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2023 Summer Reads from Aspects of History

2023 Summer Reads from Aspects of History

Our authors and contributors recommend books to take on summer holidays.

Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryAlan Bardos Author of The Dardanelles ConspiracyQueen High by CJ Carey is the sequel to Widow Land and a counter factual/dystopian novel; in a similar vein to 1984, Fatherland and Brave New World. It is set in a 1950s Britain that...

Luxury & Power: Persia to Greece at the British Museum

Luxury & Power: Persia to Greece at the British Museum

A new exhibition of the blend between Greece & Persia is on at the BM, and has some remarkable pieces.
Oliver Webb-Carter

Persia to Greece: Luxury & Power at the British Museum When the Spartan general Pausanias came across Xerxes’ tent, leant to the commander Mardonius, after the victory over the Persians at Plataea in 479BC, according to Herodotus: He commanded the bakers and chefs...

What the Greeks Did For Us, by Tony Spawforth

What the Greeks Did For Us, by Tony Spawforth

Fodder for all sides of the debate in the culture wars.

What The Greeks Did For Us, by Tony Spawforth. Any academic standing up for Classics (Latin and Greek, no definite article) in 2023 does so knowingly entering a minefield of epic proportions.  Since the Renaissance the appreciation of Classics has been a mark of...

Tony Spawforth on What the Greeks Did For Us

Tony Spawforth on What the Greeks Did For Us

Our editor met with the author of a new book on the Greeks and their impact today.
Tony Spawforth

Tony Spawforth, surely the impact on our world today by the Greeks is significantly limited - after all the Romans would surely claim the ancient influence, if there is any? In many ways the Romans were simply conduits for the older and greater Greek civilisation that...

Three Epic Battles That Saved Democracy, by Stephen P. Kershaw

Three Epic Battles That Saved Democracy, by Stephen P. Kershaw

There are echoes of Ukraine whilst reading of the Greco-Persian Wars.
Oliver Webb-Carter

Stephen P. Kershaw’s new book has been published at the right time, what with an autocratic ruler recently invading a European democracy with overwhelming odds. There are always problems with direct comparisons, but one can’t help thinking of Ukraine when reading...

The Young Alexander, by Alex Rowson

The Young Alexander, by Alex Rowson

Thought everything that could be read about Alexander had been written? Think again.
Oliver Webb-Carter

When visiting the Royal Tombs of the Argead dynasty at Aigai, Vergina in northern Greece, one descends a slight declining ramp, in bright sunlight with multi-coloured oleander on either side, towards a doorway at the end that is cloaked in darkness. On entering the...

Medea @Soho Place – Review

Medea @Soho Place – Review

The latest adaptation of Euripides' play is dominated by a towering performance from Sophie Okonedo.
Oliver Webb-Carter

Medea @Soho Place - Review Euripides' Medea is one of the more affecting tragedies emanating from 5th century Athens. For those unfamiliar, it's a sequel to Jason and the Argonauts - but if you're thinking it's in the style of the Hollywood version with Todd Armstrong...

Aspects of History Day: Two Years On

Aspects of History Day: Two Years On

Our editor reflects on two years of Aspects of History.
Oliver Webb-Carter

As we all celebrate Aspects of History Day – I thought I’d reflect on where AoH is after two years. The whole project: magazine, website and podcast has been hugely rewarding. After all, for the four years previously I’d worked in an obscure office at a large American...

Making History, by Richard Cohen

Making History, by Richard Cohen

This book on history and its writing makes for an endlessly fascinating read.

Early in Richard Cohen’s excellent Making History he quotes his distinguished predecessor, the late John Burrow: ‘Almost all historians … have some characteristic weakness … It is often the source of their most interesting writing’. Cohen’s weaknesses are for story,...

Books of 2022 From Aspects of History

Books of 2022 From Aspects of History

Our authors and contributors recommend books they've enjoyed this year

Books of 2021 from Aspects of HistoryTimothy Ashby Author of Elizabethan Secret AgentAt the top of my favourites list of recent historical books is Leanda de Lisle´s Henrietta Maria. Although non-fiction, the book reads like a historical novel, with fascinating...