Kim Gentes

Defining an era has come to be the popular work of historians who have had the fortune to write well enough to have appeal to the general public. The work of research, selection, collation, evaluation and summation on a given time and subject seems daunting enough. But imagine for a moment that you were tasked with writing a comprehensive book on a subject that covered about 1500 years of time and included most of the known world. This is the kind of work that was tackled by Edward Gibbon in writing his multi-volume tome, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”.

Before we begin to appreciate the topic and contents of the book, we must recognize the unbelievable accomplishment of Gibbon. The sheer amount of content, volume of research and power of mind needed to accomplish this task is nothing short of legendary. And the impact resulting from this work has been no less impressive. Published in 1776, its appearance in the same year as two of the most important documents in modern history, The Wealth of Nations (by Adam Smith) and the American Declaration of Independence, is not subservient in weight to these other works. What these documents meant to the immediacy of political and economic changes in the 18th century and beyond, Gibbon’s work has meant to academicians, historians and scholars who received in “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” the seminal account of European (and world) history for the time period of 2nd to 14th century AD.

Exploring a summary of the details of this book is literally impossible in less than 20-30 page report for even the scantest of overviews. The Roman Empire, according to Gibbon, reached reached its apex power and stability within the purview of the reign of Augustus Caesar and was subsequently managed with intrepidity under the stewardship of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian and the two Antonines. The end of that era marked the conclusion of the Roman majestic glory, after which the fruit, growth and full harvest of corruption impaled the Empire with repeated thrusts of political, economic, military and societal failure. The Roman empire expired not in one cataclysmic event, but in a gradual failure of systems and life highlighted by poignant defeats throughout its structure. Indeed, according to Gibbon, it was the weight, success and vastness of this magnificent empire that ultimately pulled its components and leadership down on top of itself.

Gibbon’s articulation of the facts and illumination of the forces behind those facts builds this book into an epic not only of history but of the genius of this author's mind as a great tool of systems analysis.  The writing is so methodical, it takes on a rhythm in each progression of reign from emperors to dynasties to epochs. The reader is given a clear (even if daunting at times) assessment of each and every ruler of the Roman legacy. This is as one would expect. But what one would not expect is the deep and penetrating review of literally every other force at work throughout the known world during the long tenure of the Roman world. From Atilla the Hun to Mohammed (the growth of Islam) to Genghis Khan to the long and arduous story of the Christian religion to the history of each of the barbarian nations and tribes to the dozens of tribes and rulers of the Arab, Scandinavian, Germanic, African and even Mongol streams. Every single influence that made its presence felt in the Roman world is examined, with elaborate prose, via the pen of Edward Gibbon.

The writing is obviously scholarly, yet is very readable in our current English form. While it is rife with detail it is also pithy and even humorous at times. The only vise which Gibbon displays with regularity is his almost insistent propensity to present his points in threefold form. It seems like every section or detail was listed with a triplicate procession of reasons, even when it might have just been a habit that Gibbon filled with his illustrious prose rather than the succinct clarity of solid data. Gibbon also spends regular opportunity to berate the prejudices of various other historians of antiquity and the subjects of his own writing- although reading his book 250 years later, his own prejudices shine through as clearly as those he occasionally demonizes. It will always be the vice of every writer to misunderstand the worldview within which their own work was undertaken, and Gibbon does not escape from this truism. However, he does seem to be aware of this possibility and rains or shines on the variously good/bad qualities of any given subject where it was clearly needed.

It is from the story of Roman power and descent that we see the pre-eminent example of the idiom "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". The dozens of leaders and pretenders that rise and attempt the imperial purple of Roman emperorship turn into a mind-numbing repetition of ascent to prominence, coup of the current emperor, rise of power for the new, corruption and decline into another regime toppled by murderous treachery.  This cycle is so certain that it becomes the only surety in the Roman story during its decline. Yet, there are heroes- people whose noble character rises above a desire for power. And those great characters break the mantra of power and corruption. It is in that contrast that we can glimpse moments of greatness. In the Roman story there is a reflective narrative of our human condition- one that has tragedy and glory. It is within this meta-narrative that we can glean greatness- and Gibbon is an excellent narrator.

What you have in “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” is a complete and unrelenting archive of over a millennia of history of the greatest geopolitical entity that has ever existed on the earth.  It is written in strident prose and breathtaking detail. Included in the footnotes and commentary of the book is much about the various historical research that has been done since Gibbon’s work. While some small parts of the book's data are now recognized as misinformed, the vast majority of it stands not only as a great resource but as the seminal text of the Roman epic.

