Alexander Jones, ‘A Portable Cosmos’
This is an extremely interesting book. The Antikythera mechanism is the remains of an Ancient Greek astronomical device, which was found in a shipwreck at the beginning of the twentieth century. Although, once properly examined its importance was recognized, it nature, several lumps of corroded metal resisted full interpretation until the development of modern imaging technology. In this book we are taken through the mechanism’s discovery and subsequent analysis. The author uses this as the framework for a fascinating description of Babylonian and Greek astronomy. Armed with this, we are then led through how the reconstructed device functioned. This is not always straightforward, and the book would benefit from better illustrations of the gearing, especially the slot and pin linkage.
However, that is a minor fault. Overall, I found the book fascinating and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in astronomy, mechanics or ancient history.
Oxford University Press, Kindle edition
Mark Healy, ‘Qadesh 1300 BC, clash of the warrior kings’
This short book covers the background and events of the battle between Egyptian and Hittite forces that took place at the city of Qadesh. It is not an academic work and does not spent much time discussing alternative interpretations of the historical and archeological evidence. I think that the book is aimed mainly at people wanting an overview for the purposes of war gaming. In this it succeeds very well and presents its material concisely. I would have liked more discussion and weighing up of evidence, but that is outside the scope of the book: it certainly whetted my appetite to know more about the battle and its background, so I think that it has been successful. There is a short bibliography. The only major criticism that I have concerns the illustrations, these are of poor quality, both photographs and line drawings could have been much better. However, the military artwork and the maps are excellent.
Overall, I would recommend this to anyone with a interest in military history or ancient warfare and politics.
Osprey Publishing, 96 pages
Lauren Owen, ‘The Quick’
I found this an extremely frustrating book. The writing is good, very good, but the dramatic pacing is non-existent. Everything seemed to be told and retold from every perspective; relatively unimportant characters given long and detailed back stories. A whole chapter could have been replaced with ‘they got my fiancée!’, that would have been enough. At one point I wondered if the book would be improved by reading every other chapter! Rich in atmosphere, poor in drama.
What makes it worse is that the book is beautifully written, in academically perfect phrases, but shorn of pacing and drama.
I really cannot recommend this book, and that is sad because with good editing it could be very good.
Random House, Kindle edition
W. J. Murnane, The road to Kadesh, A historical interpretation of the battle reliefs of King Seti I at Karnak’
I read this as a compliment to the ‘Qadesh, 1300BC’ book reviewed above, it is cited in the further reading section of the earlier book. Whilst the first in a general, popular history, this second is a far more academic study, concentrated solely on the diplomatic situation between Egypt and her middle eastern rivals in the decades leading up to the battle of Kadesh. The historical record is fragmentary, and the author makes no attempt to hide this. However, he does make a serious effect to link what is know together into a coherent whole, or in fact several possible wholes, since with the currently available knowledge several interpretations are possible. So, this is absolutely not a popular book, but the author provides enough background to draw in an interested layman, although I can’t claim to have followed all of the nuances of his arguments.
After the main text there are a series of appendixes covering specific areas. I found these to be quite hard going. Although I was intrigued by a character called Mehy, who appears in a several reliefs in Karnak, was clearly added late in the carving process and was subsequently replaced by the pharaoh Ramses II. Pretty much nothing is known about him, but the various theories made for an interesting appendix.
So, in summary, not an easy read, and not one that I got everything out of, but still interesting and worthwhile.
University of Chicago, 157 pages
Free download here: https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/saoc/saoc-42-road-kadesh-historical-interpretation-battle-reliefs-king-sety-i
Foy Scalf, ‘Book of the Dead, Becoming a God in Ancient Egypt’
This is another excellent book/ exhibition catalogue from the Oriental Institute. It falls into two sections. The first is a series of short chapters dealing with different aspects of the Book of the Dead. These cover thing like its origins, its language, the mythological elements in it, the different versions, and ultimately how it fell from use, and was rediscovered. Obviously, these are of different levels of interest, but I was able to find enough in each to keep me going. The second section is the exhibition catalogue. This is dominated by high quality images of two Book of the Dead papyri which take by much of the volume of the book. There are numerous other exhibits, and these are each described over a page or two accompanied by high quality illustrations. The writers always place the objects in context and there is enough repetition to ensure that critical points aren’t missed.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about, that more iconic of Ancient Egyptian artifacts the Book of the Dead.
