5 comments about Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944.

1. It was a very interesting and informing book. It was easy to feel for the characters. I highly recommend it for people who are interested in the lives of young holocaust victims.



2. This was the first book I read about the Shoah in Hungary, and it was so fascinating that it got me interested in all things Hungarian. It's different from many books about the Shoah in that the majority of it takes place before the Nazi invasion of Hungary on 19 March 1944, when the remaining members of the Davidowitz family are shipped off to a ghetto. Though life is growing increasingly hard for them because of the anti-Jewish regulations and the strain of living during a war in general, and Piri had to stay in the Ukraine with her grandmother and older sister Rozsi longer than she expected to because of a border war, the Davidowitzes still have a pretty normal and decent life before they have to leave for the ghetto. During this time the family also does their part to help other Jewish families and people in need, even with hiding them in safe houses or helping to smuggle them across borders, and Iboya, the next-youngest of Mrs. Davidowitz's children by her first marriage, is very involved in Zionism. And even in the ghetto, Piri's family and her best friend Judi's little family live the best they can, trying to keep their spirits up and to be happy. Piri and Judi both have their first romances in the ghetto, in fact. It's not one of those books that starts out happily and then quickly moves to the ghetto and then the camps. In fact, the book ends as they're leaving the ghetto in the cattlecar, and only a short postscript tells us what happened after that.
   
   The book is also interesting because not all of Piri's siblings are at home, unlike many other Shoah books where all of the family are in the same house. Because her mother didn't want her grandmother to be lonely after she was widowed, she began farming out her five daughters to stay with her to keep her company, but Lilli, the oldest, wasn't her companion very long because she got married at only 16 years old and soon had a baby. Now Rozsi is living with the grandmother, and loves farm life very much, while the other older sister, Etu, is away at university in Budapest. Even after Lilli and her young daugher Manci move back in, there are still only Piri and her sister Iboya left at home along with their halfsiblings Sandor and Joli, and when Lilli's husband Lajos is arrested and Lilli insists on joining him along with Manci, there are still only the youngest four still at home. It makes it interesting because the family are in all different places instead of all suffering the same fates or suffering all together. The only complaint I have about the book is one I acquired in hindsight; it would have been helpful to have told the reader something about the pronunciation of the Hungarian names and that some of the names used, like Ica and Manci, are nicknames and not full given names.



3. I like history and the subject of World War II and Nazi Germany, that is why I was surprised how much I did not like this book. I found it boring and uninteresting. I wish the book had more action. I guess it was hard for me to identify with a nine year old girl and what she went through. I also do not like endings that leave you hanging. I wish we knew what happened to them after they got on the train. It was almost like I wish the book started where it ended. This book is probably better for someone younger or for someone who wants to avoid the violence and terror of World War II.



4. Upon the Head of a Goat is a very good book. It gives a lot of back round pre-holocaust. The fact that it is a true story is even better. It teaches and touches upon the home of a Jewish family torn from each other. It describes the obstacles they had to go through to live their everyday life. They had their food, conformability, morals, thoughts, believes, and one another taken from them.
   I liked this book, and I recommend it. There are parts in the book that you will question yourself on the answers that you would provide in certain situations. The ending of the book was a little disappointing because it didn't really touch upon what happened. They led up to all these thoughts and stopped.



5. I think that you should read this book because it is clear and it gives a good description of what it was like for the Jews as the Holocaust began. The author described how they lived, specifically, how they dressed, slept, and ate. This gives the reader a clear understanding. It is interesting to learn about an actual family that lived during these hard times, especially for the children Piri, Etu, Joli, and Sandor. Piri's family had to make hard decisions in order to survive. The book gives a good description of the Ghetto and how they had to live for those few weeks. For example, the bathroom was smelly and gross with not much privacy. The ground was cold and hard, "What if it rains during the night?" she asked. "We'll all get soaked." They were not allowed to make fires either. They don't even know how long they are going to be there so they don't know what to expect. They build somewhat of a shelter for just their family with a tent inside it for privacy and to help keep the rain out. The author, Aranka Siegal, doesn't just give an overview of what it was like in the Ghetto; she describes every detail about it. Overall, it is a good book and I recommend it to ages 13 an up.

No comments about Another Face of Empire: Bartolomé de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Ecclesiastical Imperialism (Latin America Otherwise).

