History Book Reviews

Twilight Cities: Lost Capitals of the Mediterranean is Katherine Pangonis’s second book, with her first being Queens of Jerusalem: The Women Who Dared to Rule (2021). Twilight Cities is dedicated to the history of five prominent and "lost"...

The book begins with Alexandria's founding by Alexander the Great after he conquered the Persian Empire. Like its legendary namesake, the city was destined for fame. Its strategic and symbolic value made it a coveted prize of world conquerors...

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer is a sweeping and well-researched work that endeavours to present a coherent narrative of ancient history from its earliest beginnings to...

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper takes a refreshing approach by focusing on the lives of the women believed to be victims of the notorious killer rather than simply on their deaths. Unlike typical ripperology...

The book opens with a summary of Ptolemaic history up to the ascension of Ptolemy III and a reasonable overview of the Ptolemaic Kingdom's constituent parts. This serves to establish the setting in which the book takes place, including Egypt...

In the introduction, Grainger makes the disconcertingly false claim that Ptolemaic Egypt’s political and military affairs were solely the province of Greek immigrants. He further states that no native Egyptian held office “above the level...

Written in engaging language, Smoke and Ashes is a scholarly follow-up to the author’s famous Ibis trilogy, a collection of fiction that uses the opium trade as its backdrop. In Smoke and Ashes, the author draws on his years-long research...

Born in January 1914, Isabel Cooper grew up in the Philippines and supported herself through working in the entertainment industry, performing, singing, and acting since her early teenage years. She earned fame when acting in the first Philippine...

Richard C. Hall's timely encyclopedia can help reporters and scholars investigate beyond a headline. The book features informative and expertly written essays with suggestions for further reading. As a leading scholar of Balkan history, Hall...

Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is a timeless masterpiece of ancient historiography, offering a detailed and profoundly insightful account of one of antiquity's defining conflicts. Written with a precision and analytical depth...