The History Book Club discussion

Birgitta Hoffmann, here is your new thread in 2015. Happy reading in the new year.

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2015
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

JANUARY
1. (no image)Claudius: The Emperor and His Achievement by Arnaldo Momigliano (no photo)
Finish date: 15 January 2015
Genre: Non-Fiction, perhaps Biography
Rating: A-
Review: This is not a normal biography, it does not cover the whole life or all the achievements of Claudius. However this very short study is the publication that changed the image of Claudius in European history. From weak hen-pecked old man, who let his slaves make his decisions for him, in the less than 100 pages he becomes through the inspired use of the surviving sources a complex monarchs with his own agenda and his own decisions. This does not make him infallible, but Momigliano was able to point out that this was an emperor with his very own view of Rome, which he managed to implement during his reign. Whether this was necessarily a good thing, is left to the reader to decide.I certainly thought it a well worthwhile read.

You picked a tough citation to start - let me show you how the citation for this book should look.

(no image) Claudius: The Emperor and His Achievement by Arnaldo Momigliano (no photo)

No caps needed in either (no image) or in (no photo). You do not have to add the book cover if there are no book covers available - however always check other editions first before giving up. In this case, there were none. You also had no author's photo.

Apologies and thanks for the correction, I hope to do better next time.

As Bentley noted, the citation where there is no book cover or author photo, is the hardest. A couple of practices following Bentley's example and you will have it down pat.

Thanks for the lesson, now all fixed.

Terrific - you learned one of the hardest exceptions (smile)

Good job. Birgitta.

2. by Anthony Everitt
Finish date: 16 January 2015
Genre: Ancient History, Biography
Rating: B

Review:This is a fairly recent biography of Augustus (published in 2006), but you would not know it from reading it. It is well written, some of the material is referenced, although not in the normal way, and I can see why people have described it as a Classic. It is, if your aim is to present the traditional historical story, little in the way of archaeology or some of the revisionist writing of the last twenty years by Ancient Historians and Art Historians/Archaeologists.

I would recommend it to people, who would like to make a start on the Roman Empire. If you already know about Augustus and the start of the Roman Empire, read something more complex, like
by
Werner Dahlheim(no photo)

It sounds interesting Birgitta Don't forget to put Review: and then start the text.

Like so -

Review: This is a fairly recent biography of Augustus (published in 2006), but you would not know it from ......

=========

You might also want to leave a blank line between paragraphs for readability - after Archaelogists

Other than that looking good and you completed what appears to be a scholarly text. Good for you.

Birgitta wrote: "2. by Anthony Everitt
Finish date: 16 January 2015
Genre: Ancient H..."

Good review, Birgitta. But you need to cite the book you recommended, like so -
by Werner Dahlheim (no photo)

Something else I missed - and place that additional citation at the bottom of the message box under your book format. Thanks Vicki

ok I will check back then if you need any help

3. by Bernd Schneidmüller(no photo) and Stefan Weinfurter(no photo)

Finish date: 16 January 2015
Genre: Medieval History
Rating: A

Review: This is a collection of papers on a conference held in Magdeburg on the impact of the Otto I on Europe. Taking Magdeburg, the most significan Ottonian foundation as its point of origin, the 17 papers cover architecture, but also the emergence of the coronation ritual, the impact of Otto I and II on Italy, the links between Wessex and Germany, but also an analysis of the coin issues and the role and importance of the Ottonian women (Mathilde, Edgytha, Adelheid and Theophanu).

Not an easy read, but exciting in its range and the carefully argued details. Something for the real fan/expert of the European Middle Ages.

4. by Annelise Fielding(no photo) and Andrew Fielding(no photo)
Finish date: 23 January 2015
Genre: Industrial History
Rating: B

Review: I live in Manchester/UK, which means I live in the centre of the early Industrialisation in Britain, 2 miles from here is one of the first water powered cotton weaving and spinning mills, 8 miles from here the waterframe for weaving and spinning silk was pioneered, Wedgwood's Etruria is about 30 miles from here and in the middle of it is one of Britain's largest rock salt deposit, which has been exploited since the Iron Age. So, hardly surprising that books on the Industrial history keep reappearing on my bookshelves. This one is a very short introduction to the processes involved in processing brine and rock salt in the UK. A short but informative read, by the acknowledged experts.

5. (no image) Open Pan Salt Making in Cheshire. An illustrated description by Tom Lightfootand Annelise Fielding (no Photo)
Finish Date: 23 January 2015
Genre: Industrial History
Rating: A/B

Review: This is a description of the processes used in producing salt from Brine in Winsford in Cheshire in the early part of the 20th century. Tom Lightfoot was a retired Saltworker and this is very much his book and his way of writing and it was probably originally written for a younger audience.
It is a huge asset, not only for its detailed description, but also for his huge vocabulary of specialist terms, many of which derive from the local (now mostly defunct) dialect.
It was edited for publication by Annelise Fielding, one of the world experts on the history of salt making.