2 comments about Jews, God and History.

1. This fact-filled book offers so much! One might be surprised to learn that the Karaite revolt was quite similar to the later Protestant Reformation (pp. 204-208), that the Hasmonean John Hyrcanus had converted the Idumeans and the Galileans to Judaism by force (p. 91, 98), and that some Jews burned Maimonides' works even before Christians ever burned a single copy of the Talmud. (p. 182, 240) Thereafter, many more unauthorized copies of the New Testament went up in flames than Talmuds, while Jewish translations of the Old Testament were never burned by Christians. (p. 240)
   
   Ironically, early laws restricting Jewish life were commonly modeled after similar Old Testament and Talmudic laws that restricted non-Jews (p. 219), and the later Inquisition's authority for executing heretics (BTW rarely Jews, except Marranos: p. 226, 315) was based directly upon Deuteronomy 17:2-5. (p. 224) Jews generally chose to live apart from gentiles (p. 251, 254). Compulsory ghettoization didn't occur until much later, and then only in specific locations (p. 251, 255).
   
   Dimont focuses on Jewish achievements and privileges (e. g., most medieval Jews were freer than most gentiles: p. 303), and puts pre-Nazi European Jewish sufferings in perspective: "It must not be supposed that the majority of Christians hated the Jews. Quite the contrary. Only a small segment were Jew-baiters. When left to themselves, Jew and Christian lived peacefully side by side...It must also be remembered that the ritual-murder charges, the Host-desecration libels, and pogroms took place over a period of seven hundred years and over an entire continent. By and large, most of the ghettos and shtetls were not affected by pogroms or general maraudings." (p. 258)
   
   Compulsory ghettoization, and accusations of ritual murder, Host-desecration, well-poisoning, etc., didn't begin until about 1100 AD (p. 220), and usually were the most common and extreme in Germany and Austria. (pp. 239, 242, 246-247, 251, 254, 255) The first expulsion of Jews from a nation wasn't until 1290--from England (p. 229) The Crusaders, whose ranks included not only the devout but also criminally-minded adventurers, were equal-opportunity killers of Jews and non-Jews. (p. 220-221) Compulsory wearing of the yellow badge didn't begin until 1215 (p. 220) and didn't apply to Jews living in the shtetl. (p. 257)
   
   Dimont (pp. 377-378) gives details on the anti-Christian character of Nazism, and rejects the emphasis upon "unequal victims": "If the Christian reader dismisses what had happened in Germany as something which affected a few million Jews only, he has not merely shown his contempt for the 7 million Christians but has betrayed his Christian heritage as well. And, if the Jewish reader forgets the 7 million Christians murdered by the Nazis, then he has not merely let 5 million Jews die in vain but has betrayed his Jewish heritage of compassion and justice." (p. 388)
   
   Unfortunately, Dimont repeats Polonophobic whoppers--the "Polish nonhelp" to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the later "well-armed" Warsaw Polish insurgents (p. 384), and--even more unbelievable-- "Poles turning over" 2.8 million Jews to the Germans for extermination. (p. 386)
   
   As for non-Jewish victims, Dimont writes: "The chilling reality is that when the Russians overran the concentration camps in Poland they found enough Zyklon B crystals to kill 20 million people. Yet there were no more than 3 million Jews left in Europe. The ratio of contemplated mass killing was no longer 1.4 Christians for every Jew, but 5.3 Christians for every Jew. Nazi future plans called for the killing of 10 million non-Germanic people every year." (p. 388).



2. I don't even know what to say. I couldn't put this book down. It was a factual history of the Jews that seemed to have no bias. It shed a whole new light on how the Jews got to where they are now, how incredibly successful the culture is, and incredibly adaptable. It is so relevant today as we all face questions on maintaining culture while adapting within a new one. It clearly draws a picture as to why the Jewish culture has not been stomped out, and why Jews live as Jews in every corner of the world. While the Jews have been clearly victimized, especially in recent history, the truth (according to Dimont) is that they aren't always victims or they wouldn't have survived. Assimilation and distinction seem to be opposites, but this book shows how both together are the key to longevity and success.

5 comments about Sing a Song of Tuna Fish.

