Since you are reading Roberts' George III book atm 'The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding'; Eric Nelson; Harvard University Press; 2014 would complement it more than adequately I think.
What do you mean by post-Alexandrian, the man; the city; or the era?
Robin Lane Fox (Advised on Oliver Stone's 'Alexander' and you can spot him charging with the Hetaroi at one point!) is your man for Alexander the Great; I'd use his bibliography for pointers to the immediate Diadochid era. For the wars of the Diadochi: 'Dividing the Spoils'; Robin Waterfield; OUP; 2011 and ITS bibliography for the wider aspects of the era too. Anything by John D. Grainger: Waterfield particularly notes 'Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom'; Routledge; 1990, and 'Hellenistic Phoenicia'; OUP; 1992.
There are later tomes of course; but 'The Age of Reconnaissance'; J. H. Parry; Berkley: University of California Press; 1981 is a good overview of Europe's discovery of the rest of the world.
'The Origins of the English Parliament 924-1327'; J. R. Maddicott; OUP; 2010 for our constitutional origins and Dr. David Starkey is indispensable for the topic in general. See 'David Starkey Talks'; his YouTube.
'The Washing of the Spears: The rise and fall of the Zulu Nation'; Donald R. Morris; Konecky Konecky; 1994. There is a lot of mythology around the Zulu though, so it is a topic for reading widely and critically on and taking with a large pinch of salt.
Thanks very much for these recommendations! One more suggestion on the American Revolution — “The radicalism of the American Revolution” by Gordon Wood. He is a great writer and emphasizes how the Revolution was fundamentally democratic in nature. The founders tried to restrain these forces w a republican constitution / “republican virtue,”
but they failed and their govt was already undermined by the early 1800s
I would encourage Kantorowicz’s Frederick II to be ready earlier on the list. And it goes very well with Robert Norton’s “Secret Germany: Stefan George and His Circle”
Kantorowicz was in the Stefan George circle and wrote Frederick II under the principles of the George Circle. In the latter book you will learn about many other relatively obscure German writers of the period (Alfred Schuler, Ludwig Klages, Friedrich Guldolf). These were all relatively untranslated when I read the book a few years ago (with the exception of “The Mantle of Caesar” by Gundolf, which is excellent, and some of Klages works). Thankfully Grok has helped me to translate the untranslated works of Schuler. And now when you read it you have access to all of Stefan George’s poetry in English which was not easily obtainable at the time (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323867596.pdf). The book is an experience.
Plutarch’s Lives include a few on the post-Alexandrian period: Eumenes, Demetrius, Pyrrhus. The Age Of Alexander (Penguin Classics 2011) bundles them together, but the other Lives are from before Alexander and (of course) Alexander himself.
If you are interested in reading about the Zulus I'D recommend readin the books of Anglo-South African historian Ian Knight who has written a number of books on the subject. "By the Orders of the Great White Queen: Campaining in Zululand through the eyes of the British Soldier, 1879" is an interesting read. There's also "The Zulus at War" by Adrian Greaves and Xolani Mkhize (I believe he is a Zulu himself). There's also "The Washing of the Spears" by Donald R. Morris.
Thanks for sharing your reading list! War on music sounds especially interesting.
I'm not reading anything too sophisticated, some historical mead making books by Laura Angotti (i make mead) and Women's Work: the first 20,000 (addresses textiles)
Regarding British constitutional history, have you considered reading Blackstone's commentaries on the laws of England? A historically pretty significant text. Of course, it won't have the changes to England since then. (I haven't read it myself, to date, so I don't know how good it is, or how closely it adheres to what you want.)
I wasn't aware that there was all that much Buddhist/Hindu influence in Europe. I know that Buddha got turned into a Christian saint (Barlaam).
PS: Andrew Robert's George III is outstanding in my view. At the very least, it reminds us of how much of our own history comes to us through an American lens. Still, we did to burn down the White House, the last time they threatened Canada.
It's been v illuminating so far, the huge wealth of new archival documents he had access to sounds like all previous works on George will fall short of the mark now
We're best of friends now, of course. Still, I do find myself occasionally tempted by Macron's siren call for European strategic autonomy. But on further consideration, that's really just code for surrender to Putin and, after all, Macron is French; the Germans are the Germans etc.
Better for my country to double its military spending to fund a couple of proper carrier strike groups, pal up with the Poles and the Baltics; and you chaps, of course.
Right now I'm reading "On limited nuclear war in the 21st century", meanwhile annotating "Gestión y conservación de las riberas naturales" for an article I'm planning. Yesterday I read someone here making a few articles on the o9a and its influence over time but I can't find it
RE Mithin I'm interested how he handles archeological evidence for metaphor being quite sparse before 50,000 years ago, about the time that Homo Sapiens took over the world, but much after splits in the human family tree. Does he hold we had metaphor/language 300,000 years ago, but didn't do anything with it? And what of the changes in skull shape in the last 50,000 years?