6. (no image) The Meroe Expedition: Meroe Reports I by K. A. Grzymski(no photo)
Finish Date: 25 January 2015
Genre: Egyptian/African Archaeology/History
Rating: B

Review:This is the report on the Canadian excavations in Meroe in the 1980s. It is a deeply scholarly discussion and expects quite a lot of prior knowledge from the reader. However, if you have that knowledge it is a great piece of work, not least because of its discussion of the final phases of the settlement. On the other hand, his discussion of the number of inhabitants in ancient Meroitic Kush did not convince me. The army of Meroe was able to completely overrun the Augustan military installation between the first and second cataract, this would not have been possible with the small numbers he assumed lived under the control of Meroe.

7.(no image) Jews and Christians in Egypt: The Jewish Troubles in Alexandria and the Athanasian Controversy by H. Idris Bell(no photo)

Finish Date: 28 January 2015
Genre: Egyptian/Roman History; Papyrology
Rating: A

Sometimes a single document can completely change your perception of a person. The war time diary of Douglas Haig is one such document for me, and this book is another. It contains a number of first publications for important papyri. Most of them date to late antiquity and deal with the Melitan Schism and Athanasius of Alexandria, and while Theologians and Early Christian Historians will probably tut at this, I skipped them this time. My interest was the copy of a Letter Claudius wrote to the Alexandrians in reply to a series of embassies, some of which we already knew about thanks to Josephus (Jewish Antiquities) and Philo (the Embassy to Gaius), but this letter offers the Imperial Resolution to several years of political unrest and rioting and the language is so direct and fresh, that you can only grin at times. The image of the emperor starting out very businesslike and ending on a note that sound remarkably like my mother in her most exasperated moments, tells you not only about Claudius' ideas about provincial administration and the relationship between the emperor and his provincial towns, but it actually gives you a beautiful insight into this man's thought processes.

The fact that Idris Bell accompanied this with a very detailed discussion on what and how this changes our perception makes this book a real must read to anybody interested in the Roman Empire of the First Century.

Birgitta, your recent adds look very interesting.

When Goodreads has no cover picture for a book, our standard citation format is like so -

(no image) Jews and Christians in Egypt: The Jewish Troubles in Alexandria and the Athanasian Controversy by H. Idris Bell (no photo)

Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can get a cover picture by clicking on the "other editions" link under the Add button, but that didn't work for this book.

FEBRUARY

8. by Selçuk Altun

Finish Date: 1 February 2015
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: B

Review:Every now and then the setting of a book outstrips a storyline. Usually this is not considered a good thing. But this book may be the exception. Theoretically it is story of a man finding himself set a number of test to achieve an outrageous goal. Giving more detail would actually spoil the story. Unfortunately, the plot line is lost amongst the glorious descriptions, fortunately, these are excerpts of Byzantine History, descriptions of surviving Byzantine monuments, but also of Ottoman history and Turkish and Greek poetry with a link into the Byzantine world. As a result Selcuk Altun weaves a very lyrical but complex web of Byzantine culture and Byzantine survival into the Ottoman and Greek and Turkish Culture. If you are after a thriller/crime novel, you will probably think it boring, but if you like Byzantine culture, you will probably love this book for its descriptions and its ability to make connections.

Good work, Birgitta, glad you are learning the citations. For message 20, take out the title link and you got it. You will be a pro in no time.

9. by Eberhard Fohrer (no photo)

Finish Date: 1 February 2015
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: C

A brief and handy travel guide for the Northeastern corner of Italy. However, be warned, while you will find lots about hiking and food and places to stay, this is really rather short changing you on the history or the sights of the area. A two sentence. There is a cathedral, it is worth seeing isn't really enough to prepare a study tour.

10. by David N. Edwards (no photo)

Finish Date: 15 February 2015
Genre: African History/ Archaeology
Rating: B

Possibly at the moment the standard introduction into the Subject. This does not make it an easy read and the really rather limited amount of illustration means that you really have to read this next to the computer to look up the pictures online.
On the up side, it is full to the brim with information on the excavations and surveys in the area as well as discussions as to biases. The one think it does not touch is the question of how to interpret this. Colour is not a topic of this book (possibly as in archaeology, this is very hard to establish under the best conditions), so if you are interested in Black History, you might feel short changed, as it is not covered. But instead you get a very detailed introduction about Sudanese Archaeology and History, covering all of the Sudan, incl. Darfur.

11. (no image) Le Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia.Itinerari dei Musei, Gallerie e Monumenti D'Italia by Vittorio Moschini (no photo)

Finish Date: 15 February 2015
Genre: Art History/Museum Catalogue
Rating: c

A lovely old catalogue from the original Italian Post-War series of guide books to the historic sites and museums and as such already a historical document to the reawakening Italian tourism of the post-war era.

Great job on the citations and format, Birgitta. Just missing one thing. Add Review: before you begin your review. Thanks.

Also Birgitta - you forgot the word Review: as Bryan noted from message 18 on - you had it before.

Also in message 24 - you might want to capitalize your rating - not c but C