1. This book made me Laugh so hard I liked her first book Sahara Special but this is even better. The teacher used thhe book to help us journal and I thought it would be boring but I could not wait for her to read these funny stories out loud and then write my own stories about things like school and grandparents. This author writes about the city in a way that is FOR REAL and not boring and now I write in my journal every day because I want to be a writter. My only comnplaint is this book is not rewally about tuna fish but I dont even like tuna fish so who cares.



2. This book made me Laugh so hard I liked her first book Sahara Special but this is even better. The teacher used thhe book to help us journal and I thought it would be boring but I could not wait for her to read these funny stories out loud and then write my own stories about things like school and grandparents. This author writes about the city in a way that is FOR REAL and not boring and now I write in my journal every day because I want to be a writter. My only comnplaint is this book is not rewally about tuna fish but I dont even like tuna fish so who cares.



3. As an antidote to a wicked case of bronchitis, I've managed to read my way through a stack of books on my nightstand and found a winner: Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, Hard to Swallow Stories From Fifth Grade by Esme Raji Codell, the author of Educating Esme and other books.
   
   It was published in 2004 but I hadn't seen it until last week on the shelf of the Atlantic County Bookmobile. What a treasure! I've been searching for good mentor texts to use with our fifth and sixth grade classes, something that would make the kids and their teachers really "get" the need to focus writing workshop around memoirs--and boy this is it! Esme takes you right into her life as a fifth grader. I think that both kids and adults will be inspired to explore their own childhood experiences after reading this book.



4. This is a great book for all ages -- I read along with my 10 year old who did a report on this book ....terrific, funny....very true to life....



5. I enjoyed "Sing A Song of Tuna Fish" immensely, not only because of the fantastic description and detail, but also how Esme Raji Codell created an incredibly entertaining story of her childhood. I think she did a very good job of making something that in real life might not have been that entertaining, into a very good story. I think that even a 40 year old would enjoy this book!!!!

2 comments about Jewish Sports Legends: The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 4th Edition.

1. This book chronicles the leading Jewish men and women who have achieved world class status as athletes and it also goes behind the scenes to list those men and women who have made outstanding contributions to the development of sport.



2. This book is a comprehensive guide to Jewish achievements in sport throughout the world. It does not simply focus on the major spectator sports but covers the Olympic sports also.

2 comments about Anne Frank: REFLECTIONS ON HER LIFE AND LEGACY.

1. As part of my effort to learn my role as the dentist in the 1955 version of the play at the local junior college, I read some 14 or 15 books by and about Anne Frank and this one capped my study quite nicely. I recommend it as the one to read after "The Definitive Edition" (or the fascinating "Critical Edition", if you're up to that), Willy Lindwer's "The Last Seven Months", Melissa Muller's "Anne Frank: The Biography", Miep Gies' "Anne Frank Remembered", and Eva Schloss' "Eva's Story". It's scholarly, well edited and footnoted, and has a fine bibliography.



2. In this book the editors have selected thirty-one excerpts from various writings about Anne Frank and collected them together under four basic ideas: Anne's life, Anne as a writer, Anne on stage & screen and Anne in relationship to the Holocaust. Overall the selection of the writings is very good. They are of high quality and of varying points of view, particularly with reference to the last three sections of the book.
   
   For example, there is considerable difference of opinion to Anne's ability as a writer, some find her skills exceptional while others think her ability overrated despite her impact. Better known are the arguments over whether the play and movie produced from Anne's diary truly reflected the "real" Anne. Then there are the arguments, growing in recent years, as to whether Anne's diary is an "accurate" or "important" portrayal of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust. I may not agree with Lawrence L. Langer's assessment that the diary is not a "vital text" of the Holocaust but seeing his point of view allows me to think a little deeper about my own position. And therein lies the book's real strength.
   
   Ultimately, though the excerpts are brief and it's easy to plow through them rather quickly, this book can open one's eyes. Some of the material I had read before in other places but I was very glad to encounter the wide points of view that the editors were able to gather. The fact that Anne's single work still has the power to generate such scholarship 60 years later seems to point out its continuing importance in our experience.

5 comments about Ace of Spades: A Memoir.

1. The last pages of this memoir are beautiful in their simplicity and completeness. The author wraps up the strands of numerous themes in a sentimental manner.
   
   That said, the anger he displays in thought and action in several incidents does cause the reader to wonder if he shares a few similarities with his mother. One of the most grotesque incidents is found on page 258 when he responds to a racial epithet from a child -- a child! -- with an imagined rape of the child.
   
