What Are You Reading or Listening To?

Haha a coin of Constantine on the cover of a book about the Peloponnesian War huh? I bet that gave Kenneth a face-palm.

 

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Tired of Ancient Roman or Greek historical fiction? Looking for something more exotic and mysterious?

I invite you all to take a glimpse at the world of the Hittites....not the much diminished neo-Hittite kingdoms from the Bible, but the much older classical Bronze Age Empire of the Hittites, whose power could not be matched except maybe by the Egyptian pharaos of the New Kingdom.

When Prince Hattu is born, the Goddess Ishtar prophesied that this "cursed son" will slay his brothers, stain the throne with blood, and bring destruction upon the world. As a result, he is forced to live a life of seclusion. But when the Kaskans threaten to destroy the Hittite empire, Hattu is drawn into a journey to prove the Goddess Ishtar wrong and prove his worth as a warrior and prince. But as he tries to redeem himself, Ishtar's prophesy looms larger than ever.



Honestly, a great read. I was captivated from begining to end, and can't wait for additional books from this series. If they are half as good as this first one, it will be a great series indeed....perhaps along the caliber of one of the great historical series like Marius Mules

 

Fascinating history... it is why I captured this. And, @Sallent , thanks for the book reference.



Hittite Steatite Head of a Man Amulet 2nd Millennium BCE 15 x 20 mm Intact front-Side
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittites

These were the guys that Rameses II fought at the Battle of Kadesh... Rameses told everyone HE won, as the Hittites stated THEY won. Lotta dumb mistakes from Rameses II side, but I understand it was really a draw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kadesh


Egypt Scarab RAMESSES II cartouche 19th Dyn 1292-1189 BCE winged uraeus cobra 4.1g 19mm Gustave Mustaki collection acquired from Egypt in 1948

 

Do all of these have the error on the dustjacket? My grey jacket 1985 edition has it right.

 

@dougsmit ... Don't tell me my book is fake too?

 

I just got this in the mail. Alas, too late for the write-ups for my recent Victoria Navalis coins.

 

Reading:

A dutch book about Germans, Celts and Romans, who lived in the present Netherlands and Belgium around the beginning of the era.

Rereading:


The Dutch translation of Pliny the Younger's letters to and about Tacitus.

Listening:

 

I thought this was appropriate once the quarantine started:



And I thought about posting my Black Death Coin, but why not just link to the post on it instead?

 

I typically read several books simultaneously. Helps my creativity, and keeps me grounded.

I am reading this, cuz of @FitzNigel 's influence:



Also, cuz, I enjoy Buddhism, and the Dalai Lama is an amazing Human.



I haven't really read much SciFi in YEARS, but am on a binge of Short Stories right now...




I was chugging through this a couple years ago, then travel, put it down and forgot to take with me, and now just picking it back up again.

 

That looks like an interesting book as we sometimes forget what coinage represented to a mostly illiterate ancient world. Coins could convey propaganda that supported and legitimized a ruling elite. They also reinforced cultural norms and mythologies.

Looks interesting. Thank you for bringing this book to my attention.

g.

 

It is very interesting. Each coin is featured with a photo and roughly a page and a half of nice history and information. Fun read, easy, relaxing.

Enjoy it!
Brian

 

I've been reading Gibbon's Decline of the Roman Empire, just half way through the second volume towards the end of the reign of Constantius II. I love his generally sarcastic tone, and his excellent eye for a good historical anecdote, and the edition I have has some additional editorial footnotes and clarifications to the few things that Gibbon gets wrong.

I've also been listening to my favourite electronic noise makers, Autechre, who just recently put out a handful of new live recordings from their shows in 2016-18. If you're into adventurous IDM, they are well worth having a listen. If not, avoid at all costs. It's the kind of material to drive most people mad haha.

 

Interesting post and interesting book, @FitzNigel ! I read the Decameron many years ago and I’m re-reading some of it now. I’ve always been fascinated by the period. I remembered a television show on PBS, you can find it on “Dailymotion.”* It’s called Secrets of the Dead. It talked about how the Black Death left markers in human DNA which are still evident in folks with European ancestry. It’s rather scary and a bit difficult to watch, considering what we’re experiencing now.

*I didn’t post the link here because I think that’s a violation of the CoinTalk rules.

 

That's one of my favorite books Fitz, I hope you enjoy it. I had a high school English teacher that assigned it as part of a European literature course.

I just started a couple off books myself.

 

Some recently read (or currently reading) books:

Almost done with this first volume of an ever-expanding series. Next comes Hellenistic and Roman (with Marcus Aurelius, of course), then Islamic, then Medieval, then Indian. Great so far.


I am also making my way through "The American Presidents Series" and I just recently finished the 17th volume on a very low-ranking president. I won't go into it, but the book pretty much makes it clear why he deserves this low rank. He was the first president ever impeached, but only on pretty flimsy grounds. Quite a shock after Lincoln. Next up: Ulysses Grant.


This is a great introduction to a vast and complex topic. This wasn't the first book I had ever read on this subject, so it read pretty quickly, but it's still worthwhile, entertaining and fascinating.

 

Ivan’s War is a fascinating book about a hellish period of history.

 

Mary Beard's SPQR. Not a lot of coins mentioned, but it is a very interesting read that covers Augustus to Commodus.

 

I just finished Hilary Mantel's new novel "The Mirror and the Light", the third in her trilogy about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, after "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies." I highly recommend it, but I think it's essential to read the two previous books first.

My next project is to watch Season 3 of "Babylon Berlin" on Netflix. I loved the first two seasons.

 

Been reading this historical fiction series:




Similar in style to Marius' Mules series by JA Turney, except this series is based on the legions of the late empire instead of the late Republican era. I'm in book 5 so far, and I highly recommend it. By book 5 we are approaching the battle of Adrianople, where Emperor Valens dies.

I love that in this series the legions are a shell of their former selves (as was true at this point in the late empire.) They are constantly undermanned, poorly equipped, and facing ruthless enemies whom are quite capable of massacring the legions down to the last man...such as the Hunnic hordes, and the Gothic barbarians. And let's not forget the Sasanian Empire to the east, which threatens to invade the west at a time where the legions are pressed down and struggling to survive the Gothic War of 376-382 CE.

 

For awhile I've been meaning to read The Decameron, mentioned by others here, but I've always felt that I never had the amount of free time to properly do it justice. Maybe now is that time. Regarding that same period however, I recently did read The Great Mortality by John Kelly:



It's a well researched and informative book that really struck home, but it also made me grateful to realize that things could be a whole lot worse than they are now.

As for what I'm listening to, what better antidote to all those depressing things than the upbeat tempo of some Ska music from late 70s / early 80s England?



One... step... beyond!