Editorial Review

Jared Diamond's Read more

Reviews (74)

A Well Written Account Of How Poor Environmental Practices Can Lead To Social Collapse, But Too Mealy Mouthed InIt's Tone
Jared Diamond is a highly respected scholar who, like Bernard Lewis and Karen Armstrong, is able to write serious books that convey a wealth of knowledge but are also a pleasure to read. This is in contrast to the many dry, dull tomes written by some others in academia. In this aspect, "Collapse" is a success. But, unfortunately, it just doesn't rise to the extremely high standard set by his previous title, "Guns, Germs And Steel," one of my favorite non-fiction books.
Will Our Society Choose to Fail or Succeed?
How a society manages its natural resources, and how it responds to climate and environmental change, can spell the difference between its destruction or survival; this is Jared Diamond's essential message in Collapse. Dr. Diamond, professor of geography at UCLA, uses the example of a number of civilizations that either died out due to poor resource management and climate change, or survived through recognition of these problems and comprehensively addressing them.The book brings to the forefront an important question: are we managing *our* resources wisely today?
My 100-word book review
Collapse is a thoroughly researched and fascinating book offering reasons why civilisations have failed in the past. The Mayans, Easter Islanders and Greenland Norse each encountered complex problems that eventually became catastrophic. Jared Diamond offers no simplistic explanation but describes a number of causes, such as climate change, geography and psychological flaws, which can reinforce one another and lead to disaster. The author does not take an overly pro-environmental stance, recognising that industry has a vital role to play in protecting our world. He provides a salutary lesson from history that current and future generations would do well to heed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Civilization    3. Environmental Policy    4. General    5. Historical Geography    6. History - General History    7. Public Policy - Environmental Policy    8. Social Change    9. Social Science    10. Social history    11. Sociology    12. World - General    13. History / World   

Reviews (7)

Excellent survey of western history
Civilization in The West is a superb text.Written by an outstanding group of historians the book is highly readable and contains a wealth of information.The suggestions for additional reading at the end of each chapter are invaluable and list the key texts for any time period.Finally, the colorful illustrations and photographs brilliantly compliment the text.This book is a definite buy for anyone interested in a general guide to western civilization.

Definitely a college text!
I enjoyed this text during my history class very much because it was so in depth. The hundreds of famous paintings alone make this book worthwhile, but it reads very much like a college text. Don't get me wrong -- I came to love history through taking this class, and the book was a large part of that. You must have a high level of literacy and some previous knowledge of history to read this book very easily. NO DETAILS ARE LEFT OUT!!! The book is fabulous and I would recommend it to any level anyways.

Good textbook, not nearly as bad as some i have had to read
The book had lots of info and was easy to understand. It covered all of the most important aspects of western civilizations. Anyone who complains that it was hard to read is an ... I would consider myself smart but i am by no means a rocket scientist and i found this book easy to read and enjoyable. It provided lots of information about certain interesting aspects of different civilizations cultures that would appeal to anyone who whould sign up for a history course. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. Civilization, Western    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Textbooks    7. World - General    8. History / General    9. Other Geographical Groupings, Oceans & Seas    10. World history   

Reviews (3)

Excellent Biography
Adrian Goldsworthy's latest book, "Caesar", is another one of those great books that you cannot afford to miss this year. Following on from his excellent run of books; "The Punic Wars" and "In The Name of Rome", this new title is a great addition to anyone's library.
Hail Caesar!
A good basic and thorough history of the great Roman. Dr. Goldsworthy writes in a clear, understandable style relying for his information on primary texts from the age.Arcane political and military terms are nicely explained.
Objective, reader-friendly, thorough but not overly technical - a must-read for Roman scholars/fans
Fans of Goldsworthy's previous works won't be disappointed with this bio, which will undoubtedly be named as one of the best overall works about Julius Caesar for many years to come.
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Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Historical - General    6. Royalty    7. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Ancient World    6. History / Ancient / General    7. World history: BCE to c 500 CE   

Reviews (7)

Awesome Book
Very easy explanation in book.........dont try to read whole book otherwise you will get sleep

Great for CLEP resource
Got this book as well as Volume I and used them as my resources for taking the Western Civ I and II CLEPS.Perfect for the job, and helped me get a very good grade, highly recommend for anyone looking to use for that purpose.

