Search Books
Browse Content
Book Review
People of the Ecotone: Environment and Indigenous Power at the Center of Early America
A stereotype in past research toward Native American history is that Native American communities had simple and primitive cultures and were mostly 'reactors' to European colonialism. Robert Michael Morrissey, in People of the Ecotone: Environment...
Book Review
Beyond the Silk Roads: Trade, Mobility and Geopolitics across Eurasia
This is the story of the "informal networks" established and maintained by mobile traders from the modern geographical region of Afghanistan who move goods across Eurasia in the 21st century. Magnus Marsden builds upon the historical and...
Book Review
The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games
The Naked Olympics is a quick and cinematic read that brings an ancient tradition to life with colorful writing. Unlike many other books available on the Greek Olympics that are marketed towards children, Tony Perrottet’s approach does not...
Book Review
The Extraordinary Journey of David Ingram: An Elizabethan Sailor in Native North America
In the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa in September 1568 near present-day Veracruz, Mexico, the privateer John Hawkins' ships were badly damaged by the Spanish navy. Marooned by the enemy, around 100 of Hawkins' seamen believed they could not...
Book Review
The King’s Road: Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road
Since the appearance of "world history" as an academic subgenre in the 1990s, the Silk Road has received considerable attention. The causes behind this focus of scholarly attention are not difficult to understand. For those seeking an alternate...
Book Review
The Philosophy of the Brahma-Sutra: An Introduction
This book is a spectacular addition to the literature on the Brahma-Sutra, a core text in Hindu religious and philosophical thought. Its estimated completion date was between 400 CE to 450 CE, and scholars have believed that some of its materials...
Book Review
The Archaeology of Iran from the Palaeolithic to the Achaemenid Empire
The latest title in the Routledge World Archaeology book series, The Archaeology of Iran from the Palaeolithic to the Achaemenid Empire, provides an analysis of the archaeology and early history of Iran from the Lower and Upper Palaeolithic...
Book Review
The Inner Life of Catholic Reform: From the Council of Trent to the Enlightenment
Ulrich Lehner’s The Inner Life of Catholic Reform: From the Council of Trent to the Enlightenment came into fruition after Lehner published several works on the Catholic Enlightenment, which he defines as a “variety of actors within the fold...
Book Review
Plagues Upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History
At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in October 2020, Brown University hosted the Pandemics and Plagues in Antiquity webinar lecture series. Kyle Harper, Professor of Classics at the University of Oklahoma, hosted the first session. The...
Book Review
Hunting: A Cultural History
From the Stone Age, hunting had certain functional purposes to bringing food for one's community. The adrenaline and excitement that hunting provides continue to attract people in the modern world to this antique technique. In Hunting: A...