ambition. Splintered into rival factions and susceptible of being played off against each other – with Roman assistance – the Romans managed to win several encounters and forge strong alliances with Greek communities.  

But it was with the Punic Wars that Rome became a powerhouse in the region. Once Carthage had been defeated it was time to turn east again and to subsume Greece into the Roman sphere of influence after it was discovered that the Greeks had sought to exploit Rome’s troubles in North Africa and Spain. Once Greece was largely absorbed (or at least no longer a credible threat) Rome set about a period of consolidation leaving the last remaining Hellene area – Egypt – to its own devices. The Egyptians, know which way the sand was blowing at this point, offered friendly relations and support. Naturally having a very powerful ‘associative power’ so close was both a danger and an opportunity. Unfortunately, it was an opportunity for those looking to take power in the Republic and it wasn’t long before such a person – Marc Antony – made his move against the Republic using Egypt and the Ptolemy Dynesty as his powerbase. In a war between Egypt and Rome only one could emerge victorious. We all know who that was and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31BC ended the Hellenistic Age and ushered into existence the Roman Empire. 

Despite its short length this interesting book crammed a LOT of detail into the centuries long Hellenistic Age begun by Alexander and ended by Rome. Naturally the author could only really cover the grand sweep of ancient history with short bursts of more detailed explanation. If you are unfamiliar with the period or are looking for an overview and ideas for further reading this is definitely the book for you. I shall be looking to cover much more of this period in future reading. Recommended.  

Just Finished Reading: Dark Continent – Europe’s Twentieth Century by Mark Mazower (FP: 1998)

As you can no doubt imagine, covering a goodly chunk of a continent over around a hundred years of its history in a shade over 400 pages is going to look at trends more than details and incidents of significance rather than detailed narratives. This is the case with this somewhat dense but fascinating volume. Starting with the aftermath of the First World War the author hits the highlights of the Soviet Revolution and the chaos in the collapsing Austro-Hungarian Empire and the defeated Germany. With boundaries redrawn and whole ‘new’ nations created (or recreated) – to say nothing of internal fighting and civil war – mass migrations took place the likes of which the world had not seen before and would not experience again until the end of the Second World War. As reconstruction moved ahead and Reparations became ever more problematic the western democracies struggled and sometimes failed to address the needs and the demands of their populations. Both Italy and, a decade or so later, Germany abandoned democracy altogether in an attempt to redress grievances arising directly from the First World War. Concentrating at times on Germany, Russia, France and Italy the author highlighted the various attempts to reshape the world, or at least their small part of it, in their image – and how each in turn largely failed in their endeavours. With Reconstruction as the major issue arising from World War Two, the US had learnt its lesson from the first war and instituted the Marshall Plan both to revive/reinvigorate the European economy (and not insignificantly bolster its own after the boom years of the war) and as a direct counter to the Soviet threat. This treat also assisted in the growing integration of Europe firstly as an economic entity and then, increasingly, as a political one. It had been a long time coming but the idea of a European Union or even a United States of Europe had been seriously talked about – at least in some quarters – since the 1920’s.

This was at times a dense read. Even without more than a cursory look at the world wars themselves the author still had a lot of ground to cover. But cover it he did and cover it very well indeed. This is much more than a brief overview of the western end of a continental mass. This is looking over broad flowing rivers and then diving down into the depths to discover both how the rivers flowed and what caused them to periodically change their course. Some time was spent of islands in the stream and where rivers met, sometimes almost imperceptive and at other times in great cataracts or waterfalls. Occasionally individual fish where pulled out and examined before being released back into their natural environment – but you get the point before my allusions to the flow of historical narrative moves too far into the strained and farcical. Although comparatively short – considering the subject matter and scope – this was a very accomplished work that would reward repeated reading to tease out a fuller understanding of the historical events that shaped Europe. Definitely recommended but be prepared to give it the time and effort it deserves.

Just Finished Reading: The Deluge – The Great War and the Remaking of Global Order (1916-1931) by Adam Tooze (FP: 2014)

No doubt it was offered with the very best of intentions however naïve. But all the same the idea was like political acid – self-determination. Never fully explained or even understood it meant many things to many people and that, at its heart, was the problem. Throughout Europe and the wider world the idea of the right to and expectation of self-determination worked its magic helping to break up old empires and create countries out of whole cloth. It encouraged people’s, previously disenfranchised, to rise up against their governments to be allowed their own homeland and equal rights in the eyes of the law, and it brought democracy where none had previously existed. The Genie was very much out of the bottle and no one, even at gun point, was going to put it back in – although some would try very hard indeed.

Of course principles are easy to state, safely between two oceans with little or nothing to lose by the statement. Living up to the same principles when they hit the hard reality of international politics was something else. The easy part was returning Alsace-Lorraine to France (despite the number of ethnic Germans living there). The harder part was countries like Poland which had to be carved out of the pre-existing territories of Germany, Russia and others. Most especially difficult was the provision of natural resources and, more importantly, access to the sea at Danzig. No self-determination there just hard economics, realpolitik and hard bargaining. Even those on the ground could see that the Polish solution was storing up problems for the future. But that was for the newly formed League of Nations to resolve or at least that was the idea before it was effectively emasculated by its Byzantine internal set of rules in an attempt to appear fairer than it in fact was as well the aspect that America never took up its place at the table to spare any future European entanglements.