University of Chicago, 377 pages
Free download here: https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oimp/oimp-39-book-dead
Theodor Abt, ‘Tutankhamun - Reviving Egypt’s past for the future, The Story of the facsimile of the tomb of Tutankhamun and the meaning of the pictures in its burial chamber’
I find it hard to recommend this book. The facsimile of the tomb of Tutankhamun is better covered in the free publications of Factum Arte, and much of the rest consists of the usual platitudes about Ancient Egypt interspersed with mumbo-jumbo! The second half of the book does contain an interesting description of the decoration of the tomb walls and of the golden shrines, but whether that justifies getting this book is another question.
Living Human Heritage Publications, 143 pages
Birgit Nilsson, ‘La Nilsson: My life in opera’
This is a very enjoyable book. Although, Nilsson glosses over certain parts of her private life, this does not diminish the book. With her famous cutting wit very much in evidence Nilsson describes the path from farm girl to operatic superstar. The arrangement of the chapters is by subject rather than date, which although occasionally confusing, does group things together nicely.
Certain musicians appear regularly, and I was particularly interested by her views on certain conductors. Herbert von Karajan receives a fair about of criticism for his vanity and stagings, but only praise for his conducting. Böhm similarly receives praise for his musical abilities, but criticism for his difficult behavior. Interestingly Nilsson is very critical of conductors who perform opera without a score, a position based on experiencing problems and finding a scoreless conductor no help at all. She also criticizes Decca producer John Culshaw, both for the orchestra heavy sound of some of his recordings, but also for not always being a reliable witness.
If all of this suggests that this book is all criticism that is not at all the case, Nilsson is full of praise for colleges. Even von Karajan receives high praise for his actual conducting, well mostly!
So overall, I would highly recommend this entertaining book to anyone with an interest in opera.
Northeastern University Press
Kindle edition
Brian Dillon, ‘The Great Explosion’
This is very frustrating, an excellent book hiding inside an overlong and self-indulgent plod through the Kentish marshes. The story, about the great explosion of April 1916 at a gunpowder works in the Kentish marshes, is very interesting; as are the excursions into other similar incidents. But, too much of the book is taken up with lengthy diversions into literature linked to the Kent marshes, and the author endless wanderings through the sodden and sinking remains. “Get to the point Mr. Dillon, this book is not about you!”.
Penguin, 274 pages
John D Anderson, 'The Grand Designers, the evolution of the airplane in the 20th century'
If you are interested in the history of flight, then this is a very highly recommendable book. It covers six airplane designers and their iconic craft. So, we go from the Wright brothers to Frank Barnwell, who developed the intellectual framework of airplane design; and on to Arthur Raymond, R.J Mitchell, Edgar Schumer and finally Kelly Johnson. This is a journey which takes us from the first practical man carrying flying machine, to the Lockheed Sr-71 Blackbird. Along the way the author explains a lot of aerodynamics in a very straightforward way. The main thesis of the book is that the intellectual approach to airplane design remained more or less unchanged, what changed was the available technology. Although in many respects quite different personalities, certain traits are common to all of the men covered. All had both the drive and the intellect to succeed, coupled with an innate almost artistic feel for what would work, and the ability to choose technologies that were new, but proven. Often a plane would have nothing radical in its individual components. It was the way that leading-edge components which are combined that produced something radically new.
So, overall a very written and extremely interesting book.
