Tom Holland – In the Shadow of the Sword (2012)
The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam.
No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path.
Verdict: 3/5
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A lavish collection of 150 contemporary maps of the world’s greatest battles. This unique collection highlights the extraordinary influence cartography has had on the nature of warfare. The ideal gift for both history and map lovers, this stunning book provides a captivating illustrated history of the last 500 years of warfare.
Verdict: 4/5
Go to topJudith Flanders: The Invention of Murder (2011)
In this fascinating exploration of murder in the nineteenth century, Judith Flanders examines some of the most gripping cases that captivated the Victorians and gave rise to the first detective fiction
Murder in the nineteenth century was rare. But murder as sensation and entertainment became ubiquitous, with cold-blooded killings transformed into novels, broadsides, ballads, opera, and melodrama—even into puppet shows and performing dog-acts. Detective fiction and the new police force developed in parallel, each imitating the other—the founders of Scotland Yard gave rise to Dickens’s Inspector Bucket, the first fictional police detective, who in turn influenced Sherlock Holmes and, ultimately, even P.D. James and Patricia Cornwell.
In this meticulously researched and engrossing book, Judith Flanders retells the gruesome stories of many different types of murder, both famous and obscure: from Greenacre, who transported his dismembered fiancée around town by omnibus, to Burke and Hare’s bodysnatching business in Edinburgh; from the crimes (and myths) of Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper, to the tragedy of the murdered Marr family in London’s East End. Through these stories of murder—from the brutal to the pathetic—Flanders builds a rich and multi-faceted portrait of Victorian society. With an irresistible cast of swindlers, forgers, and poisoners, the mad, the bad and the utterly dangerous, The Invention of Murder is both a mesmerizing tale of crime and punishment, and history at its most readable.
Verdict: 4/5
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For his first book, The Know-It-All, A. J. Jacobs read the entire Encyclopædia Britannica from cover to cover in a quest to learn everything in the world. In The Year of Living Biblically, he followed every single rule of the Bible — from the Ten Commandments right on down to stoning adulterers.
Now comes a collection of his most hilarious and thought-provoking experiments yet. In his role as human guinea pig, Jacobs fearlessly takes on a series of life-altering challenges that provides readers with equal parts insight and humor. (And which drives A.J.’s patient wife, Julie, to the brink of insanity.)
Among the many adventures:
• He outsources his life. A.J. hires a team of people in Bangalore, India, to take care of everything in his life from answering his e-mails to arguing with his spouse.
• He spends a month practicing Radical Honesty — a movement that encourages us to remove the filters between our brains and mouths. (To give you an idea of what happened, the name of the chapter is “I Think You’re Fat.”)
• He goes to the Academy Awards disguised as a movie star to understand the strange and warping effects of fame.
• He commits himself to ultimate rationality, using cutting-edge science to make the best decisions possible. It changes the way he makes choices big and small, from what to buy at the grocery store to how to talk to his kids. And his revelations will change how you make decisions, too.
• He attempts to follow George Washington’s rules of life, uncovering surprising truths about leadership and politics in the twenty-first century. He also spends a lot of time bowing and doffing his hat.
• And then there’s the month when he followed his wife’s every whim — foot massages, Kate Hudson movies, and all. Depending on your point of view, it’s either the best or worst idea in the history of American marriage.
A mix of Bill Bryson, George Plimpton, and Malcolm Gladwell, A.J. explores the big issues of our time — happiness, dating, morality, marriage — by immersing himself in eye-opening situations. You’ll be entertained by these stories — some of which are new, some of which had their start in Esquire magazine. But you’ll also learn to look at life in new ways.
The Guinea Pig Diaries is a book packed with both laughs and enlightenment — and that’s a promise we can make with Radical Honesty.
Verdict: 4/5
Go to topRichard Matheson – I Am Legend (1954)
Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth… but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville’s blood.
By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.
How long can one man survive like this?
Verdict: 4/5
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What could stop Steven Spielberg from making a movie about aliens? Who pulled the plug on Alfred Hitchcock’s “Kaleidoscope”? Why did Orson Welles say he had “wasted the greater part” of his life? What prevented David Lynch’s “Ronnie Rocket” from getting off the ground? All is revealed in “The Greatest Movies You’ll Never See.”
A movie can boast a legendary director, a superlative script, and the hottest stars, but studio jitters, spiraling budgets, on-set clashes, and overreaching ambition can all conspire to keep it from being made. Even events off-set can conspire to stop the mightiest movies in their tracks. Witness the collapse of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” in the aftermath of 9/11, or the demise of “Something’s Got to Give” following the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe (leaving the most famous sequence in the history of unmade movies). In exhaustive detail, this book untangles the misfortune, quarrels, and twists of fate that doomed some of the greatest movies you’ll never see.
With dozens of directing from Kubrick to the Coen Brothers and stars from Salvador Dali to the Sex Pistols, the eye-opening entries in “The Greatest Movies You’ll Never See” unravel just why unmade masterpieces are stuck in “development hell” and assess the chances of them ever being completed and released. Each ill-fated work–from Charlie Chaplin’s pet project on Napoleon to David Fincher’s foray into sex and mutation–is examined in an in-depth essay. Selected entries boast script extracts, test footage frames, and concept art. Sidebars shine a spotlight on related movies, stars, and sources. Acclaimed designers and illustrators have executed spectacular original poster artwork–loyal to the vision of each original director–to accompany each of the unmade films.
Verdict: 4/5
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