As a forward looking people the Americans – in the public guise of President Wilson – had little interest in Europe’s Imperial past. They did have an interest in the world’s economic future, unrestricted access to new markets, an open seas policy enforced by a navy at least the equal of Britain’s and the speedy recovery of war debt accrued by the Entente powers. Almost as important in many eyes was the restriction of Japanese expansionism within China and throughout Asia. Not only did the US consider the Pacific to be within their sphere of influence but they thought of the Japanese themselves with a mixture of suspicion and contempt. The US policy towards China itself was hardly coherent and managed to send mixed signals to both the Japanese and Chinese authorities which did little to help stabilise that chaotic region.

At the centre of everything were two countries fighting in many ways for their very existence – Germany and Russia. Germany was the vanquished foe trying to recover from the heavy blow of defeat and the heavier blow of post-Versailles reparations. Stumbling from government to government, fighting elements from both the hard-left and the hard-right, it had an uncertain future. Russia meanwhile was trying to decide between being a failed state or a pariah state. After the 1917 revolution, the declaration of a separate peace with Germany and a descent into years of Civil War the newly formed Soviet Union, birthed in a sea of blood, began to take its place on the world stage. Contained for now by the western powers it still had the capacity, real or imagined, to infect the rest of the world with the ideas of universal Communism. It was in many ways a useful bogeyman.

In this truly formidably impressive work the global chaos caused by 5 years of war, the likes of which had never been seen before, is laid out for all to see and the echoes of this great conflict are followed through as they impacted countries as diverse as Japan and Ukraine. Despite its world spanning reach and its 15 year timeline the detail presented between these 500+ pages is awe inspiring. It is by no means an easy read but the effort is amply rewarded and then some. Not only does the author clearly explain exactly the damage – political, economic and in a real sense moral – caused by the war but he also (again very clearly) shows how this often unresolved and unaddressed damage significantly facilitated an even greater disaster a mere two decades later. The author rightly points out that although World War Two was not the inevitable result of its predecessor the fact that systemic problems in the world system after 1918 were not addressed – even when known about and warned about – meant that any realistic options for peace were increasingly closed off between then and 1939. This is an important work and a must read for anyone who wants to understand exactly how we got here. I can think of much worse places to start if you’re willing to put the time and brain effort into it. Highly recommended. 

Just Finished Reading: The Holy Roman Empire – A Very Short Introduction by Joachim Whaley (FP: 2018)

Even hundreds of years after The Fall it was impossible to ignore the Roman Empire. With Western Europe a patchwork quilt of kingships and tribal areas in a state of almost constant conflict it was hard to ignore anyone who aim at some kind of unification. Many tried and many failed until around 800AD with the triumph of Charlemagne. Holding together an area around present day Eastern France and into Germany he managed to impose peace and return a significant piece of Europe to some kind of settled and civilised status. But such things tended to last as long as their ruler and when Charlemagne died the empire he created divided into three each ruled by a son. Inevitably such a divided kingdom could not last and war broke out. Over the next 1000 years until the Holy Roman Empire dissolved itself in 1806 a significant portion of central Europe – mostly centred on Germany, Austria and northern Italy – remained under the control of the Holy Roman Emperors who were generally elected from a small number of German families and often crowned by the Pope of the time. On rare occasions – for example when multiple Popes (up to three for one short period) fought over who would crown which imperial wannabee or the powerful Electors couldn’t make up their minds or find anyone suitable – the Empire soldiered on without an Emperor at the helm but few seemed to mind or notice. But almost whatever the situation the Holy Roman Empire was a force to be reckoned with – especially when the disparate elements could agree on a common policy, a common leader or a common enemy (like the Turks). Any history of Europe in general or either Germany or Italy in particular cannot ignore the place and role of the Holy Roman Empire as a significant formative influence.

The Holy Roman Empire was something I had come across on multiple occasions whenever I dipped into European history so I know of it but not all that much about it. Although I’m sure that the author tried his best it’s still rather difficult to produce even an overview of 1000 years of history in less than 130 pages. Most of the time I was drowning in names and places (mostly German) that had little resonance with me. It was only after the half way mark that my interest perked up with the Thirty Years War and beyond. Before that I was having serious flashbacks to Game of Thrones except for the dragons and White Walkers. As a basic introduction this was fine if a bit dull in places. I think my future reading on the regions in question will generally be a bit more focused on the last 2-300 years rather on the last 1000. We’ll see where that leads in future. If you’re looking for somewhere to start researching the Holy Roman Empire this isn’t a bad place.   

Just Finished Reading: The Roman Empire – A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Kelly (FP: 2006)

If you asked the average person to name an empire chances are they’ve either name the British or the Roman one. The Roman Empire – the focus here was mainly on the Western bit – at its height covered the entire Mediterranean region, up to the Scottish border in the north, France, Spain and a good chunk of Germany, Egypt and points East, Greece and beyond. No wonder its inhabitants thought they controlled ‘the known world’. Certainly nothing like it had been seen in Europe before (or for long afterwards).

Naturally much has been written about the Romans and the author was very conscious of not following down that, largely chronological, route. His approach was a rather different one looking at how the empire began and grew to the extent it did (conquest pretty much), what it meant for both Romans and their enemies to have and to use imperial power, how elites in the occupied territories colluded with the Empire for good reasons – resistance to Rome was shown again and again until the fall to be essentially futile. A revolt against Rome was a suicidal proposition as tribes, peoples and nations found to their cost. He then looked at how the Empire had been treated throughout history by scholars from Roman commentators themselves to the Middle Ages and on to today where arguments still rage about Roman brutality and their civilising mission (purely on Roman terms of course). Naturally the rise of Christianity cannot be ignored as it is inexorably tied to the Roman Empire and its response to a subversive sect in its midst. Then there is the lived experience in the Empire where the author probably most surprised me – I’m no expert on all things Roman but did think I had a pretty good handle on things – as it seems that most of my mental image of Rome comes from (generally historically inaccurate) movies. For one thing – not unlike ‘3rd World’ countries in the all too recent past – infant mortality was extremely high which resulted in the average age of Roman citizens to be 25. What’s more about 60% of Romans at age 17 served in the military and not just for a 2 year tour. Military spending in the Empire was staggering. It really was a fully militarised society with spending being the equivalent of 10 times the present US military expenditure. Now considering the US outspends the next 30 countries combined you can imagine the cost of running the Roman military machine. Another interesting fact the author brought to my attention was the lack of anything like a Civil Service. For an imperial population of 60 million the Empire had around 10,000 bureaucrats to run things. The UK with a similar population has about 500,000 bureaucrats.