   This is not just a book about racial identity;it is also a man's problem with anger that just as readily could have come from a place before race.



2. Not worth it. I'm sure Mr. Matthews has something to say, but I only made it to page #75 before I finally gave up on this book. If you don't have a dictionary to carry around with you while reading this book, you'll soon find out what I mean. Mr. Matthews uses $100 words far too much to tell a fifty cent story.



3. I've written a lengthier review of the book on the hardcover link, but purchased the kindle version for my husband. There's little doubt that Matthews' story is harrowing, and indicative of life in 20th century america, in terms of race, but also class, and family. I would suggest to the reviewer above, who found it too difficult to look up words he/she didn't understand, to stick to less challenging material. This memoir is a challenging read, and the author seems to me to enjoy recruiting words from an earlier, more baroque era. A playful, "man out of time" feeling persists. And what, pardon my ignorance, determines a "fifty cent word?" Just because a word is unfamiliar, doesn't mean it doesn't have a specific meaning, and in Ace of Spades, words matter-- a lot. It is a book for those who love the written word and consider the english language a rich and varied treasure. Matthews employs words in a playful manner, confounding the readers' expectations. At least mine. Your mileage may vary. I for one, love to finish a book knowing more than I did when I began.
   Matthews asserts in the book that words, books, literally saved his life, so to my mind it's no sin if he chooses to use words from parts of the dictionary that others can't be bothered to mine.
   To dismiss a story as unique and heartbreaking as this one because it's an unabashedly literary--as opposed to movie of the week accessible--memoir, is intellectually lazy.
   By the "50 cent word to tell a five cent story" logic, if we extrapolate, then a chef who uses arucola instead of iceberg lettuce is making a nine dollar variation on what should be a 2.50 blue plate special. Words have value beyond their individual meanings. The way they sound, the way they look on the page, the way they create a sense of time, place, rhythm. They should not read like AP reports. David Matthews' story is important, and the telling is unforgettable. I could have done with two or three less footnotes, but Matthews is a writer who goes for it; and not many aspire to those heights these days. I highly recommend it to those who don't mind grabbing a thesaurus every once in a while. Words is good. Don't be afraid.



4. I had seen the author on several talk shows and found his life story to be very interesting and inspiring. Unfortunately, that didn't translate into writing very well for me personally. I was excited to buy this book but found that I didn't get near the prospective I had gotten from his television interviews and felt more like there were others ways I could have spent that time. Sorry if I am offending anyone but this guy should stick to television because his story is one more people should hear, but they won't get it or learn from it if they only read the book.



5. I'm only half way through the book and I'm absolutely loving it. Originally, I thought it was going to be a bit too heavy in subject matter and consist of things that are either over my head or that I can't relate to at all... but I don't want to put the book down! With the cleverness of Woody Allen and David Sedaris, and the earnestness of J.D. Salinger, Ace of Spades, is basically the perfect book.

5 comments about The Diary of Anne Frank..

1. Online Reader-
   After having just read this book for an English assiment I have only just now realized how much a War can do to someone.
   I admit to crying throughout the book, and while reading I was heartbroken to hear of all of the misfortune that befell these inocent people. And to think that one man-Hitler-could cause all of this pain and misery made me insanly angry at him, and ashamed for all of those who followed him blindly.
   In this book, and young girl Anne, and her family, as well as another family and Mr. Dussel, (seven people in all) went into hiding from the Nazis for TWO YEARS.
   I feel so sorry for them that having not to breathe fresh air for two years, and to be cramped up with many people for two years, and the end result was being killed by the Nazis. I am so glad, however, that we now have her diary, and realize and know so much more about the Holocaust and all of the people who had to endure it's brutalness.



2. They really should write better item descriptions. This is a play not a novel. Unable to return just wasted a bunch of money.



3. I just received this in the mail to give to my niece and discovered that it is written as a play. The Amazon description does not mention any thing about it being a play. Arggh! Frustrating.



4. Please note that Amazon does provide a box to the right of the selection list of documents that you may use to narrow your search parameters. I was looking for the play, so I chose the "entertainment" option. Also present in the box were "novel", "history" and a number of other options. It's a little confusing to navigate at first, but the more you use Amazon the better you'll understand how it works.



