Patristics Guy

Expectations are everything

Revisado: 08-07-23

I heard about this book through an excellent presentation by Mandelbaum in a Council of Foreign Relation podcast (summer 2022). It was an engaging conversation and made me eager to read/hear the book. So I was surprised to read some reviews that said the book was good chiefly as an introductory textbook. I have to agree. How many stars one gives it depends on the reader's background. If you are interested in American history but don't have a background in foreign affairs, this book will be really informative. It is clearly and engagingly written. If, however, you are a specialist in foreign policy or a layperson who regularly reads about foreign affairs orAmerican history, you probably won't hear anything new. Expectations are everything. I had hoped Four Ages would be the sort of meta-history, like Kissinger's Diplomacy (five stars), or have the analysis of Mandelbaum's Frugal Superpower. Alas, it did not meet my expectations. So for me the content was three stars. However, were I new to diplomatic history it would merit four or possibly five stars.

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Warren S

Revisado: 06-24-23

I have heard it said that it is easier for novelist to write about vicious characters than it is to create a virtuous character who is believable. George Elliot has created in Adam Bede and Dinah Morris two virtuous characters who are also complex. Thus, George Eliot, like her fellow, Victorian novelist, uses this novel as an occasion for the reader’s reflection and moral improvement of his character. Nadia May’s Nelly masters the heavy northern dialect that George Elliot commits to print. Therefore, this is one of the finest performances I have listened to. if you like, Victorian novels, this one is not to be missed.

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Historically inaccurate premise

Revisado: 09-18-21

In the company of Robert Harris, Steven Saylor, and Colleen McCullough, Stephen Presfiel stands as one of the best historical fiction writers treating the ancient world. His Gates of Fire is a brilliant window in the Spartan culture. A Man at Arms, however, did not live up to the high standard of his other works. The best historical fiction has two elements: a great story and a vivid and historically insightful depiction of life in a bygone era. While Pressfield’s writing is as crisp as ever, the historical premise of the book is dubious to say the least. Simply put, there was no sweeping persecution of Christians by the Romans in the mid-first century. The Romans barely made a distinction between Christians and Jews prior to the Jewish revolt of AD 70. While Nero persecuted Christians in Rome, using them as a scapegoat for his own burning of portions of the city, he did not extend that persecution outside of Rome. And in Pliny’s epistle 96 to the emperor Trajan it is clear that there was no official policy toward Christians around 112. If you like historical fiction that actually teaches you about history, this book will not give an accurate picture of Roman-Christian relations. A better read on the subject is Robert Wilkin’s book Christians as the Romans Saw Them.

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