We've had discussions about book purchases, pdf downloads, and favorite reference materials, but I'd like to start a thread that gives people an opportunity to list the books they are currently reading that enhance their ancient and/or world numismatic knowledge. Reviews are also encouraged - let us know what you think of the books. I'm not reading anything specifically about numismatics at the moment, but I am going through a book called The Nabataeans, Builders of Petra, by Dan Gibson. When I say "going through" I mean stopping often to look up place names, rulers, battles, gods, etc. Being a newcomer to ancient history, I've got a lot of work to do to catch up with the rest of you. Dan Gibson is one of the foremost authorities on Nabataean history, having spent many years researching the culture and visiting the ancient sites - even traveling their trade routes. The Nabataeans, Builders of Petra is more of a colloquial book than a scholarly essay, but he has written a number of scholarly works which you can find on www.academia.edu. He has an excellent website at www.nabataea.net as well - if you want free, well-researched information about this civilization, that should be your first stop. I'm also reading the collected works of the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, but that's the sort of thing I can't read all in one stretch. I take a few paragraphs a day, intermingled with other reading. I think it's vital to read source material from the ancient world as much as possible, to get at least some of the information from the horse's mouth, as it were. Edit: I also recently watched an A&E special called Ancient Mysteries: The Hidden City of Petra, narrated by Leonard Nimoy. It's a very basic overview of the Nabataean culture, but it's quite well-done, and the cinematography is compelling, to say the least.
While it's not nearly as "in depth" as your current reads, I'm currently thumbing though a couple of new buys, "Penny Whimsey" and Rick Snow's Whitman Publishing "Indian Head Cents".