5. I did not get the product I wanted due to a lack of photo. The description did not tell me that the book I was purchasing was in play format. I wish to return the book.

5 comments about Mendel's Daughter: A Memoir.

1. MENDEL'S DAUGHTER details the harrowing story of Martin Lemelman's mother and her family during the Holocaust. It is a story that Lemelman grew up knowing very little of. But in 1989, after his mother, Gusta, dropped a frozen chicken on her foot (causing it to be broken), Lemelman brought her to stay at his house in Pennsylvania. In part to curtail her efforts to do all of the cooking and cleaning at his house with her broken foot, and in part to have a family history that he would be able to pass along to his own children, Lemelman persuaded his mother to finally share her story. He wisely videotaped her. After her death a decade ago, he watched the recording, edited the story Gusta related by reorganizing it chronologically and augmenting her accounts with those of his Uncle Isia, who also survived. He then illustrated it with hundreds of drawings interspersed with actual documents and some little black and white photos his mother had saved from her childhood.
   
   Gusta Mendel grew up in a prosperous and well-regarded Jewish family in a portion of Poland that is now part of the Ukraine. This was a region that during World War II was invaded first by the Communists and then by the Nazis. We know from the outset of this memoir that this is a story of survival, that Gusta made it through the Holocaust. Following the historical and personal events that are depicted in this book, Gusta would eventually come to America and, with her husband, raise Lemelman and his brother in the back of their Brooklyn candy store.
   
   The rest of the Mendel family was murdered by the Nazis, but Gusta, Isia, Yetala, and another sibling, Simon, lived. The four siblings survived in the woods through two winters, digging themselves a series of underground shelters, burying the potatoes and sugarbeets they'd steal from fields in the middle of the night, and getting some help from a few people who were sympathetic to their plight.
   
   "For us, the war ended in March-April 1944.
   "Who could believe that the German army coming back to Germakivka would be the beginning of our liberation? This time, thanks God, they was coming from the East, running away from Russia."
   
   The result of Lemelman's labor of love is the real deal: an illustrated memoir which, while technically published as an adult book, will be incredibly approachable, engaging, and memorable to middle school and high school age readers.



2. Our book club read this wonderful book and everyone agreed (which was a miracle) that it was an amazing experience. From the lovely illustrations to "hearing" Gusta's voice, it was a totally memorable read. The author, Martin Lemelman, accepted our invitation to speak to our book club and he added even so much more to this story. His gentle manner was in direct contrast to the horrors of the stories he told us. Reading the book then having Martin speak to us about researching and writing it, was a definite highlight for all of us.



3. Martin Lemelman has created a beautiful memoir, with his mother's voice speaking to the reader (you can hear her adorable accent!) and tender drawings that recreate her life as a young Jewish girl in Ukraine, a life that was torn apart by Nazi invasion.
   
   I almost left this book on the shelf because - sometimes you don't want to hear another story like this. But one look at the pictures and I had to read it. I could see this book would not be like any graphic novel or any holocaust novel that I read before.
   
   Somehow you finish this book, despite the story, feeling unexpectedly happy. Why is that when there is so much sadness, when you expect only grief or rage? Well, on every page you can feel Lemelman's love for his mother and you just feel happy that this beautiful book was made for her, and that her story is shared with us.
   
   By the way, I was reading to see whether I might share this book with young people. If you find yourself beginning to approach the story of the Holocaust, I definitely recommend Mendel's Daughter.



4. I liked the book and its content and the drawings but in general I enjoy a book that has more of a story or history in in.



5. Martin Lemelman, Mendel's Daughter (Free Press, 2006)
   
   I'll admit right up front that my coolness towards this book stems from a misunderstanding on my part. I see a title like Mendel's Daughter and all sorts of implications about the father of genetics and selective breeding run through my head. The story, however, has nothing to do with the more famous Mendel I was thinking of, and my disappointment at that fact never went away as I was reading this.
   