You may well have many reasons to avoid reading this book, including perhaps its size of over 3500 pages (depending on the version you are reading). But none of those reasons are worthy of stopping the thoughtful person from reading, understanding and gleaning the wisdom of this tremendous book.

Amazon Book Link: http://amzn.to/TqJLs7

Review by Kim Gentes

One of the greatest teachers in life is history. The ability to grasp, in our time, the effects and movements of the past is not just a discipline for  university arts departments but an important store of wisdom for all walks of life.  For the last few years, I have been researching specific realms of history- Christian history, church history, period history, economic history. But recently, I hoped to read something of a more comprehensive history that would cover the entire span of our known record of humanity. After a bit of research, I picked "History of the World" by J.M. Roberts as the volume to tackle for this purpose. I am both thankful and delighted to have read this book.

"History of the World" is a dazzlingly readable, even-handed and structured volume that attempts to accomplish the task of summarizing the chronicle of humanity by keeping its task to a defined set of parameters- it centers around the understanding and historiography of civilizations. Its vastness as a work is managed by Roberts keeping a sharp aim at disentangling himself from bringing enumerable details of trivial interest into the picture. He keeps to the task of defining the appearance of man, the eventual birth of civilizations, the development of distinct collectives of civilizations (what would later become nations/peoples), the primary movements and interactions of the civilizations, the main thinkers, leaders and influencers of those civilizations and the uncountable interconnections (and their important effects) amongst the civilizations that would eventually develop. More than just events on a chronographical timeline, Roberts also talks about huge influencing concepts, such as religions, nationalities, ideologies, major epochs, technologies, and pivotal events and people.

What I enjoyed most was the fact that such a voluminous book (a massive 1,200 pages) was consistent throughout the chapters in its approach yet remained enjoyable, even dryly humorous at times. No subject was treated without the possibility of uncovering paradoxical viewpoints- to which Roberts was constantly going to detail to help the reader see. You left feeling like specific points in history weren't as singularly simplistic as you had once heard. I liked this approach as it removes dogmatic viewpoints from becoming the plumb line of how we look back on the past.

The book covers so vast a subject matter I will not try to comprehensively summarize it here. Consider the title of the book as proper and accurate scope of its content and you will be both well informed and well pleased as you read. You will hear and understand everything from pre-historical Paleolithic man, to the first Sumerian and Mesopotamian civilizations, to the ancient classical world of Greek and Roman dominance to Medieval Europe to developing China and India, to enlightenment struck modernity to imperialist Europe, dominated Africa, the explosive growing American continents (as well as their colonialist discovery and expansion), world wars of the 20th century and the trek of history right up to the present day. In one sweeping volume Roberts breathes life and engagement into the real inertia you find flowing across the civilizations of the world through history- man as a change agent in and to his own environment.

In my reviewing of the book, I initially found several small points of minor error (the light treatment of a major figure such as Napoleon, mistaken biographical information on Castro and incorrect dating of the first man on the moon). However, I quickly learned there was an updated edition of the book, which I secured and read. It is clear the editors who updated the work have taken their jobs seriously as the last revision ("The New Penguin History of the World" - rev 5) addressed every issue I could find- either correcting it outright, or properly formatting the narrative to remove the erroneous way in which the data could be misinterpreted. The only very slight hint of editorializing I sensed in the book was the regularly appreciative nods to the last 3 centuries of English history. Roberts occasionally gives possible discounting benevolence to the intentions of the British imperial actions in both its expansive and contracting years. The leaning is slight, but it does tend to feel a bit discounting of a number of times of British actions that surely would not have seemed "better intentioned" as Roberts often implies.  This is a minor and understandable pause in his otherwise amazingly apt and generally conciliatory tone taken for most subjects of uncertain nature.

Overall the book was absolutely astounding in keeping account of such huge proportions of our history while still retaining a vital and engaging narrative. I can't recommend it enough- if you have a spare 60 hours, this is your best bet for a truly great read!

Amazon Book Link: http://amzn.to/12haJFZ

Review by Kim Gentes

What are the ideas and people that changed classical mediterranean world into pre-modern Europe? How did the Romans become the Italians? These are the questions the Thomas Cahill tackles in his installment of his "Hinges of History" series, entitled "Mysteries of the Middle Ages". In this volume of his series he continues his modus operandi of inspecting the character and lives of the story-altering individuals that brought change into the time period investigated. This is not a geo-political, civilization-tracking history of the European basin through the middle-ages. Cahill intentionally skips much of the obvious historical weightlifting done by technical textbooks and goes right to the people of the narrative- and (of course) the narrative of those people.