Finally (naturally) the author ended with Rome’s representation in movies and print as well its cultural highlights (and low lights) being presented in everything from bubble bath to boxer shorts. Images and echoes of Rome are everywhere from our language, laws, architecture, forms of government, philosophy, religion and much else besides. Rome is all things to all people and still 2,000 years after it fell resounds in western culture probably unlike anything else. This is a fascinating little book full of interesting aspects of the Empire that is either loved or reviled but hardly ever ignored. Definitely recommended for a quick and fun read.

Just Finished Reading: The Vanquished – Why the First World War Failed to End, 1917-1923 by Robert Gerwarth (FP: 2016)

For those who had been there and had been fortunate enough to leave again it was known as the most dangerous place on Earth – Eastern Europe between 1917 and 1923. Whilst the victorious Powers of France, England and the USA returned to a state close enough to normal (or at least what passed for normal after 5 years of bloody conflict) those on the losing side as well as Italy with its “mutilated victory” descended into an era of political strife, uncertainty and civil war. With the great land Empires torn apart under the principle of ‘self-determination’ (largely undefined or even undefinable) the recently created and largely artificial new ‘nations’ attempted to solidify around a single ethnicity, culture or religion in a definable, defendable and rationale space – whilst often in direct conflict with their neigbours doing exactly the same thing. A few countries were relatively lucky with a historically agreed (and agreeable) border and a simple ethnic mix. Others, substantially less lucky, had borders than no army could defend and an ethnic mix so complex and so deeply historical that the locals themselves could not answer the simplest questions posed to them in plebiscites arranged in Paris. Families, neighbours, friends were torn asunder depending on church affiliation, accent or traditional dress. Before the ink was dry and the dust had time to settle the fighting started and before long the fighting was over something more than where a line was drawn on a map but who a people were and what kind of future – if any – they had in the new reality. Then it got nasty. Very nasty.

Across Russia revolution turned to Civil War, in Germany governments tottered on the edge of dissolution as Left fought Right in street battles and targeted political assassinations, in the Balkans where it all started a wave of ethnic ‘cleansing’ sept across the region resulting in mass expulsions and mass starvation. Further East in the remnants of the collapsing Ottoman Empire whilst the French and the British carved up vast areas to satisfy their imperial ambitions (and ignored by the anti-imperialist Americans) new forces arose to challenge the western narrative assumptions and began to fight back first against the victorious allies and then against the invading Greeks ending in the massacres of Smyrna as allied warships stood at anchor and did precisely nothing. The smug assertion that the war had ended in November 1918 was not even a sick joke to those in the East. They had forgotten how to laugh long before the war to end wars supposedly came to an end with a meaningless armistice ignored everywhere outside of the victorious powers. As the fighting rumbled on and countless lives were lost in massacre, famine, plague and political assassination the ground was being laid for an even greater conflict to come. One where the revolution stated in St Petersburg would engulf the world, were Germany would be vindicated and gain her rightful place in the world, where Italy would finally be given the empire and respect they deserved and where Japan would no longer be looked upon as inferior, foreign and sub-human.

Told with devastating frankness and with few punches pulled this is an eye-opening account of how the First World War most certainly did NOT end for the majority of Europeans (and beyond) in 1918 something I for one naively believed until fairly recently. The armistice may have stopped western armies fighting the central powers but it most certainly did not stop the fighting and destruction over huge tracks of land. It was not until a series of treaties signed in 1922 and 1923 that much of the fighting stopped simply because by then most of the survivors had, at least temporarily, managed to acquire most of what they wanted. A series of open sores across the world would need to be addressed by the new League of Nations once stability had been achieved which it had by 1926. Now, if only the nascent economic growth could be maintained for the next 10 years the world might have a chance to recover from its greatest calamity….. Whilst only 267 pages long this is still a heavy book (though by no means heavy going). I did feel more than once that I was wading through rivers of blood rather through words on a page but I guess that was the point. Vast in geographical scope it gives you an invaluable look at the disaster of World War One and why a mere 20 years later the world slipped into the Second World War. Unmissable for anyone interested in the end of one war, the beginning of the next and the often ignored turbulence in-between…. and for those who want more there’s a very impressive 62 page bibliography! Highly recommended to all 20th Century history buffs. 

Just Finished Reading: The Garments of Court and Palace – Machiavelli and the World that He Made by Philip Bobbit (FP: 2013)

Since his works – most especially The Prince – were published in the 16th Century the political theories of Niccolo Machiavelli have been in print ever since. Translated into a host of languages, taught in universities across the globe and treated both as valued assistant and the very spawn of Satan one thing cannot be argued – that this Renaissance figure has had a massive impact on the western world. This is all the more surprising, says the author, as not only have few people read his works but fewer still have understood them.

