The book does a great job to taking a complex, and messy, narrative and shaping it for the reader to understand. It was amusing to read how an obscure, but genius, cryptographer working in a dank room had far reaching consequences on the other side of the world without anyone knowing about it.
In his book, Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death author Anthony Everitt paints of picture of his subject with all his strengths and weaknesses, showing a flawed human and not a godlike figure – as Alexander himself would have liked us to see
Mr. Oren presents the history from the point of view of politicians, not the soldiers on the ground. He doesn’t deal much with military tactics but more with high level decisions and diplomatic chess games.
t’s amazing to read about the history of the Talmud paralleled that of the Jewish people. During the pogroms and ages which anti-Semitism was a societal and politically accepted, those who seek to destroy the Jews tried also to destroy the Talmud, mainly because they didn’t understand what it was about (ridiculously bringing about the blood-libel scenarios over and over).
Mr. Lavie lived among the Egyptians and writes about the warm, wonderful individuals he met. The author also writes about Egyptian society, the difficult life and analyzes the economy and the mess that Egypt got itself into and the difficulties the country faces in the future getting out of them.
I did not know what to expect, I knew it wouldn’t be a magnificent piece of literature, but I have heard many positive reviews and several bad ones.
The book is part history, part historical fiction. While much of the book is based on outstanding research and first-person interviews, some of the book is told from a perspective which the author himself wrote but relied on historical information for reference. A most interesting way to write the book and a brave decision by the author (who states his method in the forward).
The Eternal Nazi: From Mauthausen to Cairo, the Relentless Pursuit of SS Doctor Aribert Heim by Nicholas Kulish is a non-fiction book detailing the trials and tribulations of Nazi hunters following an elusive criminal.
The Angel: Ashraf Marwan, the Mossad and the Surprise of the Yom Kippur War by Uri Bar Yosef is a non-fiction book in which Professor Bar Yosef outlines why he believes Marwan was the best spy who worked for Israel, ever. Mr. Bar Yosef is a professor in The Department for International Relations of The School for Political Science at Haifa University, specializing in national security, intelligence studies and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Article first published as Book Review: The Seven Wonders by Steven Saylor on Blogcritics. About: The Seven Wonders: A Novel of the Ancient World by Steven Saylor is a collection of short stories starring the youthful, wise cracking Gordianus. Currently there is a popular series of mysteries written by Mr. Saylor and starring an older Gordianus. The publisher is giving away one copy to 2 (two) winners – enter using the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post. 336 pages Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (June 5, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0312359845 My rating for The Seven Wonders – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format More books by Seven Saylor Thoughts: I enjoyed Saylor’s (website | Facebook),previous books (although admittedly I didn’t read many) and was thrilled to be offered to read The Seven Wonders. The short stories are a great introduction to Gordianus and actually have a running theme throughout them besides a travelogue. I am a true believer that travel opens the mind, it lets you see for yourself that there are other ways to live your life besides what you believe is the right way. Actually, traveling shows you that there is no right way, a dirt…