Cahill starts further back than I'd expect, and in fact pauses at classical foundations to review the Greeks before covering the classical extension of that inheritance down through the Romans. From there, he begins in earnest with an extensive "introduction" that leads the reader through the characters of classical Roman society (from 4th century) all the way to the end of the 11th century where we are deposited into the "high middle-ages" with an investigation into the origins of the cult of the virgin.

The author pushes against the personalities of several historical figures to shake a sense of life into the ancient personalities for us. Philo is teaching Moses in a greek class, Gregory the Great is dining with the poor, Hildegarde is singing from the enclosed living coffin of her monastery, Franciss of Assisi is struggling with a smile on his face, Dante is fleeing from one earthly hell to another (all the while writing his "Divine Comedy") and many vile figures of history are put in their place by fictitious literary backhands from Cahill. Each character is exposed for the good (or evil) that Cahill sees in them. Most are generous where deserved, but some are treated with such excessive ferocity, we see in the author a bit of the resentment presented by those who just can't stand anyone disagreeing with them.

One example is Cahill's blistering repartee of Bernard of Clairvaux. Like many high-profile eccentrics, Bernard does have a mixed contribution of greatness. His books on love remains some of the most articulate volumes ever written on the subject (I reviewed a selection volume of Bernard's works here). However, he also had faults including supported a crusade and being painfully dogmatic in defending the church against opposing views (to the point of using political and positional force to make his opinion win). Seen on the whole, Bernard seems human, but not monstrous. However, through Cahill, we see a darkly vengeful and impetuous Bernard. And the author does this with a couple figures in the book- vilifying their dark side without giving due credit to their positive contributions.

The book serves as a sort of "who's my favorite characters" narrative by the author (or worse depending on the subject at the time), but it's also obvious that Cahill chooses the stream of intellectual and philosophical personas over the political and high-labeled historical figures. What the author is doing is exploring how the ancient world died culturally and intellectually (if not in many other ways), contracted and eventually gave way to the European renaissance. The "movers and shakers" on Cahill's list are the poignant women and men (and their pivotal ideas) who propelled feminism, science and art out from under the gloom of a disintegrated western world in which the road of Romanitas had eventually taken civilization over a cliff.

While he treats Bernard conspicuously, the author saves copious praise for some of the truly great (and celebrated) figures, especially Hildegarde, Eleanor of Aquataine (queen of both France and England at times, mother of Richard the Lionhearted), Francis of Assisi (and Claire), Abelard, Thomas Aquinas (the brilliant scholastic), Giotto di Bondone (the foundational Italian painter/artist/architect), and Dante Alighieri (the famed poet/writer of "The Divine Comedy").

"Mysteries of the Middle Ages" weaves the stories of these characters, their significant lives, the triumph's (and failures) and how they left an enduring contribution to the culture, thought and science of Western Civilization. The author lucidly connects the narratives through a chronological map, even going so far as to transition from Giotto to Dante by having them meet.  This is Cahill at his best, exploring what did, and what could have happened, all the while making the important points thread through history as though they were meant to find us now. You feel a providence in the grand narratives that Cahill writes (even from book to book) and his affirmation of faith is never kept shyly away. Still, the book is hardly an endorsement of Christiainity, and certainly not an empty-eyed smile to the Catholic church.

Cahill rails against every injustice that creeps its way into the clerical realm, unjustly at times, since he has the benefit of hindsight to beat his historical whipping boys with when they step out of line. But one has to give an acknowledgement of realism to the author for taking the current church to task (all the while not disowning it from his personal faith) for its abysmal failure in the modern scandal of sins of clergy sexual abuse amongst Catholic priests and the children given to their care. It is out of this angst from Cahill that there are a few R-rated moments in this book, when his rage boils over the top and he throws a good chunk of established Catholic church leadership and clergy over the perverbial cliff.

I ended up reading this book two full times and a third time reskimming it again. It is almost as much a story as "How The Irish Saved Civilization", though focusing on a good many more characters. It is less historical, geo-political or national than "Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea" or "The Gifts of the Jews", but this is clear and repeatedly warned.  Overall, it is a vivid and brilliant picture of Cahill's post-classical, pre-rennassaince Europe. It is especially engaging and enjoyable if you know the historical context and chronology before you read this book. Reading this book will make you live through the hidden secrets of the middle-ages rather than recite the historical headlines.