The Prince – his most recognised work – has, in particular, been misinterpreted and (I must admit) the author of this work makes a series of impressive arguments laying out why. His main thrust is that the book itself is not what it appears to be. It is not (as it is usually advertised) a work instructing a Prince on how to gain and hold power in the ever changing and highly dangerous world of 16th century Italian politics. Although it does contain elements of this it is most certainly not the main thrust. The treatise is aimed squarely at the ‘new Prince’. Not simply one who has recently come into power but the precursor to a completely new type of state – the constitutional republic. The ‘new’ Prince is one who thinks in the ‘new’ way and who has already, or is on the cusp of, turning away from his feudal roots. The book is for him – which is why it seemingly shocked the older-style Prince with its harsh pragmatism and the ability to look reality in the face rather than attempt to see things as they should be in an ideal world. But there is more. There is the historical context to be considered.
At the time he was writing the Italy of Machiavelli consisted of warring city states increasingly at the mercy of the great powers of the day – France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Individual cities, or even cities in temporary alliance, could not hope to stand against these regional superpowers. Only by allying themselves to the great and the good could they hope to survive – but Machiavelli wanted much more than survival: he wanted political independence and saw his advice to new Princes the way forward. Machiavelli, the author maintains, was a many simply ahead of his time. Not only did he foresee the constitutional republican state generations ahead of anyone else he saw such a state as the saviour of Italy. The many misunderstandings of his writings reflect the fact that he was, in effect, writing for future generations and for leaders of states than did not yet exist  but which he would (potentially at least) bring into existence. It’s an interesting idea and one that the author makes a very good case for. Italian political history of that period is both fascinating and deeply disturbing – full of intrigue and frankly alarming characters like Cesare Borgia. When I have the time to at least try to get my head around the twists and turns of that ages diplomatic wrangling’s I’ll give it a go. But that’ll have to wait post-retirement.

Overall I liked this book very much. The author knew his stuff and looked at things from some interesting angles which might actually answer some of the questions raised about Machiavelli and his ideas. From time to time a few faint alarm bells went off – essentially a vague whiff of right-wing thinking – but I just ignored them and read on….. until that is I read the Appendix entitled Machiavelli Today. Here the author made a rather strange observation. He said that Machiavelli stood at the crossroads of a transition between the Feudal State and the more modern Constitutional Republics we all know and love today. Meanwhile in our world we are, at least according to the author of this work, at another political crossroads – this time between the Nation State and the Market State. This Market State defines itself in terms of fostering market expansion to provide a wide range of public goods. Not simply that the Market should be used where it can work best but that the Market IS the system and that government (in its surviving form) has only one function: to ensure that nothing interferes with or disturbs the Market in its operation. So, no Social Security, no State Healthcare, no State education or anything else for that matter. Everything, and the author clearly says EVERYTHING is provided for by the Market. Naturally I disagreed – strongly. Not only would such a system be inhumane it would, necessarily I believe, be very short lived. A full no holds barred Market system would be so horrific that the citizens of any such State would rise up and destroy it before it destroyed them. Personally I would enjoy watching it burn. So, after enjoying this book very much I couldn’t help leaving it with a bad taste in my mouth. I had added a further book from the author to my Amazon Wish List but this has now been removed. But there are plenty more books on a whole host of subjects just waiting to be purchased never fear. Interesting in many ways – just skip the Appendix.           

Just Finished Reading: Peacemakers – Six Months that Changed the World by Margaret Macmillan (FP: 2001)

If you are anything like me, and even think of such things, you probably think of the post-World War One peace conference culminating in the famous (or infamous) Treaty of Versailles. Essentially, before reading this excellent detailed history of the conference, that was pretty much my idea too. How wrong I was. The Versailles Treaty, signed by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in 1919 was only the final act of a long drawn out, complex and often highly controversial series of treaties aimed at resolving a whole host of issues thrown up by the Great War so recently ended as well as the fallout from it. Not only was Germany to be ‘dealt’ with but the other Central Powers needed to be chastised likewise. Along with this rather thankless task was the management of the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire spinning out of control and tearing itself apart largely on ethnic grounds (with definite echoes of Yugoslavia following the collapse of the Soviet Union post-1989), the problem of the dying Ottoman Empire and the whole of the Middle East, the distribution of German colonies across the globe and what to do with them, the demands of Italy and Japan in particular who were both very vocal in getting what they felt they deserved and, of course, dealing with the political hand-grenade of Wilson’s 14 points and the corrosive (and rather ill-defined) idea of ‘national self-determination.

For 6 months the victorious powers – The US, France, Britain and Italy – with a whole host of experts, negotiators, civil servants, hangers-on, and anyone who could shoe-horn themselves into the process – set out to decide the fate of the world, set things to right and ultimately prevent another ghastly war from ever happening again. Central to this was the idea of the League of Nations, a body dedicated to peace through collective security. This was President Woodrow Wilson’s baby and he demanded that it be the first item on the peace agenda. The French Premier, Clemenceau, had other ideas and wanted Germany and its many crimes against France to be front and centre. The British, under the brilliant but erratic David Lloyd George wanted to protect the Empire, prevent a single strong European power and to somehow establish a monopoly on the recent finding of oil in the Middle East, Italy just wanted more land and then some more land to protect it. Let the horse trading begin…. Luckily most people had at least the public image of wanting what was best for the world and everyone could agree that another war should be made unthinkable. Unfortunately those involved, despite both literally and figuratively looking forward to the future were stuck in the past. England wanted to secure her position and her Empire. France wanted security above all else and the humbling of her traditional enemy for all time. The US, in the figure of Wilson didn’t really know what it wanted. Deeply untrusting of European motives (with good reason) they hoped, in the rather naïve American way of the time, that everyone wanted the same thing and that reason would prevail over revenge or greed.