Revionist History
After being required to read this text for a class, I bought two other history books to which I could compare this one. I thought that Spielvogel was leaving out chunks of history, and revising the ones that he included, and I wanted to double check my facts before making any accusations. Well, boy was I right. This book makes the Publisher's tag line, "Changing the Way the World Learns" seem a little too true..
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Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. History / General    7. Other Geographical Groupings, Oceans & Seas    8. World history   

Editorial Review

Explaining what William McNeill called Read more

Reviews (917)

too long
This book REALLY needs an editor. It is just too long. Mr. Diamond goes over the same points over and over in excruciating detail. My solution was just to skip paragraphs detailing exactly how to carbon-date pinecones for the 20th time.
questionable from the beginning
I haven't yet finished the book, but have found reason to doubt the Mr. Diamond in the preface and prologue alone.In the preface, Diamond states that the readers are not about to read a "racist treatise" and that the book doesn't "involve human racial differences at all."Skip a few pages to the prologue and Diamond postulates "Why did New Guineans wind up technologically primitive, despite what I believe to be their superior intelligence?"Is New Guinean a race?Maybe, maybe not... but reverse the statement and then see how the critics chime in.
Not as compelling as "Collapse" but a good read nontheless.
Diamond presents a look at the evolution of various Cultures throughout the World and how geography has played an important part in their developement.The reason that Eurasia and North Africa evolved more highly developed (technologically anyway) cultures was that there was a wider variety of wild plant and animal species that could be tamed by the humans living in those areas following the Ice Age than there was available to humans in other parts of the world.This enabled people in these areas to develope farming societies (which required more specializations than hunter gatherer societies) more quickly than in other parts of the globe.
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Civilization    4. Ethnology    5. History    6. Human Geography    7. Life Sciences - Evolution    8. Social Science    9. Social evolution    10. Sociology    11. Evolution    12. Sociology, Social Studies    13. World history    14. Reading Group Guide   

Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. Dictionaries    3. History    4. History - General History    5. Intellectual life    6. Philosophy    7. Reference    8. World - General    9. History of ideas, intellectual history   

Reviews (21)

Good effort, some disappointment
Although Karen Armstrong has made a good effort and has exhibited a wide range of overall scholarship, "The Great Transformation" was a disappointment when it came to her understanding of Ezekiel's vision. She sees the Merkava (chariot) as a "war chariot", written in response to the Babylonian exile, and as being a "terrifying, confusing vision" (Page 398). Since Ms. Armstrong's book is on the Axial Age, it would have been better for her to approach this vision from the standpoint of a meditative experience that could bring a person into the awareness of oneness. There are elements of this vision that are common to the meditative experience wherever it arises, within whatever religious tradition it takes place. Ezekiel's vision is a description of and a metaphor for this experience, and not a "war chariot." For a scholarly elucidation of this subject, Aryeh Kaplan's book "InnerSpace," Moznaim, 1990, discusses Ezekiel's vision in detail.

Thoroughly educational and fascinating
This is a very enlightening book about the development of religious traditions in China, India, Greece and Judea/Israel (and later on Arabia), from the dawn of history until the time of Mohammed.It centers on a period in each of these cultures that is called the "axial" age, which is when the most profound enlightenments occured.It's fascinating to learn the history of the development of different belief systems - both familiar and unfamiliar.

Excellent, but not for the faint of faith
Karen Armstrong is a prolific author who has gone far beyond the faith that was taught to her as an aspiring nun in the early 1960s.I've enjoyed a few of her earlier works (Through the Narrow Gate and A History of God) and I picked this up with great anticipation. I was intrigued by her assertion that a short span of history (800-200 BCE) marked a dramatic leap in the beliefs of several religions throughout the world at a time when they had limited or no contact with each other.Her writing is both gripping and persuasive and I was very impressed with the book.
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Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. Ancient Philosophy    3. History    4. History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical    5. History Of Religion (General)    6. History, Ancient    7. Philosophy, Ancient    8. Religion    9. Religion - Commentaries / Reference    10. Sociology of Religion    11. Religion / History   

Reviews (1)

Rife with errors, nothing short of propaganda
Here is a review by a student who had the misfortune of reading this book for a class:
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Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. World - General    6. History / General    7. World history   

Reviews (6)

It actually works.
So often Books which claim that by reading them you will be able to achieve this or that, fall far,far short of their claims. "Healing with Ki-Kou:" does what it say's and Dr. Li Xiuling is to be congratulated on her book. I have recently been told I have angina, so I bought the book. I practised the breathing exercises and angina pains I get shortly after getting up in the morning, no longer occur. Thats after 4 days practice. Similarly, the angiogram I had recently went so much better because as the procedure was carried out I practiced the breathing exercise and was totally relaxed. The book is easy to follow and the diagrammes are quite adequate for the purpose.I can only say that by breathing as she recommends your health will be improved and that must be a bonus to anyone. I recommend the book whole heartily, no pun intended.Old Bill

Actually works.
Was somewhat leary at first, decided to give it a go.
Healing Secrets
Healing with Ki-Kou is another piece in the puzzle for me. Breathing techniques work wonders and this book is chock full. Highly recomended for the health concious. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

If you miss the exhibit , buy the book
I will see the Exhibit in Chicago and have visited the Cairo Museum, but this book is like revisiting the exhibit or the next best thing to seeing it!