   Mendel's Daughter is an "as-told-to" graphic memoir of the holocaust by someone who lived through it. Thus, you've probably got a pretty good idea of the tone of the book. The first section covers the twenty years between the two world wars, the subject's genesis and early childhood. Then comes 1939, and the Nazi invasion of Poland, and everything blows up. The strength of the book is that Mendel's daughter didn't end up doing the same things everyone else (or so it often seems) did during the war years, and thus we get a new perspective on the lengths some people had to go to in order to survive the Nazi persecution of, well, everyone who wasn't a Nazi. The weakness is that Lemelman, who's an illustrator, doesn't quite have the editorial prowess to revise the prose (which he tells us early on is straight from interviews) into something with pace. I grant that it could have been an attempt to mirror the story, which is, not surprisingly, long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of terror, but I can't quite bring myself to believe Lemelman that much of a stylist (and it's usually a bad move anyway). I think he really did simply transcribe, unedited, the tapes, and draw around them. A bit of editing would have sharpened this book up considerably. Not enough to get me over the disappointment at the lack of the geneticist, but enough. ** ½

5 comments about My Glorious Brothers.

1. I remember being really taken with this book when I read it as a kid, so I found a used copy to read to my kids. We make a big deal of Hanukkah so that Jewish kids don't feel gypped compared to everyone else, but hardly anyone really knows the story of Hanukkah in all its graphic detail. We should not shrink from telling our kids this story, and Fast's book is the only popular book I know that does it. The kids will not only have a better appreciation of the meaning of this holiday, but will also have a better appreciation of current events.



2. This book captures the most important part of Hanukkah, a celebration of Jewish liberty. For anyone who wants to learn more about the kinds of lives Jews lived, why liberty is such an essential aspect of Judaism, or why we must sometimes fight for the liberty and freedom we enjoy, this is the book for them. It is beautifully written and joyous to read.



3. I just finished this book. First and foremost I really enjoyed reading it. I decided to read it because I know so little about Jewish history; I had heard the name Judas Maccabeus but I didn't know who he was. I would like to say that it is wrong to consider this book primarily from the vantage point of describing the Jews. I kept asking myself if the story of the Maccabeans was considered such an important part of Jewish history, then why did so many Jews let themselves be led to the slaughter by Hitler? So, for me, this book was not so much about the Jews as it was about history. Also,to me, this book is fictionalized history, where the author tries to incorporate the facts as much as possible. Even the narrator in the story, Simon, says you can't take it as genuine fact. Regardless of that, Howard Fast does a magnificent job. It took a few pages to get into the flow, but once into the book, I was caught. I bought this book used for 2 bucks, but I am going to send for a better copy to keep. For me, the lesson in this book is not so much about how great these ancient Jews were, as it is about why man has to keep fighting wars. And as a corollary, why our societies demand slavery (of one form or another and don't kid yourself, it exists today, but in a different form). Of note, these ancient Jews made very limited use of slavery. One of my favorite teachers once said, "Wisdom comes when you put the book down". From reading this book, I felt I learned a great deal about war and slavery. And I had to ask myself the question, Do the Jews of today believe in the same God who is portrayed in this book about the Jews of 150 years B.C.?



4. Yes, this is a vivid account of the Jewish struggle for freedom, but it is also a beautifully written love story. I never tire of reading it, and it never fails to elicit a tear of joy, or of grief. Howard Fast at his best.



5. When I teach world history I always give my students a project in which they are to read a piece of historical fiction and do a bit of research. This book is exactly the type of book I recommend for them to read and why I created the project in the first place. It is well-written and re-creates a little bit of the historical world for the reader.
   
   Set in 2nd Century B.C. Israel, this is a story of national liberation and freedom of religious expression. Many Protestants will be unfamiliar with the Maccabees since Maccabees 1-4 is not included in the Protestant Bible. This book is an ideal place to start to explore that time between the exile in Babylon and the Roman occupation that is featured in the New Testament.
   
   The main characters are 5 brothers and their father, descendents of the Tribe of Levi. They refuse to be "civilized" by Hellenized (Greek-influenced) Syrians - they want to keep their old traditions and religion. They revolt against too many taxes, too many injustices and being forced to worship Greek gods. ("Thus they 'Hellenized' us, not with beauty and wisdom, but with fear and terror and hate." - p. 33)
   
   I strongly recommend this one. Despite being more than 50 years old, this book can stand on its own among newer and more popular works about the ancient world such as Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae in both its battlefield descriptions and its cultural explorations.
   
   Quote from the book I particularly liked: "What does the Lord require from a man, but that he should walk humbly and love righteousness?" (p. 142)