Of course as lines were drawn across maps and backroom deals meant that cities or whole regions changed hands for concessions elsewhere with little regard for the people on the ground – despite lip service to the self-determination principle – the seeds of future conflicts were being laid. Ethnic tensions irrupted immediately across central Europe and simmered throughout the 1920’s and into the next war. The emergence of a Jewish homeland in Palestine quickly moved out of British control and became a source of endless tension and hand-wringing long before the founding of the state of Israel. In the Far East the disgruntled Japanese decided to take the territory they had been promised and which had later been denied them. So many sparks awaiting the right conditions to feed a future conflagration.

Covering a mere 6 months in a hefty 500 pages meant a lot of detail and a lot of ground covered in this truly excellent history of the conference that shaped the world immediately after the Great War and for decades later down to today. Echoes of the conference decisions still appear on the nightly news 100 years later. Without the knowledge contained in this volume some of that news seems inexplicable. No longer. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to understand the modern world.

Just Finished Reading: The Battle of Matapan by S W C Pack (FP: 1961)

March, 1941. With the arrival of HMS Formidable everything changed. The fast armoured deck carrier provided fighter cover to fend off enemy bombers, reconnaissance plans to find the enemy and a mix of dive bombers and torpedo planes to attack them. Easily capable of keeping up with the largely aging Eastern Mediterranean fleet it was the jewel in the crown that Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham had been waiting for. No longer blind and no longer keeping a wary eye set for enemy stuka’s he could at last do what he had longed for – to find, fix and destroy the Italian fleet at sea. But such a task was going to be far from easy. The Italians had some of the best ships afloat – new, fast and heavily armed. Meanwhile the British fleet dated from the previous war and, although impressive in themselves, had no hope of catching their much faster prey without air support and a fair dose of luck. But this time luck, for a change, was on the side of the Allies. Suspecting that the Italian fleet intended attacking British convoys between their Egyptian bases and landing fields on Crete and in Greece Admiral Cunningham decided to spring a trap.

Sailing from Alexandria without a hint of suspicion making its way to the Italians or their German allies the Eastern Mediterranean fleet headed out into deeper water with cruisers racing ahead to make initial contact with the enemy. At dawn Formidable flew off her spotter planes and waited for reports coming back. Hours passed with no news and little to do except wait. Initial contact reports were dismissed as mistaken reports of their own cruisers and ignored. That was the first mistake and it was a big one – the ships were those of the enemy. When the mixed force of cruisers and destroyers finally made contact sometime later they turned back towards the fleets heavy units unaware that a much larger enemy force lay between them and the safety of the British main fleet. Unknown to anyone aboard the British cruisers they were about to come within rage of the Italian battleship Vittorio Vento.

Almost before anyone knew what was happening the British ships came under accurate fire from a much superior Italian cruiser force both faster and more heavily armed than its British counterparts. After brief close quarter exchanges of fire the British ships did the only logical thing – they tried to disengage and left the scene at high speed hoping that they would be under the protection of the British battleships approaching their position before the pursuing Italian cruisers can attack in force. As they pulled away with little confidence that they could escape for long their fears were realised in a rather abrupt manner when they started receiving heavy fire from ahead. They had stumbled into the main enemy force consisting of a battleship, cruisers and destroyers. Heavily outnumbered and seriously outgunned it looked very bad indeed for the British cruiser force. But the Italian commander was unaware that the British main fleet was approaching at top speed and that Formidable’s planes were already on their way. When the planes where first spotted by the Italians it was assumed that they were German bombers from coastal airfields. Only when they began their attack runs did the truth dawn on each Italian commander. The British must had an aircraft carrier close and if that was the case a battle fleet must be nearby. This was no longer an action to crush a few enemy cruisers caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With dive bombers and torpedo planes attacking in sequence and each enemy ship valiantly attempted to avoid destruction the British cruisers took the opportunity to make good their escape and return without loss to the main fleet. Meanwhile the Italians were doing less well against deadly air attack. Dropping both bombs and torpedoes from almost suicidal close range the British planes managed to score a number of hits none more deadly than on one of the heavy cruisers who pitched out of the battle line and stopped dead in the water unable to make any headway. Unaware of this calamity the Italian admiral, once the attacking planes had turned for home, ordered his force to return to base fully confident that his ships superior speed would get everyone safely out of the danger zone. Only sometime later did he realise that he had left a cruiser behind practically defenceless in hostile waters. It was here that he made the fateful decision to split his force with the battleship and her escorts continuing for home base and a force of cruisers and destroyers sent back to bring his damaged ship home. Without the advantage of radar – something the British had but the Italians had yet to employ – the commander of the cruiser force had no idea that he was being sent straight into the British main battle fleet.

As night closed in the British relied more and more on their often temperamental radar system and couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing on their screens. Ahead of them, barely three miles away was a large stationary blip originally thought to be the damaged Italian battleship. As they approached cautiously closer the surprise turned to shock as the Italian relief force passed ahead of them seemingly oblivious to the presence of the British force. Trained in night action and with radar to guide them the British ships opened fire on the unsuspecting Italians at point blank range. With scant seconds between the huge guns of the battle fleet opening fire and the shells arriving on target the Italian ships had no chance to avoid contact or fire back. They were caught in a deadly hail of shells which ripped ships in half and pummelled the wreckage before the burning hulks turned over and sank. Within minutes several enemy cruisers and destroyers were burning uncontrollably and their shocked crews were jumping over the side before they exploded. Oddly in the middle of the conflagration the original Italian cruiser remained untouched until stumbled upon by a British destroyer. Unwilling to attack a ship obviously incapable of defending itself the crew were taken off before torpedoes sent her to the bottom. For no losses and no casualties the British had just destroyed three cruisers and two destroyers, severally damaged the battleship and damaged a number of other ships in the Italian fleet. From then on the Italians would no longer pose a threat to British interests in the Mediterranean and, although it only became a British ‘lake’ much later in the war it was no longer an area under Italian control or domination.

