tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post6159601580432625802..comments2024-03-22T22:39:49.773-05:00Comments on I don't know, but . . .: In the Shadow of the Sword by Tom Hollandjameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-62804159412755521732015-03-20T19:56:07.594-05:002015-03-20T19:56:07.594-05:00Exactly! I thought I was about halfway through, t...Exactly! I thought I was about halfway through, that he'd carefully set up how none of the traditional explanations made sense, and I was settling in for the new, improved explanation, and suddenly there were the footnotes. But it's true it was interesting reading the summary of how interconnected all the Mediterranean civilization were then.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-72728489997481548222015-03-20T19:44:46.897-05:002015-03-20T19:44:46.897-05:00Yes, the 1177 did sort of trail off unfinished--an...Yes, the 1177 did sort of trail off unfinished--and I was startled how much of the book was footnotes. (I got it on Kindle) I thought it was worthwhile for the extra info, even if it still doesn't all fit nicely together.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-34846919810065570372015-03-20T17:37:12.732-05:002015-03-20T17:37:12.732-05:00You inspired me to finish both "Shadow of the...You inspired me to finish both "Shadow of the Sword" and the book about the collapse of the Late Bronze Age in about 1177 B.C., but I thought both of them ended in a bit of a muddle. Re the latter, I guess there still is no real understanding of quite why things fell apart more or less simultaneously all across the ancient Middle East in the early 12th century B.C. I was always taught it was some kind of Invasion of the Sea Peoples, but evidently that explanation doesn't hold up very well. I suppose it was some variation on those kids and their rock-n-roll.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-62985923969789175452015-03-16T17:31:09.501-05:002015-03-16T17:31:09.501-05:00You mentioned you'd been reading it, so I look...You mentioned you'd been reading it, so I looked it up and it looked fun. Stuff like "not sure Abraham existed" got a bit old after a while (that good old "internal evidence" says that part of Genesis is quite old), but he writes a lively history. And Persian history was pretty much a blank to me after Alexander, so this was great.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3907216.post-4884103541049703282015-03-16T00:43:55.425-05:002015-03-16T00:43:55.425-05:00I'm still only about halfway through, having g...I'm still only about halfway through, having gotten bogged down a bit. I had exactly your reaction to the Kharijites! Could have been ripped from the headlines.<br /><br />And I found the background helpful, too. In recent years I've been trying to repair my spotty historical education, and I enjoy reading ancient history most of all, but I'm still having trouble keeping it all straight. There was lots more Persian history in this book than I've found elsewhere.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.com