I'm on page 272 of Mithen's book (out of 399) and have not gotten to his conclusion yet. But he seems to be building the case for a gradual emergence of language, where ape like calls become iconic sounds which complexify into phrases and arbitrary words. He argues that probably c.400kya we reached a language threshold of some kind with words for concrete objects, but that the capability for metaphor and abstract words/thought didn't arrive until much much later. He argues language and tools/technology probably co-evolved, and thus we can infer language capabilities from technological advancements. (Agriculture being a big advancement that I think he'll link to metaphorical thought, but I haven't gotten that far yet).
He does discuss brain shape, but not changes within the last 50kya. (By then we definitely had language so it's not as relevant to his thesis). Instead he's looking for early clues about brain evolution and finds that e.g. Broca's area probably evolved around the time Acheulean tool industry appeared. He finds this to be evidence that Broca's area may have originally been for tool making and then later repurposed for language too. This supports his premise that language/tool capabilities are intertwined.
I think his thesis is very much in line with EToC, although he doesn't discuss consciousness or snake venom or anything. But the timeline is supportive imo. (In fact, your blog is a big reason for my interest in this subject matter!)
Yeah, one detail I like in Genesis is that Adam named all of the animals while in Eden. Even before language and self-awareness, humans would have communicated with words. Pre-grammatical Homonin would have had encyclopedic knowledge of nature.
In podcasts I sometimes struggle to explain to people that the timeline of symbolic thought is really recent, and this isn't my idea. Would like to read Mithin's book, but quite a back log
I originally heard about Mithen's book from an ACX book review submission that did not make the 2024 finals...but you can still access the google doc through this post:
Since you are reading Roberts' George III book atm 'The Royalist Revolution: Monarchy and the American Founding'; Eric Nelson; Harvard University Press; 2014 would complement it more than adequately I think.
What do you mean by post-Alexandrian, the man; the city; or the era?
Robin Lane Fox (Advised on Oliver Stone's 'Alexander' and you can spot him charging with the Hetaroi at one point!) is your man for Alexander the Great; I'd use his bibliography for pointers to the immediate Diadochid era. For the wars of the Diadochi: 'Dividing the Spoils'; Robin Waterfield; OUP; 2011 and ITS bibliography for the wider aspects of the era too. Anything by John D. Grainger: Waterfield particularly notes 'Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom'; Routledge; 1990, and 'Hellenistic Phoenicia'; OUP; 1992.
There are later tomes of course; but 'The Age of Reconnaissance'; J. H. Parry; Berkley: University of California Press; 1981 is a good overview of Europe's discovery of the rest of the world.
'The Origins of the English Parliament 924-1327'; J. R. Maddicott; OUP; 2010 for our constitutional origins and Dr. David Starkey is indispensable for the topic in general. See 'David Starkey Talks'; his YouTube.
'The Washing of the Spears: The rise and fall of the Zulu Nation'; Donald R. Morris; Konecky Konecky; 1994. There is a lot of mythology around the Zulu though, so it is a topic for reading widely and critically on and taking with a large pinch of salt.
Thank you so much, these look great! Exactly what I was looking for
Thanks very much for these recommendations! One more suggestion on the American Revolution — “The radicalism of the American Revolution” by Gordon Wood. He is a great writer and emphasizes how the Revolution was fundamentally democratic in nature. The founders tried to restrain these forces w a republican constitution / “republican virtue,”
but they failed and their govt was already undermined by the early 1800s
On early Buddhist influence on Europe, it doesn’t get much earlier than:
Christopher I. Beckwith, Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.
Like a lot of Beckwith’s stuff, it’s speculative but spectacular in its intellectual gymnastics.
I'll def be tracking down a copy, thank you bill!
You’re welcome. Let me know what you think.
I read The Glorious Cause on mystery groves recommendation and it's a very good overview of the American revolution
Nice, I should check out some of his other reccs, thank you
I would encourage Kantorowicz’s Frederick II to be ready earlier on the list. And it goes very well with Robert Norton’s “Secret Germany: Stefan George and His Circle”
Book pairings, like wine pairings. I know little about Stefan George so that sounds perfect, thank you!
Kantorowicz was in the Stefan George circle and wrote Frederick II under the principles of the George Circle. In the latter book you will learn about many other relatively obscure German writers of the period (Alfred Schuler, Ludwig Klages, Friedrich Guldolf). These were all relatively untranslated when I read the book a few years ago (with the exception of “The Mantle of Caesar” by Gundolf, which is excellent, and some of Klages works). Thankfully Grok has helped me to translate the untranslated works of Schuler. And now when you read it you have access to all of Stefan George’s poetry in English which was not easily obtainable at the time (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/323867596.pdf). The book is an experience.