Related by an officer actually based on HMS Formidable during this period this was a fascinating personal account of one of the major naval engagements of the Mediterranean conflict. It was a turning point in British domination of the Easter Mediterranean which they never lost subsequently. Because of that the British had control of the Suez Canal and could much more easily reinforce their forces in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East. Without it the desert war, and the desert victory so important to the eventual invasion of Italy would have been much more difficult to achieve. An excellent read for anyone interested in this often overlooked theatre of war. This is the last in my naval triple read. After a short detour into other historical subjects I’ll finally be reading my Russia triple, followed by the RAF and China.

Just Finished Reading: Greek and Roman Political Ideas by Melissa Lane (FP: 2014)

Like much else in western culture the Greeks seem to have invented politics which, again with much else, the Romans seem to have adopted, adapted and spread across the known world. With hundreds of individual city states the Greeks could effectively experiment in tiny social laboratories to discover the best types of political form which they categorised into three separate strands – rule by one, by some and by many. From these strands they highlighted both the best and worst versions of each, with the best being Monarchy, Aristocracy (my personal favourite) and Polity, with the worst forms being Tyranny, Oligarchy and (rather oddly to our ears) Democracy. In Roman terms, once they absorbed Greece into their ever expanding sphere of influence, Monarchy became Imperial rule and Democracy became the basis for the Roman Republic.

Of course when we speak of Greek and Roman democracy will are not talking of what passes for democracy in most of the developed world where disengaged ‘citizens’ cast their votes in ever decreasing numbers each 4-5 years. Back in the founding years the electorate had political activity at the heart of their existence – indeed the word idiot derives from the Greek for those who are political disengaged private citizens (so little has changed there I think!). Then of course there are the limits of who gets to vote to take into account. Here and in many other democracies across the world we have universal suffrage – where the only criteria is that you live here and are over 18 (plus a few other caveats). Back in the day not only did you need to be a citizen (with both parents being citizens) but you had to be male, free (not a slave) and to meet the property qualifications. Inevitably many people residing within any particular Greek polis where excluding from the political process.

Both Greece and Rome, no matter their other failings, had some interesting ideas: huge juries (often hundreds strong or even into the thousands for important cases), political office by lottery – at least at the lower levels – with short one year occupancy with reports of how well the incumbent did scrutinised by juries. Some of that might still work today. The high level of commitment however is probably a no-go because, well to be honest, we need to work to earn money to live – so precisely the people prevented from voting back in antiquity! Probably the only way we could have fully participatory democracy is to have slaves (machines no doubt) doing all of our work whilst we politicised our lives away. I suppose that it could be fun if you like that sort of thing.

Anyway, if you think you know where our politics comes from this book might both surprise and delight you. Written in an easily digestible style I learnt a great deal almost without any perceived effort – just the way I like it (sometimes anyway). If you also think that events back at the edge of history have no relevance today this book will certainly disabuse you of that! Recommended.

Just Finished Reading: On The Spartacus Road – A Spectacular Journey Through Ancient Italy by Peter Stothard (FP: 2010)

I’ve had a ‘thing’ about Spartacus for quite a while now. I’m not entirely sure when it started or why I find the gladiator made revolutionary so compelling. I’m not even sure if my fascination with this historical giant dates from, or predates, the 1960 Kirk Douglas film that I remember seeing with my Father and Brother way back when (presumably some years after 1960 as I’m pretty sure that I saw it at the cinema and I’m damned sure I didn’t see it (and remember it so well) before my 1st birthday! Needless to say I had to buy this book and dived into it almost immediately.

Unlike my previous reading on the subject this book kept the speculation on the events of the early years, escape and subsequent demise to a minimum. Because the truth is we know very little about this iconic character and surprisingly little about the battles he fought, and mostly won, against a number of Roman armies. Built from its very foundations on uncountable slaves the greatest fear of any Roman was a slave revolt. Any sign of rebellion within the slave population was dealt with by the upmost severity so when a handful of gladiators not only escaped from their captivity and later defeated the much larger force sent against them it sent shockwaves through the whole Roman world. Worse was to come as the slave army gathered recruits and beat the next army sent to destroy them and the one after that too. For 3 years armed bands of slaves terrorised the Italian countryside beating off local militia and entire Roman legions leaving death, destruction and legends in their wake. Determined to get as close as possible to what actually happened between 73-71BC the author followed the route taken by Spartacus and his army to understand what drove him and how a group of salves taught to fight for entertainment could cause so much havoc for so long.

Told with knowledge, wit, humour (some of which was rather dark) and insight this was a delight to read from the first page to the last. As a journalist the author has an engaging style which I enjoyed a great deal. Part travelogue, part homage to classical education and part cancer survivor’s notebook I found this hard to put down and difficult to tear myself away from whenever I needed to eat, sleep or get back to work. If you have an interest in the Ancient world, Rome, gladiators or the Spartacus story in particular then this is definitely the book for you. Personally I loved it. Highly recommended.

Just Finished Reading: Ancient Warfare – A Very Short Introduction by Harry Sidebottom

I’ve been toying recently with the idea of doing another Masters Degree as my brain seems (at least sometimes) to be turning into mush. I’m almost more than a little fed up and think that’s because I’m not getting enough mental stimulation. I didn’t want to do anything I’ve done or touched on before so when I found a course on Ancient and Medieval Warfare at a nearby University it seemed idea. At the moment I’m still thinking about it – and will probably put it off until 2013 – but the course seems different enough that it could be quite fun even taking into account that I’d need to learn some Latin. This book then looked like an ideal introduction but turned out to be something I hadn’t really expected.

