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Book Review
Creating the Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Study
Stephen J. Shoemaker’s Creating the Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Study is, in brief, an argument for placing the “closure” of the Qur’an, its development into the definitive form we know today, in 8th century Iraq and Syria, as opposed to...
Book Review
A Noble Ruin: Mark Antony, Civil War, and the Collapse of the Roman Republic
Despite Tatum's best efforts, it is hard to call this book a proper biography of Mark Antony. As the subtitle suggests, Tatum attempts to chronicle Mark Antony’s life, the multiple civil wars throughout it, and the broader narrative of the...
Book Review
American Exceptionalism: A New History of an Old Idea
In framing his discussion of American exceptionalism, the author employs two methodological approaches referencing Seymour Martin Lipset, a social scientist, and Mircea Eliade, a philosopher. Lipset, the author holds, evaluated the U.S. against...
Book Review
Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880
Jean-Michel Johnston's Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880 primarily targets scholars, students, and enthusiasts who have a keen interest in the intersection of technology, society, and culture during 19th-century...
Book Review
The Slavic Myths
The Slavic Myths, by the historian Noah Charney and the anthropologist and historian Svetlana Slapšak, is a wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated book delving into various Slavic myths, gods, and supernatural figures as well as...
Book Review
Nero: Emperor and Court
Of the many emperors of Rome, there is one who has been given considerable attention and is often portrayed in a negative light. In Nero: Emperor and Court, John F. Drinkwater challenges the traditional notions attributed to Nero and offers...
Book Review
Lost Cities of the Ancient World
Lost Cities of the Ancient World by Philip ‘Maty’ Matyszak compiles the individual histories of cities across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia into one volume, linking cities thousands of years and kilometers apart with the simple fact that...
Book Review
Emotions Across Cultures: Ancient China and Greece
Emotions Across Cultures: Ancient China and Greece brings together nine distinguished scholars working with modern and ancient texts from China and Greece to investigate emotional history’s potential to address cross-cultural and trans-historical...
Book Review
The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana
When thinking about early Chinese American history, people often point to the Transcontinental Railroad and California's Gold Rush. However, Chinese residents also built their communities in the American Midwest. Mark T. Johnson's research...
Book Review
A Nation So Conceived: Abraham Lincoln and the Paradox of Democratic Sovereignty
Michael Zuckert, the Nancy R. Dreux Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, has included his analysis of some of Lincoln’s mostly noteworthy speeches, such as the House Divided Speech and both inaugural addresses...