Christopher Riedel

More than just good information

Revisado: 08-25-24

It's very common for the history books that get adapted to audio to be little more than chronologies of events, sometimes well-told but still lacking any historical analysis. Harris here has given us a well told narrative that should appeal to both lay reader unfamiliar with the Byzantines and Crusade aficionados, but he's done more. This book has a clear analysis that explains clearly and persuasively why the tragic disaster of the Fourth Crusade happened, a compelling long-view, deep-dive-into-culture approach that will change how I teach the role of Byzantium to my students.

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Thorough on events, weak on analysis

Revisado: 07-30-24

If you're interested in a blow-by-blow history of the later and lesser Ptolemies, with some sidetreks into the Seleucids, this is a very thorough overview. It's not really what it claims to be though, there's no particularly clear focus on the Cleopatras and what it meant to be queen in this era, beyond a "people judge women in power more harshly," which yes is absolutely true but is rather superficial. I was hoping for more takeaway ideas, and mostly got chronology. Fair bit of unnecessary fat-shaming thrown about as well, as much as the author recognizes that the sources portray the Ptolemies in a sensationalist light he is more than happy to indulge in those titillitating details and assume he knows the inner minds of his subjects. Clearly knows his stuff (the "further reading" postscript is perhaps the most useful part of the book) but I think has tried a little too hard to write "for the masses" and overshot that target for anyone interested enough to pick up a book on this obscure a topic.

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Fascinating ride!

Revisado: 06-23-23

This is very complex political narrative, but well told and displaying the really interwoven nature of medieval Europe (often assumed by modern audiences to be quite the oppodite). I teach medieval history to college students and learned a great deal from this story that deepened and enriched what I knew already. I would definitely assign it to undergrads in elective courses.

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Well narrated

Revisado: 02-11-22

It’s a 1900-year-old, 80+ hour book. It’s not the most scintillating thing by modern standards, but it’s a fantastically important source about the ancient world, in many cases our only source. The conceit of “parallel lives” is also a fascinating lens, and this gives a great sense of what was valued in classical cultural. The narrator does a solid job, varied tone, a bit old fashioned in style but it works for the text.

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A different view of the Crusades

Revisado: 10-04-20

Morton is part of the recent generation of scholars who have finally taken both sides of the Crusades with equal seriousness, and in the process demonstrated that there are far more than two sides. But Morton has carved out a compelling niche by carefully examining an overlooked period: after Jerusalem’s conquest in 1099 but before the new Kingdom flourished in the 1050s. What we get is a fascinating look at the early Crusader States and, more importantly, one of the clearest examples of a carefully crafted hostorical investigation and argument I have ever read. Contrary to many pessimistic historical views that fixate on the failure of the Crusading venture, Morton argues that the Crusaders had a brief window in which they could have succeeded in establishing a self-sustaining and unassailable position had they captured one of the three key Muslim cities, but most critically Aleppo. His argument is clear, lucid, and compelling, and alongside his focus on this neglected era truly gives a different perspective on a subject that has been retrodden many times. Like nearly all Crusade histories, this one can get a bit bogged down in battle after battle, but Morton lives this up a great deal by interspering background information adroitly throughout to break up the war stories that all too often in other books all blend together. A masterful display of historical writing.

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A complex, compelling, & wholistic view

Revisado: 10-04-20

Wickham is one of the foremost historians of the era alive, and his comfortable mastery of the material is on full display. Each chapter draws you in with an example like a detailed snapshot, and ends with a clear summation. The political narrative is never neglected but seldom strung out too long, and balanced with a strong narrative explaining the evolving realities of life for ordinary folk. Anyone interested in this era wholistically, or even the context for a smaller part, should begin here.

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Good story, bland performance

Revisado: 11-15-17

The Name of the Wind itself is a fun read. It's generic fantasy, but done superbly. You won't find anything new here but you will get the very best of the form.

The reader, though, is not helping. He has a very bland delivery, somewhat improved by his accents and character voices (which can be quite evocative at times), but his narration and main character voice, maybe three quarters of reading, is very unappealing. If I could get a different narrator I would buy the book again.

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Classic

Revisado: 03-21-15

I came to Tolkien later in life than most, but love his work no less for it. Even after teaching a college course on his inspirations from medieval history, I still find new connections and surprises, and places where he remains poignantly modern instead. It is here well told, and even admirably sung where needed.

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