What I had expected was a potted history of the Ancient world with discussions of tactics and technology – The Greek phalanx and the Roman Gladus for example – with side debates on various pivotal battles like Thermopylae. Doing justice to this subject in a mere 128 pages would be difficult, I thought, but do-able. What I found was completely different. Instead of discussing things from the ground up the book took a far more top down approach. The author posed the question: Did the Greek and Roman civilisations create and develop a distinctive ‘Western Way of War’ in contrast to their many enemies and are we living with that legacy today. What hooked me from the start was the down to earth – and fun – approach to the subject. Not only does the author know his stuff, which you should expect from someone who teaches in Oxford, but he’s confident enough to play with his knowledge in order to engage his audience but without talking down to them or appearing in anyway condescending. I actually laughed as I read the first page which described the opening battle portrayed in the movie Gladiator when the Roman legions faced down the German barbarians. It seems true, the author starts, but in fact it was far from the truth. The Western Way of War was, he maintained, a cultural construct and like other cultural constructs had an origin, was based on how we see ourselves and how we want others to see us and, importantly, changes over time as cultures themselves change.

Throughout the rest of the book – using examples from both the Greek and Roman world – the author expands on his thesis by delving into how the ancients viewed war, what myths and stories about themselves they responded to (or against) and explodes a fair few myths about the way wars were fought and the reasons for going to war in the first place. It certainly gave me a flavour of what I might be up against in a future seminar and certainly gave me a lot to think about.

Expect more books on Ancient and Medieval warfare in the coming months and more military history books in general. It appears that my teenage interest in all things military has resurfaced. Watch this space.  

Just Finished Reading: A Brief History of The Celts by Peter Berresford Ellis

It was clearly the intention of the author to rehabilitate the image of the Celt away from that of the violence drunk warrior people who sacked Rome more than once and made a major contributor to the downfall of that civilisation offering nothing in its place. Such an image has remained in place because of the views (largely) of the very Romans they helped to destroy. Julius Caesar himself, in his classic and oft quoted Conquest of Gaul, puts them firmly in their place as stereotypical barbarians good for little else but slaughter on the battlefield.

But, as this book clearly points out time and again there was far more to the Celts than their warrior persona. But first Ellis put to bed the sometimes argued idea that the Celts themselves did not exist and where in fact yet another Victorian invention. With both documentary and archaeological evidence Ellis nails this erroneous idea as yet another attempt to redefine history contrary to literally mounds of evidence. After outlining their political and social structure – equally as complex as the societies around them – Ellis delves deeply into their religious Elite, the Druids who were at the time universally admired by all who interacted with them with the notable exception of Rome who went to great lengths to destroy them as a force in the Celtic world. This fact alone shows how important they were.

There is no getting around that the Celts were a warrior people – though such was hardly unusual at the time. Indeed the Celts proved to be one of the Roman Empires deadliest opponents who were responsible for numerous defeats of Roman ambitions throughout the European continent. Without their influence it is arguable that some of what we regard as Roman weapons and tactics may never have been applied to such good effect against Rome’s enemies. In the centuries of bruising conflict between the two sides Rome learnt a great deal from its many defeats and set-backs.

One of the things that shocked Romans when they came into regular contact with Celtic society was their women. Roman observers were scandalised by the fact that women often decided who their lovers and husbands would be and could divorce them if they proved to be inadequate. Such a thing – along with owning property, inheriting land as well as leading warriors into battle – was practically unheard of in the Ancient world. One thing that really struck me was a Celtic law that allowed a woman to take any action against her adulterous husband for 48 hours after learning of his adultery: - It being considered that she would be far too angry and emotional to be held accountable for her actions. Such a law did not, however, apply to men who were considered to be rational enough to be in control of what they did and therefore to be held accountable for their actions!

Ellis shows time and again that not only were the Celts great warriors (and enlightened law makers) but that they were also renowned weapon smiths, artists, engineers and, rather oddly given their reputation, road builders. They were far from, it would seem, the mindless barbarian hordes we have long assumed them to be. But this is not simply revisionist history or a romantic overlaying of the noble savage onto the bare bones of a real one. Ellis clearly bases his ideas on hard evidence some of which has only come to light in the last few decades. It’s nice to know that my ancestors were not only the beer swilling destroyers of civilisations but could also craft a good knife, farm the land, speculate on existence and treat their women like individuals long before so-called civilised peoples did the same. If you have any hint of Celtic heritage or just want to put the record straight this is definitely the book for you. I am very much looking forward to reading his book on the Druids. Watch this space. 

Just Finished Reading: Full Circle – How the Classical World came back to us by Ferdinand Mount

I remember seeing this ages ago in hardback and thinking that it looked vaguely interesting. So when I recently had some money – actually some vouchers from work – to spend I treated myself to the paperback. The author had an remarkable premise – that we are returning to a world that our ancient Greek and Roman ancestors would understand. In many ways, at least according to the author, we are coming full circle, after a 2000 year detour, back to a pagan world. Why you may ask: Simply because of the decline of Christianity especially in Western Europe. Where Christianity declines, he proposes, the natural pagan virtues return as if the intervening millennia had not existed. We are, he seems to be saying, deeply pagan at heart.

