Over at The New York Review of Books, Peter Brown covers Alan Cameron’s recently published tome The Last Pagans of Rome. For those of us who are not classicists, it appears that an abridged volume would be useful sometime in the future. I suppose I will read it before then but it looks a bit daunting for someone interested in a more synoptic treatment.
In a dual review, Malise Ruthven covers Fred Donner’s Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam and Bernard Lewis’ Faith and Power: Religion and Politics in the Middle East. Though not entirely believable, Donner’s book is essential reading for anyone interested in early Islamic history. Lewis has written better books but if you have not read any of his work, this is a lite introduction.