Zahi Hawass brings it all to life with fascinating detail
King Tut died around 1350 BC. and theories on the cause of death range from a hunting accident to murder. X-rays revealed signs of a blow to the back of his head, however. After his tomb was found in 1922, his death mask and golden coffin became among the most famous Egyptian artifacts in the world. The teenage king of ancient Egypt is best-known by his golden death mask. But a fiberglass reconstruction of Tutankhamen based on computer models generated X-rays in 1969 of his mummified corpse bear little resemblance to the golden funeral mask found in the pharaoh's tomb. But Tut's mummified head was too dried and sunken to give life-like dimensions for the reconstruction team said National Geographic.
The Original King of Bling
Tutankhamen makes the Crown Jewels look like costume jewelry.I saw the exhibit in Fort Lauderdale, and it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.Everywhere you look there's another 3500-year-old masterpiece crusted with gold and jewels, and Tut was just one of many Pharaohs - they all received this kind of treatment.
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Subjects:  1. Ancient - Egypt    2. Antiquities    3. Archaeological Museums And Collections    4. Archaeology    5. Egypt    6. Eighteenth dynasty, ca. 1570-1    7. Eighteenth dynasty, ca. 1570-1320 B.C.    8. Exhibitions    9. Historical Archaeology    10. History    11. History - General History    12. History: World    13. King of Egypt    14. Middle East - Egypt    15. Tutankhamen,    16. African history: BCE to c 500 CE    17. Ancient Egypt    18. Egyptian archaeology    19. History / Ancient / Egypt   

Reviews (9)

A useful compendium of original source material
I obtained this volume of translations of Ancient Near Eastern texts and pictures along with its companionVolume I � An Anthology of Texts and Pictures which was first published in 1958.This volume, which was published in 1975,includes translations of more recently discovered material selected from the 1969 anthologyof Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament. A useful compendium of original source material
I bought this book along with its companion:Volume II � A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures,because it was time for me to see for myself what the the original sources had to say about the Ancient Near East. A Stimulating Resource
Volume II or "The Ancient Near East" is a good companion to Volume I, containing mythic, legal, and monumental information from the Middle East Bronze and Iron Ages. It really puts youback there to read actual letters and contracts, or to see the developments in poetic, narrative and visual arts. The only real problem is the lack of consistent dating infomation, particularly for the artwork. It makes it difficult to form a conceptual picture if things are presented in what appears to be a random order. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. Bible    3. Bible.    4. Collections    5. General    6. History    7. History of contemporary events    8. History: World    9. Middle East - Egypt    10. Middle Eastern literature    11. O.T    12. O.T.    13. Oriental literature    14. Philosophy    15. Translations into English    16. ASIA    17. Ancient World    18. Archaeology and Ancient History    19. Biblical archaeology    20. History / Egypt    21. Mind, Body, Spirit    22. Reference    23. Religion   

Reviews (12)

Terrible
I thought this book would give me some new insight into biblical history. Its didn't. It is disjointed and much of it talks about one ruler or king or leader (none biblical) who died on such and such date in history. It gives little is any detailed information about anything pertaining to the bible. I thought that by reading this book I would have some new knowledge about biblical history but I have none. Its just a terrible book.

Outstanding Historical Cross-Reference.
"Annals of the World" is a great historical reference for the most discerning of scholars.Covering the time from the beginning of creation to 70AD, James Usshur used over 2500 historical sources to ensure that he compiled a complete collection of historical facts.
A Elbereth Giltoniel! - oh, sorry, wrong work..
I was so looking forward to this book! Thank you, Larry and Marion Pierce, for making one of the most important works of fiction available! Now, that Christopher Tolkien has given us the complete work of J.R.R. Tolkien, or that Brian Herbert has significantly enlarged the universe of his father Frank, today's fantasy fans get another wonderful addition to their shelves. And all this while George Lucas finally led us to new shores - ah, these are good times for imagination! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bible    2. Chronology    3. Chronology, Historical    4. Classics    5. Early works to 1800    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History / Ancient / General    9. History, Ancient    10. Reference    11. Religion    12. Religion / Church History    13. Religion / Reference    14. World - General    15. Ancient - General    16. Christianity - History    17. Civilization, Ancient   

Reviews (1)

A Superb Study for Graeco-Romans
Those who study classical history know how rare it is that a scholar can take us in a consistent line from the development of classical and Hellenistic Greece to the conquering might of Rome, and illuminate both worlds.
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Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. Ancient World History    3. Civilization    4. Civilization, Classical    5. Civilization, Greco-Roman    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History Of Civilization And Culture (General)    9. History: World    10. Mediterranean Region    11. Ancient World    12. World history: BCE to c 500 CE   

Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History Of Civilization And Culture (General)    5. History: World    6. World - General    7. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Ancient - Rome    2. Empire, 284-476    3. Germanic Invasions, 3rd-6th centuries    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Medieval    8. Rome    9. Western Europe - General    10. History / Ancient / Rome    11. History, World | Ancient | Roman   

Subjects:  1. Civilization    2. General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. World - General    7. History / General    8. World history   

Reviews (64)

Simply excellent
Here's a capsule summary of what is taught as "Catholic History" in most American Catholic schools--at least since the 1960s:
Excellent book
This is the best book I have read on the subject of the Catholic Church's impact on and contributions to the history and growth of civilization -- a topic which is widely misunderstood and misrepresented. This would make an excellent textbook for high school or college students, or just a good read for anyone interested in learning the truth.The so called 'Dark Ages' weren't nearly so dark as has been widely misrepresented, not when the light of Christ was shining through His Church and forming the foundations of learning, the university system, agriculture, industry, charity, science (yes, science!), architecture, economics, law, and art.

Scholarly and absorbing
I'm normally a lurker here on Amazon, benefiting from other people's reviews but never contributing any of my own.That's changing, starting now.This is an extraordinary book.
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Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - History - Catholic    3. Christianity and culture    4. Civilization    5. Civilization, Western    6. History    7. Influence    8. Religion    9. Religion - Classic Works    10. Spirituality - General    11. Religion / General    12. Religion: general   

Reviews (54)

I am not sure what to think...
..but the whole subject is intriguing one, disturbing for orthodox Christians and perplexing for undecided ones.
A must have for a religious history library
Here it is finally published the legendary Gospel of Judas, this will rank as probably the greatest codex find of this century. In this book you will find the first translation released to the public. It is a very brief read at 170 pages with 25 pages devoted to the actual Gospel that is well foot noted to explain most verses content. The book also contains four very well written essays by leaders in the field of religious studies.
Patchy, but Good
Granted, there is not much left of Judas due to where and how it was kept, but it follows in classic Gnostic form:Judas, the "author", is the only disciple who gets it.It is good to get to see the "Judas" perspective after 2 millenia of demonizing.'Tradition' says Judas was evil, but this says what I've always sort of felt and believed, Judas was just doing the job he was put here to do, just playing his part. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - History - General    2. Early Christian And Byzantine Art    3. General    4. Gospel of Judas    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History Of Religion (General)    8. Jesus Christ    9. Judas Iscariot    10. Religion    11. Religion / Antiquities & Archaeology    12. World history   

Editorial Review

In this delightful and illuminating look into a crucial but little-known "hinge" of history, Thomas Cahill takes us to the "island of saints and scholars," the Ireland of St. Patrick and the Book of Kells.Here, far from the barbarian despoliation of the continent, monks and scribes laboriously, lovingly, even playfully preserved the West's written treasury.When stability returned in Europe, these Irish scholars were instrumental in spreading learning, becoming not only the conservators of civilization, but also the shapers of the medieval mind, putting their unique stamp on Western culture. ... Read more

Reviews (232)

history with flavor
Anyone who over-reacted to this book considering it bigotry should lighten up. The title indicates that it has a Irish focus and that it is bravado in its very nature.This is a great story that should not be treated as a the most accurate take on all of civilization and mankind. It has the flavor of the Irish in the very words of the book and the telling of the story. So often do people criticize anything that has any flavor or opinion, but it is so easy to do that. We are not all world historians who get off on reading just the facts. Just as in reading Vasari's "Lives of the Artist's" nobody should complain about how he goes on and on and on about how Michelangelo was God's gift to the world, rather we should have a laugh be entertained and learn a few things about the nature of humanity. Good Read.

Readable, Anecdotal and Enjoyable
Always amazes me to ponder how a single person can change the course of history, as Thomas Cahill shows. For example, if St. Patrick hadn't returned to Ireland to found monasteries, we would be reading a different history of continental Europe. In fact, there might not be a Europe. Really enjoyable book with interesting anecdotes. Very readable, except for occasional flights of political correctness. Makes me want to find out more about Medieval Europe.
Bad Bigoted History.
Read the top most "helpful reviews of this shockingly offensive pamphlet." I am sure you will find the one star reviews far more honest and detailed than the "Naive positive reviewers." There are always people who will whitewash bigotry if it supports their own ethnic delusions of grandeur. I am the third Asian person to boycott this author. I have noticed that many others agree with us. THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 400-1400    2. Books    3. Civilization    4. Civilization, Classical    5. Europe - Ireland    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Ireland    10. Learning and scholarship    11. Medieval, 500-1500    12. Study and teaching    13. History / Ireland    14. History of specific racial & ethnic groups