I have dipped in and out of this book, not a thorough reading at all. Here for my own purposes, I will record only the list of people towards the back of the book who have in some way epitomised knwoledge and occasionally wisdom, who might be worth knowing more about some time. This is … Continue reading Knowing what we know by Simon Winchester
Based on the book Dominion by Tom Holland, this post covers the period of the Enlightenment c 1750 through to the modern Era A Jewish student of Manasseh, Baruch Spinoza, expelled by the Jewish synagogue in Amserdam, in 1656, writes a book, his Theological-Political Treatise in defence of religious liberty. He brought a new philosophy, … Continue reading A brief history of Christianity (part 4 of 4)
Based on the book Dominion by Tom Holland. This post covers The discovery of the New World, the reformation period from c1500 to c1750 and overlaps with what we now call the Renaissance era… In Spain Isabella is queen of Castile, and her husband, king Ferdinand of the neighbouring realm of Aragon have pushed back … Continue reading A brief history of Christianity (Part 3 of 4)
Based on Tom Holland’s book Dominion. This section covers c1000 to c1500, including the Latin Reformatio, and the crusades. In c1025 some clerics in Orleans claimed there was no such thing as the church and are the first to be executed as heretics. Up to this point priests, unlike monks, had never pledged themselves to … Continue reading A brief history of Christianity (part 2 of 4)
This is based on my reading of Dominion by Tom Holland, who gives a detailed narrative the history of the development of Christianity and its influence on global thinking over two millennia. In the words of Jewish scholar Boyarin, Christianity emerges from the Roman Empire as ‘the most powerful of hegemonic cultural system in the … Continue reading A brief history of Christianity (1 of 4)
What a brilliant novel. I will keep this short but suffice it to say, one of the best books I have read in many years, beautifully constructed. The story is historical fiction centred on a fictional industrialist pre World War One, built around a spy/murder who-dun-it plot. What makes it brilliant is the construction where … Continue reading Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears
A fascinating read about human evolution from c 12000 bc by a scientist anthropologist with tremendous real world experience. He hypothesises about the key driving forces that have really made the world as we know it today, a world largely dominated by Eurasian societies and provides compelling evidence in support of those hypotheses. This book … Continue reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
A wonderful introduction to Greek mythology which I have always been curious about but never found a really accessible read. For my own remembrance I am just going to summarise some of the key characters and relationships here: The First Order – primordial deities – often the idea of the god and the thing they … Continue reading Mythos by Stephen Fry
Here's something that inspired me... 