Amazon Book Link: http://amzn.to/SRdMBR

Review by Kim Gentes

There are few cultures which ring as much interest to the historian as the Ancient Greeks. As part of his "Hinges of History" series, Thomas Cahill endeavors to appropriate history, archeology, legends and song into a unique narrative of the Greek origins, expanse, collapse and ending. In "Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter" Cahill leans so prominently on the texts of Greek lore, one is scarcely able to sift between myth and matter. This frustrated me at first, since he seemed to imply that the Greek psyche was built (along with the language) as an indistinguishable amalgam of story and reality. A story of Zeus would give way to information about archeology; quotes of Iliad and Odyssey fade into history about Plato and Socrates. This was the first of a series of pains you must endure to get to the point of enjoying this book. Let's get those out of the way before we move on to the admirable qualities of this volume.

For the person looking for scholarly insight into Ancient Greek culture, they may come away saddened by Cahill's narrative here. Only a few pages are given to some very important subjects, such as the development of pre-historic Greek culture (and what is told leans strongly on the questionable sources of Heinrich Schliemann- though he admits this). Even more strange is the almost complete absence of any telling of the story of Alexander the Great, who would seem to be one of the most prominent figures in the history of the world, let alone the Greek narrative. In just 3 sentences, Cahill introduces, explains and kills off Alexander. This seems like a vast exclusion to me.

In addition, Cahill seems to be overly assertive that classical historians of academic stripes should be the final authority on theories of sociological progress and development. He takes swipes at Jared Diamond's efforts as a scientist/historian, when he says :

Nor can we legitimately trace some single simple element—say, the way microbes worked in our favor or our strategic geographical position—as giving the West its superiority. Hanson takes to task the popular biohistorian Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel) on just this point: “The efforts of those who seek to reduce history to biology and geography deprecate the power and mystery of culture, and so often turn desperate.… Land, climate, weather, natural resources, fate, luck, a few rare individuals of brilliance, natural disaster, and more—all these play their role in the formation of a distinct culture, but it is impossible to determine exactly whether man, nature, or chance is the initial catalyst for the origins of Western civilization [emphasis mine].”[1]

If his jealous jab of calling Diamond a "popular biohistorian" doesn't seem overt enough (Cahill would seem to be the last person who should be snubbing people for writing for the masses on scholarly subjects) his self-serving intentions manifest full force in his next paragraph, when he says :

To inquire into the ways in which an unpredictable historical combination—in this case, the combination of dogged military practicality with unprecedented citizen responsibility—may generate a new cultural force that has tremendous impact on the world over many centuries brings us as close as we are likely to come to the deep mysteries of the historical process.[2]

Apparently for Cahill, the only thing that can "bring us as close as we are likely to come" is to use the study of the "historical process" (IE. the kind of process that apparently only a historian as Cahill can use), and ignore biological science, linguistics, anthropology and archeology that don't support his own theories. It feels more than a bit childish to begin a book by slapping all the other kids on the playground, but hey, it's Cahill.

Finally, the last angst that is embedded in this book is the author's unceasing use of the f-word. Presumably sex is a topic of great interest to the Greeks, and therefore makes it a point for much writing. But his colloquialisms assumed in translation are added to by his backhanded writing style that leans into the cursing mode whenever he gets the chance. And he gets a lot of them.

But with those slights taken care of, the story told in "Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea" is both lush and human, grand and yet debasing. Cahill isn't shy about his goal, as he states:

"For me, the historian’s principal task should be to raise the dead to life." [3]

This is precisely what this book does. Cahill weaves a story that one can imagine a 5th century BC Greek telling. The figures of Agammemnon, Achilles and Hector seem as real as the the scientific progression of Aristotle. Even more so. The book focuses on the chronological progression of Greek language, culture, art and thought.

Because Greek becomes the lingua franca of the ancient world, and (along with latin) essential to a large portion of remaining historical documents, Cahill reminds you throughout the book of the concepts and words that continue to impact our own world to this day (as well as important ways it has impacted it historically). Probably here is an area where even more time could have been taken to draw the link between Greek conquest of the ancient world (via Alexandar) and the language and trade routes created by the same, and how those essentially "paved the way" for Roman domination of the ancient world. But again, since Alexander recieves no space, those points are left untouched.