Cambridge University Press, 306 pages
Geoffrey T. Martin ‘The Hidden Tombs of Memphis’
This book manages to tread the fine line between being too technical and too popular. It describes the excavations carried out in Saqqara by a join expedition of the Egypt Exploration Society and the University of Leiden. A series of New Kingdom tombs were unearthed. Mostly, the tombs were known from artifacts collected in museums, but critically the actual location and archeological context of the tombs had been lost. Here Martin focuses on the tombs of Horemheb, Tia & Tia, Maya and a number of minor tombs to give an overview of the tombs and their decoration, and what these tell us about the owners. The findings of the recent excavations are supplemented with material from museums around the world. As far as is possible the author presented a rounded and coherent story. I had some frustrations with the book, but these are mainly because each tomb merits a dedicated volume. I have admired the material from the tombs of Horemheb and Maya in the Leiden museum, and so was very happy to read about here.
This is a good book which I enjoyed.
Thames and Hudson, 216 pages
Len Deighton, ‘XPD’
An excellent and involved contempary spy story told by a master. When a film company starts looking for information concerning Nazi loot hidden in a mine at the end of World war two, a complicated story begins taking us back to the final days of the Nazi Germany, and earlier to a mysterious meeting between Hitler and Churchill.
Recommended
Triad Panther, 431 pages
Emily Wilson, The Odyssey
I greatly enjoyed this fast-moving modern translation of The Odyssey. Although I did miss the grandiose phrases of more classical translations, it was a pleasure to read it in plan English, and with such a strong narrative flow. This is not a flowery translation; the action is kept on the move and the books flash past. In the introduction the translator remarks that she kept to Homer’s line count, and this gives the text a pleasing lightness and fluidity. The translation is nicely complemented by an interesting and perceptive introduction.
All in all, a great read. Homer has rarely seemed so approachable. Highly recommended.
W. W. Norton & Company inc, Kindle ed
Alastair Reynolds, ‘Aurora Rising’
I really enjoyed this gripping sci-fi novel. It’s well written and structured and hangs together very well. Like a good detective story, the ground was well prepared and there was no arbitrarily deus ex machina, except maybe literally; but that would spoil the story!
If you want a good holiday read, I would highly recommend this book
Kindle edition
Len Deighton, ‘Horse Under Water’
A sunken German U-boot off the coast of Portugal forms the basis of another excellent Deighton yarn. Told from a single perspective, this is slightly less convoluted from some others by this author. With its fast pacing and readable style, readers new to Deighton could start here.
Recommended
Triad Panther, 235 pages
Steve Rendle, ‘McLaren MP4/4, owners’ workshop Manual’
I have had very mixed experiences with this series but am happy to report that this book is rather good. You have to be a bit of and F1 anorak to go for this book, but then I am! The book is very illustrated, with well chosen photos, and diagrams which are reproduced large enough to be clear, and explained well enough to be understood. The writing is good, much better than some other books in this series that I had read, and the dry list of instructions syndrome completely avoided. So, if you’re an F1 geek hen you’ll probably enjoy this book, I did!
Haynes, 172 pages
Emily Teeter, ´Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt’
The Ancient Egyptian civilization was extremely long lived and for much of that time its religion remained relatively static. In this excellent book Emily Teeter examines that religion in its broadest sense, including not only the formal state religion, but also how the ordinary person would have interacted with it and how it underpinned much of the ancient society. The book is divided into a series of self-contained chapters covering such things as the temples, the priesthood, magic, funeral rites, etc. I found each chapter to be well written and extremely interesting. The author has a good style which makes what could have been a heavy going textbook into a fairly easy read.
You need to have a serious interest in Ancient Egypt to want to read this book, but if you do then I highly recommend it.
Cambridge University Press
Kara Cooney, ‘The woman who would be king, Hatshepsut’s rise to power in ancient Egypt’
I was very impressed by this book. I think that it is very difficult for an academic to write a popular book about ancient Egypt that fills in the gaps enough to create a coherent story, without filling them in too much. In this book Prof. Cooney manages this with great skill. The narrative flows smoothly, whilst at the same time we are made aware when she is filling in. The extensive footnotes are used to clarify this and to give alternative opinions, as well as to point to sources. I felt that the author is coming from a feminist position and clearly admires Hatshepsut. But I have no problem with this, opinions are clearly stated as such, and without them the book may have lost some of its passion. Parts of Egyptology depend heavily on interpretation and I felt that Prof. Cooney tended to go for a literal approach. However, that has the great advantage of simplicity.