Plutarch’s Lives include a few on the post-Alexandrian period: Eumenes, Demetrius, Pyrrhus. The Age Of Alexander (Penguin Classics 2011) bundles them together, but the other Lives are from before Alexander and (of course) Alexander himself.
Good point
If you are interested in reading about the Zulus I'D recommend readin the books of Anglo-South African historian Ian Knight who has written a number of books on the subject. "By the Orders of the Great White Queen: Campaining in Zululand through the eyes of the British Soldier, 1879" is an interesting read. There's also "The Zulus at War" by Adrian Greaves and Xolani Mkhize (I believe he is a Zulu himself). There's also "The Washing of the Spears" by Donald R. Morris.
I've had so many good recommendations from readers I've opened a word document to keep track of them all, thank you!
Thanks for sharing your reading list! War on music sounds especially interesting.
I'm not reading anything too sophisticated, some historical mead making books by Laura Angotti (i make mead) and Women's Work: the first 20,000 (addresses textiles)
It's funny that we are both reading the Sea of Fertility this year. I just recently finished Spring Snow.
Also just recently finished Heart of Darkness.
Currently reading:
The Sorrows of Young Werther (Goethe)
Bronze Age Mindset (again)
Twilight of the Idols (Nietzche)
Regarding British constitutional history, have you considered reading Blackstone's commentaries on the laws of England? A historically pretty significant text. Of course, it won't have the changes to England since then. (I haven't read it myself, to date, so I don't know how good it is, or how closely it adheres to what you want.)
I wasn't aware that there was all that much Buddhist/Hindu influence in Europe. I know that Buddha got turned into a Christian saint (Barlaam).
Great suggestions—have ordered two of those books myself!
Wagner and Politics: could not resist.
PS: Andrew Robert's George III is outstanding in my view. At the very least, it reminds us of how much of our own history comes to us through an American lens. Still, we did to burn down the White House, the last time they threatened Canada.
It's been v illuminating so far, the huge wealth of new archival documents he had access to sounds like all previous works on George will fall short of the mark now
Ha! Well come and take it, John Bull! Sincerely, Billy Yank
We're best of friends now, of course. Still, I do find myself occasionally tempted by Macron's siren call for European strategic autonomy. But on further consideration, that's really just code for surrender to Putin and, after all, Macron is French; the Germans are the Germans etc.
Better for my country to double its military spending to fund a couple of proper carrier strike groups, pal up with the Poles and the Baltics; and you chaps, of course.
History is history; now is now. There it is :)
Amen, good sir!
Just finished American Nations by Woodard and about to start Albion’s Seed by David Hackett Fischer for context surrounding the American Revolution
Right now I'm reading "On limited nuclear war in the 21st century", meanwhile annotating "Gestión y conservación de las riberas naturales" for an article I'm planning. Yesterday I read someone here making a few articles on the o9a and its influence over time but I can't find it
RE Mithin I'm interested how he handles archeological evidence for metaphor being quite sparse before 50,000 years ago, about the time that Homo Sapiens took over the world, but much after splits in the human family tree. Does he hold we had metaphor/language 300,000 years ago, but didn't do anything with it? And what of the changes in skull shape in the last 50,000 years?
I'm on page 272 of Mithen's book (out of 399) and have not gotten to his conclusion yet. But he seems to be building the case for a gradual emergence of language, where ape like calls become iconic sounds which complexify into phrases and arbitrary words. He argues that probably c.400kya we reached a language threshold of some kind with words for concrete objects, but that the capability for metaphor and abstract words/thought didn't arrive until much much later. He argues language and tools/technology probably co-evolved, and thus we can infer language capabilities from technological advancements. (Agriculture being a big advancement that I think he'll link to metaphorical thought, but I haven't gotten that far yet).
He does discuss brain shape, but not changes within the last 50kya. (By then we definitely had language so it's not as relevant to his thesis). Instead he's looking for early clues about brain evolution and finds that e.g. Broca's area probably evolved around the time Acheulean tool industry appeared. He finds this to be evidence that Broca's area may have originally been for tool making and then later repurposed for language too. This supports his premise that language/tool capabilities are intertwined.
I think his thesis is very much in line with EToC, although he doesn't discuss consciousness or snake venom or anything. But the timeline is supportive imo. (In fact, your blog is a big reason for my interest in this subject matter!)
Yeah, one detail I like in Genesis is that Adam named all of the animals while in Eden. Even before language and self-awareness, humans would have communicated with words. Pre-grammatical Homonin would have had encyclopedic knowledge of nature.
In podcasts I sometimes struggle to explain to people that the timeline of symbolic thought is really recent, and this isn't my idea. Would like to read Mithin's book, but quite a back log
I originally heard about Mithen's book from an ACX book review submission that did not make the 2024 finals...but you can still access the google doc through this post:
https://open.substack.com/pub/astralcodexten/p/choose-book-review-finalists-2024?r=1yp6ik&utm_medium=ios
If no time to read the book, the ACX book review is a good proxy.