Culturally, as I mentioned Cahill discusses varying degrees of detail on areas including womens roles/rights, government, sexuality and politics. Art becomes a main point for the book particularly around the depiction of humanity as epitomised through the statues of kouros - the ancient Greek classical renditions of the young male, traditionally nude. You learn much about how the depiction of humanity from Cahill's understanding here. How the Kritian boy (a famous example of a kouros) came to be, how this art form was aided by (and helped develop) out understanding of both anatomical structure of the human body and would later color our psychology of how we see ourselves. The book explores even the impact of the kouros model into the 20th century when Nasa represented human beings in a similar fashion the first discs that were sent deep into space on early Pioneer space craft (particularly the figures of the man and woman, where you see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_plaque#Figures_of_a_man_and_a_woman that NASA themselves recognize the rendition as being tied to Greek antiquity). Cahill belabors the point of kouros to the point that he states, without reservation, that it may have been the most impactive single concept the Greeks passed down to the rest of civilization. 

Of course, there is a sea of regular characters that aren't forgotten, such as Socrates, Plato, Pythagorus, Artistotle, Hypocrates and more. The roots of such foundational thinkers that are located in ancient Greek world come alive in this book. But again, much less is made of the details of scientific weight of these people or their theories than could be.

In the end, one feels as though they have experienced ancient Greek life more than taken a well structured series of lessons on Greek accomplishments. You understand the nuances Cahill is attempting (and succeeding) at making related to this ancient culture, and he is careful to point out that it is those nuances of thought that penetrate such vast areas of science, philosophy, language and art even today.

Having read all of the books in Cahill's "Hinges of History" (many of them multiple times), I needed two complete passes at this book to feel like I "got" enough out of it to both write a cogent review and digest the narrative. To be honest, this book seems the weakest of the "Hinges" series. Cahill does so much effusing on sexuality as to make it seem more his obsession than part of his investigation. The volume is certainly worth reading, but not as a matter of technical or scientific history or accomplishment. He does give you the sense of weight of Greek thought on world history, but does that without largely tracing extensive details in mathematics, science or philosophy other than list names and categories.

If you are thinking of reading it to cover the entire "Hinges" series, it is definitely a "must read". If you want to "get into the head" of an ancient Greek, this is about as close as possible as you will get. But if you are looking for a particularly strong historical reference for ancient Greek culture, thought and people, this isn't the right book.

Amazon Book Link: http://amzn.to/PHrJOD

Review by Kim Gentes

[1] Cahill, Thomas (2010-04-21). Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter (Kindle Location 912-917). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

[2] Ibid., Kindle Location 918

[3]  Ibid., Kindle Location 117

Tracing the history of financial development seemed like a good idea at the time. But what I found most often (in books I perused before buying) was that most books focused on economics, whose cogent thinkers don't arrive on the scene until the 18th century. Then I found "The Ascent of Money", whose apt title keeps a sharp focus on the instruments of exchange rather than the philospohies of theories, political bents of champions, or minute formulae of econometrics.

"The Ascent of Money" begins with ancient times in Mesopotamia and accounts for us the tale of first ledger accounts that were made with clay markers- the first instance of bonafide money. Since those first signs of tokens of exchange, humans have invented ways of marking wealth with various devices. Without spending time on economy, Ferguson accelerates through history, reaching mideavil Europe in fairly short order.

His goal is clear- trace the uses and demands of how people, leaders and governments invented mechanisms for exchange, funded expansion, waged wars, invented industries and toppled kingdoms. All with the tool of money.  He explains the details of how various forms of exchange, from metals to paper to digital balances made their way into society.

The book is exceptional writing, with dizzying amounts of information, but all kept sharply in focus of the topic. Even as he explains M1, M2, M3, securities-backed derivatives or the failure of LTCM and more, the reader never feels left in the dark by a harried professor trying to overwhelm you with all their brilliant knowledge. Ferguson is obviously a brilliant scholar, but he doesn't lean on details to impress the student, he weaves a thoughtful narrative that calls out the minutia in appropriate amounts and at the appropriate times.  After reading several other books on the history of economics, it was wonderful to read a book that dealt with monetary development without being theory driven or school biased.

If you love history, you will love this book. I learned an exceptional amount about money in all its forms and enjoyed the writing the entire way through. An excellent book. I highly recommend it!

Amazon Book Link: http://amzn.to/RJMVaB

Review by Kim Gentes