I think that this book should appeal, both to those interested in ancient Egypt, but also to anyone with an interest in the role of women in ancient, and for that matter modern, society.
Highly recommended.
One World, 298 pages
Jonathan Losos, ´Improbable Destinies, How Predictable is Evolution?’
At first, I found this book rather irritating, very much along the lines of ‘here’s a funny animal, and here’s another one’. However, I very glad that I stuck with it, because once the book settled down, I found it extremely interesting. The book is written from the perspective of experimental evolutionary biology and I would have preferred a bit more theory. However, there was still much to enjoy, and book is well structured and wraps everything up nicely, at least as far as possible.
To answer the question in the title ‘how predictable is evolution’, well the answer appears to be rather predictable, but only without certain limits!
Penguin, 368 pages
Sydney Padua ‘The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace And Babbage’
In 1843 Ada Lovelace, only legitimate child of Lord Byron, wrote the first paper on computer science when she added footnotes to her translation of a French language summary of a lecture given by Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine. Sadly, this is her only published paper and she died a few years latter aged thirty-six. Charles Babbage died a bitter old man aged seventy-nine, never having completed any of his mechanical computers.
Except, not in this book! Our universe is but one of an infinite number of possible universes, and in Sydney Padua delightful other reality Ada Lovelace does not die and Charles Babbage finishes his machines, and computers are born a century early!
I greatly enjoyed the cartoon adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, and learnt about Boule and Brunel, that Lewis Carroll was really called Charles Dodgson and was a mathematician, and lots of over interesting stuff. Including getting a bit of an idea about Babbage’s Analytical Engine would have worked. This is a funny and highly informative book. I highly recommend it.
Penguin, 315 pages
Derick Allison, ´The British Racing Hero’
I bought this book in a sale with the thought that for the price I couldn’t go wrong, and then left it on the bookshelf for nearly twenty years. Fancying an easy read at Christmas I finally read it. It did not deserve to have languished unread so long. It dates from 1992, and so the up and coming drivers at the end have all retired by now! In general, I thought that as the book moved forward it got weaker. The earlier chapters were good, but the later chapters were weaker. At least in part because history has moved on since the book was written. Still if you fancy an overview of British formula one drivers until around 1990, I would definitely recommend this book, even if you have to pay more than one pound.
Magna Books, 175 pages
Alastair Reynolds, ‘Revelation Space’
I must admit to finding this book a disappointment, especially after enjoying the later ‘Aurora Rising’ so much. It’s not a bad book, but one that could be much better. I found it over long, and its multiple use of the ‘‘and then he understood’ but it won’t be explained to reader since there’s still another 200 pages to go’ plot device very irritating. Worse, it detracted from the later book since much of the mystery of that is rather predictable from the earlier book. Revelation Space is the first book of the series and If Aurora Rising is anything to go by, gets better.
Kindle Edition
Lawrence M. Berman, ‘The Priest, the Prince and the Pasha’
This is a history of the Boston Green Head, the head of a statue of a priest likely dating from Ptolemaic Egypt, and now in the Museum of Fine arts, Boston. The book covers its discovery, and journey from Egypt, Paris, Lewis on the south coast of England, and finally to Boston. The closing chapter explores the possible identity of the anonymous subject of the statue.
I found that the book got more interesting as it progressed; with the final chapter on the priest the most interesting. The Green Head is very poorly documented, and the author makes a good job in filling in the story without excess conjecture.
More a book about changing artistic values, than Egyptology, it still makes a good read.
MFA Publications, 206 pages
Michael Tanner, ‘Wagner’
This is a short and perceptive book is an introduction to the question of what Wagner’s operas are about. Each opera getting a shorthand pithy chapter devoted to each, as does Wagner’s prose works. In general, I found Tanner’s arguments to be clearly set out, although I found his writing over complex on occasion. His viewpoint is always rational, which worked surprisingly well with Tristan und Isolde but, at least for me, far less so with the Ring Cycle. There’s are also the occasional hectoring passages. Tanner totally avoids discussion of the music, even suggesting at one point that such discussion is a way of avoiding confronting the work! I think that this is a pity since the power of Wagner’s works comes from the music, not from the text. This is probably exactly Tanner’s point, the music is powerful enough to simply carry the listener on, without paying too much attention to what is being sung about.