It’s an interesting idea – even if not wholly convincing. He starts, rather oddly I thought, by discussing public baths. Big in the classical world they declined heavily after Christianity became the empire-wide religion of choice. Because, he maintains, the new Christians either denigrated the body or thought physical pleasure of any kind unseemly or irrelevant. But the baths never really went away (surviving in the Eastern Empire as Turkish baths) and where reintroduced by, of all people, the Victorians. Their numbers have been steadily growing ever since. Likewise Gym culture which was hugely popular in pre-Christian times. Today even the smallest of towns has at least one gym if not more. This re-engagement with the body beautiful (something again seen as almost unthinkable until fairly recently) has become pervasive as our culture surrounds itself with sexual imagery and is reflected in the belief that virtually ‘anything goes’ between consenting adults. Again these are, the author contends, pagan attitudes rather than Christian ones. Another part of the sensual spectrum is reflected in our obsession with the food we cook, eat and talk about. Foodies are no longer viewed with suspicion but given their own TV shows and best selling books (and the ear of governments).

But I’m not going to attempt to précis the entire book. The arguments the author makes and the evidence he uses to back them up has an impressive range although some links back to antiquity are a bit of a stretch. He is, for instance, too liberal with his interpretation of Greco-Roman science in comparison to today. The Greek idea of atoms, for example, was as far as I understand it not exactly analogous to our own ideas and hardly widely accepted at the time. They might have been groping towards an idea we might recognise but, like their ideas on Evolution, it was a speculation amongst many without any real evidence to back it up.

Overall though this was an interesting argument well presented which made me look at things I consider to be very modern with different eyes. It seems that we are not as forward looking as it first appears. It also underlies, at least theoretically, that our default mind-set (once Christianity has withdrawn enough) is a deeply pagan one. Maybe the Christianity out culture lived through was nothing more than a thin coat of paint applied to a pagan statue. As the paint flaked off over the centuries the pagan statue begins to emerge in all its sensual glory. It’s most certainly an entertaining thought. Recommended.       

Just Finished Reading: Classical Thought – A History of Western Philosophy (1) by Terence Irwin

I haven’t read any philosophy for quite some time so thought that I’d ease back into things with a history of one of my favourite philosophical periods. I was, unfortunately, a little disappointed with this volume.

Things certainly started well with an interesting chapter on the lasting effects of the works of Homer and how they prompted the early Greek moral philosophers to challenge some of the ethical implications of his work. This led, after some meanderings through the debate about the physical world, to Socrates and onto Plato. Actually as Socrates apparently left no written texts of his own the main source of Socratic philosophy is Plato – so it is rather difficult to separate the two and whole careers have no doubt been made on drawing the line between where the real Socrates ends and where Plato uses him to sell his ideas to a larger audience. I’m actually not a huge fan of Plato – especially in regard to the eternal perfect Forms he postulated. This, in my opinion, was a huge error and a serious dead end (and helped to underpin early Christianity into the bargain). Much more to my liking is Aristotle whose works on Ethics and Politics – and much else besides – have become deserved classics in their own right. After studying him a few years ago I developed quite a fondness for the way his mind thinks. I also liked his telling criticisms of Plato which are outlined in this book. Post Aristotle things became rather fragmented with various new and breakaway schools of thought vying for the attention of the rich and powerful (and with the rest of the thinking public – men that is) amongst these where Epicureanism and the Stoics (one of my favourites). Arguments raged between these groups about the reliability of the senses, the nature of reality, virtue and free-will. Finally the author ended with the ideas of Plotinus – who reworked and commented on Plato – and discussed his impact on Christianity’s early days.

I’m not entirely sure why but I did find this book rather dull and more of a slog than I expected it to be. Maybe it was because most of the text wasn’t exactly new to me because I don’t think it was particularly badly written. Actually some parts of this book I found to be very interesting indeed. Maybe I should have just pushed the boat out into new areas rather than covering old ground again. I’ll try to be less lazy next time I pick up any philosophy. Useful I think if you’re new to the subject.     

Just Finished Reading: Classical Mythology – A Very Short Introduction by Helen Morales

I have been interested and often fascinated by Myth for as long as I can remember. I think I grew up hearing about and then reading about Norse and Greek myths before I knew exactly what they were or what they meant. I’m guessing that’s something else I can thank my father for.

This excellent little volume isn’t one of those that retells or catalogues the myths of the ancient world. There are certainly enough of those around and the already crowded market doesn’t need another. What this well written, thoughtful and sometimes surprising book does is look at where myth comes from, what it means to those who create it – and live inside it – and how it shaped both the ancient and the modern world. Starting with the Greek myth of Europa the author shows how the original Greek tale has been modified, reinterpreted and used by political movements (and others) as a metaphorical social glue to advance their idea of Europe – both to its inhabitants and to the rest of the world. Of course myths have always been pliable, able to be moulded to the needs of those who would seek to use them to influence others or simply to make money (from, for example, Hollywood blockbusters). Purists protest at this lack of ‘mythological correctness’ but variations on a theme has always played its part in classical mythology. After all they have come down to us literally by word of mouth and no one version can be viewed as ‘gospel’. Without giving a synopsis of the whole book I’d have to focus on several chapters I found particularly interesting. One was on heroes which are a particular interest of mine at the moment in which the author digs deep into what makes and, of equal importance, what does not make someone a hero. The other was on sex and sexuality in classical myth (quite a lot as anyone who has read Greek mythology will know) and how this has often been covered up – quite literally in the many mythic paintings adorning the walls of galleries around the world – and how the often sanitised versions presented today make much less sense compared to the original unexpurgated versions.

If you already have a passing knowledge of classical myth this is definitely the book for you. It will most certainly help you, as it helped me, to interpret things a little more clearly. If you are new to the world of myth it will definitely whet your appetite for a deeper knowledge of the subject. Recommended.