Category: historical-biography
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Hannibal: Rome’s Greatest Enemy by Philip Freeman is a quick and informative read on how ancient Rome was almost toppled by an African general against all odds. If you’ve read ancient civilization, especially on the Romans, you’ve likely heard the phrase “Carthage must be destroyed!”. The man who started it all was none other than…
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Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia focuses on four personal stories whose lives were affected by the liberation of Mao Zedong’s Red Army in Shanghai and other regions of China from around the 1930s to 1960s. The four stories selected gives us a broad range of perspective in that each story and life…
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The Abbot’s Tale by Conn Iggulden is a remarkable novel regarding the life of a monk named Dunstan between the middle and end of the 10th century within England. Although labeled as a historical fiction piece of work, there was actually a monk in that period named Dunstan whose adventures, scheming and actions have in…
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The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre details the extraordinary story of one of the most important Russian spy in history. There’s always the saying that a person had single-handedly changed the course of history, and nowhere could that be more true than with the story of Oleg Gordievsky. As with so many other…
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Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint by Donald Spoto tells the story of Joan of Arc in great details. If you are looking for one book on this subject and have no use for further research, as is the case for many readers, then this book should fit right in.…
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The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge claims to be the authoritative book on the war for the Holy Land. It’s a pretty bold claim but since I know almost nothing on this subject matter, I’ll let others decide on that. What I did get out of reading this book felt akin to being taken on a…
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Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor by Anthony Everitt details the life of one of Rome’s longest ruling emperor. This obviously is no small accomplishment considering how finicky people in that ancient era could be! What surprised me the most after having read through the book is that honestly, I didn’t feel that much…
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Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman is the historical biography of one of the most important figure in ancient history. Similar to Alexander the Great, which I have just read previously by the very same author, many people today will undoubtedly have heard of the name Julius Caesar and more famously of his tragic ending but…
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Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman is a biographical novel that details the life of one of the greatest king and military tactician that has ever lived throughout our history and what a story this is! Literally, there are events concerning Alexander’s life that you couldn’t even make up if you wanted to. That’s how…
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I, Claudius by Robert Graves is a biographical fiction novel based on the account of Claudius during the infamous ancient Roman period. As usual, I was looking for my next book to devour when someone suggested that if a person wanted to read a good story with a lot of backstabbing, court intrigue and political…
The Mindless Catalog 