So overall, I found this an interesting and very readable analysis of Wagner’s works. It has given me plenty of food for thought and will inform my future listening. Recommend.
Flamingo, 234 pages
Franck Monnier and David Lightbody, ‘The Great Pyramid, Owners’ Workshop Manual’
This is a surprising good book. I was rather skeptical about how well this series would cover an archeological subject, in fact of the books in this series that I have read, I think that it is the best. The book is well structured, well written and very well illustrated. The authors avoid any sensationalist conclusion, instead presenting what seemed to me to be a well-balanced picture.
I would highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in Ancient Egypt.
Haynes, 203 pages
Nick Skeens, ‘The Perfect Car, The Biography of John Barnard’
This is a book for F1 nerds, and I enjoyed it as such. John Barnard is one of F1’s great designers and penned a couple of the most beautiful and successful racing cars to have driven the world’s tracks. However, as this book relates, Bernard’s genius was accompanied by an unwillingness to compromise. His demands could be met by only a few teams, and once he had worked and left all of them there was little opportunity remaining in F1. Would he have achieved more had he been able to compromise? If you interested in racing cars, their technology and the story of a man who transformed his domain, then you will enjoy this book.
Evro Publishing, 591 pages
Caroline Alexander, ‘The war that killed Achilles, The true story of the Iliad’
I bought this book thinking that it was about the historical background to the Iliad. When instead it turned out to be an analysis of the Iliad, I put it to one side. Having read it, I admit to doing it an injustice. This is an interesting, insightful and well written commentary. With the aid of extensive notes it provides plenty of historical and archeological background. Richly illustrated with extracts from Richmond Lattimore’s famous translation, as well in one section from the author own, this book brings Homer to life. I can pay it no higher compliment that to say that by the end I feel the urge to return to Homers Iliad.
So, if you want motivation to reread, or a first-time guide to the Iliad, I strongly recommend this book.
Faber and Faber, 296 pages
André Wiesel and Andreas Brodbeck, ‘Tutankhamun, The Golden Beyond, Tomb treasures from the Valley of the Kings’
This is another interesting book that had sat unread since I bought it around ten years ago after visiting the exhibition in Basel of the same name. Although intended to accompany an exhibition the book functions very well alone. Indeed, I would say that the chapters on the 18th Dynasty and the overview of artifacts discovered in the Valley of the Kings are alone worth getting the book. Add these to the other chapters that proceed the catalogue part of the book and you have a very good introduction to royal believes and burials in the 18th Dynasty. The catalogue, which takes up the second half of the book is also very well done. Each artifact is illustrated, and these are accompanied by an informative and well written description.
So overall an excellent book that makes an ideal preparation for the next big Tutankhamun exhibition.
Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammling Ludwig, 383 pages
John Le Carré, ‘The little drummer girl’
This is a powerful and gripping book. I have read very little Le Carré and I was surprised that I found so slow a book to be so compelling. This is a real slow burn which builds the tension up and up. The ending is suitably ambiguous, and I was left wondering about our heroine.
Highly recommended.
Penguin Books, 640 pages
Jane Glover, ‘Handel in London’
This is a fascinating book about Handel the career musician, the popular composer and public figure. We are presented with a vision of a practical professional going about his business, away from his family and before a fickle public. Jane Glover writes in a fluid and readable style and allows her passion for the music to shine through. What struck me, in this age of historically informed performance, is that for Handel there was no such thing as an authentic performance; if a singer was indisposed, then the role would be partitioned up between the other voices, with whatever rewriting was required. If you what a vision of what life was like for an 18th century musician, then I can highly recommend this book. It paints a picture that is, I suspect, not too dissimilar to that of a contempary commercial composer, turning out music for films and commercials.
Picador, 430 pages
Len Deighton, ‘Close-up’ & ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy’
These are a pair of Len Deighton’s less well-known novels. Indeed, ‘Close-up’ being a study of an aging actor is rather unusual for Deighton. I enjoyed both, although I didn’t think that either rank among his best works. Still worth reading.
Triad Panther, 402 pages and 240 pages
Stuart Russell, ‘Human compatible, AI and the problem of control’
AI systems with human or greater level of intelligence could be a dangerous thing. Imagine a super smart coffee machine dedicated to making you the perfect cup of coffee. Suppose one day that you don’t want the coffee and you decide to turn off the machine. The machine has already thought about this, it’s only goal is to make you coffee, and it can’t make coffee when it’s turned off, therefore it stops you turning it off, by whatever means possible.
This book explores how these super smart systems could be kept under control. After discussing the development of AI systems and the risks, it presents a simple ‘provably beneficial’ system, one that will always defer to human wishes and then elaborates this into increasing complex situations. Along the way this takes in ethics and moral philosophy. I found this one of the most interesting parts of the book, particularly the attempts to formulate the problems algebraically.
Stuart Russell writes clearly and with plenty of humour. The technical material is well presented and most relegated to a series of annex.
Overall, I found this to be an informative and thought-provoking book. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in technology and AI.
Allen Lane, Kindle edition
Joyce Tyldesley, ‘Nefertiti’s face, the creation of an icon’
This rather short book perfectly balances academic credibility with popular appeal. The bust of Nefertiti is one of the world’s most famous antiquities, but it remains shrouded in mystery. The author puts the bust into context, whilst avoiding too much speculation. The first half or so of the book covers the Amarna period, the sculptor Thutmose, in who’s courtyard the bust was found, what the bust was made for, and of course, Akhenaten and Nefertiti. In terms of biographical details we know relatively little about them, and in some hands this can lead to either a dry and fragmented story, or wild speculation. Happily, Joyce Tyldesley avoids these pitfalls to give a narrative which, at least for me, was ideally balanced. The second part of the book covers the busts discovery and subsequent history. Although, I found this less inherently interesting than the first part, it was an enjoyable and informative read.
So overall, an excellent book that I would highly recommend.
Profile Books, 228 pages
Neil Gaiman, ‘Coraline’
Although written for children this has all of Gaiman’s trademarks. It reminded me of a simpler version of ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’, with a more straightforward story. There is still plenty of darkness and suspense, and a talking cat. What more could you want? Recommended.
Bloomsbury, 191 pages
Wolfgang Späte, ‘Test Pilots’
This is a fascinating book covering the experiences of mainly German test pilots. Told in the pilot's own words, the stories are interesting and often hair raising. However, permeating throughout is the cold-blooded control and clear head that allowed these pilots to survive long enough to write down their experiences. The book goes from the early days of flight through to the 1980s, although understandably the largest section covers World War 2.
If you have any interest in the development of flight, then I’m sure that you’re be fascinated by this book.
Independent Books, 303 pages
Jeffrey Kluger, ‘Apollo 8’
In early 1968 NASA was in a difficult position; Kennedy’s target of reaching the moon before the end of the decade was rapidly approaching, but the lunar lander was far from ready. Worse still, the rival Russian program was looking even more threading. Faced with no really good options, NASA made the incredibly brave decision to make Apollo 8 the first manned mission to the moon. It wouldn’t be able to land, but would demonstrate American technological supremacy, and prepare the way of the moon landing just over 6 months later. The gamble paid off, and Apollo 8 was a triumph.
Today, it has been eclipsed by the moon landings and the dramatic flight of Apollo 13. Therefore, it is fitting that it receives coverage in this excellent book. Kluger writes with an easy and knowledgeable authority. The human and technical challenges were clearly explained, and the book moves smoothly through the stages of flight; from background, to planning, to the flight itself. If I have any criticism it is that the book is a little lacking in tension, but this is hardly Kluger’s fault; the mission went like clockwork. As I said above Apollo 8 was a triumph, it good to see it covered so well by this book. Highly recommended.
Picador, 307 pages