Read Recently -- January -- New Worlds for Old and Other Mysteries
1491: new revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
This is an overview of what Native Americans may have been like before the arrival of Europeans. There's a lot of speculation, and to his credit Mann is not afraid to present both sides of any argument, even the ones that contradict the point he wants to make.
The book doesn't stick to any particular order; it bounces back and forth from north america to south america and from before Columbus to the settlement of New England; the Inka, the Maya, the Mexica, the Mound-builders, the Iroquois, and others you may not have heard of because they were too small or isolated to get mentioned in school.
None of the arguments are definitive (they can't really be, since we're talking about cultures that either because of historical distance or the lack of concern on the part of the European conquerors were not recorded), but they are convincing: I believe that the pre-Columbian Americas were more inhabited and more civilized than our schools generally give them credit for.
Recommended.
The Mystery of the Duchess of Malfi by Barbara Banks Amendola
Just about every university english major has read the play The Duchess of Malfi--but probably very few others have. Barbara Amendola actually lives in the Italian city of Amalfi, which is the more modern name for Malfi, and she found herself often wondering about the historical duchess, on whom the play was based.
It turns out that actually, not much is known. Giovanna d'Aragona didn't leave a diary, the first writing about her came about after her death (which we don't know the actual date of), and even the portrait that was supposedly of her probably wasn't (however, another portrait may actually be her, and that picture is used on the cover of this book). It's still fascinating reading (especially since she lived in the late 15th/early 16th centuries--the period of, among other things, the European discovery of North America (discussed above)), but it is all highly speculative and involves a lot of guessing. A brief synopsis of the play is included at the end of the book.
Mildly recommended.
This is an overview of what Native Americans may have been like before the arrival of Europeans. There's a lot of speculation, and to his credit Mann is not afraid to present both sides of any argument, even the ones that contradict the point he wants to make.
The book doesn't stick to any particular order; it bounces back and forth from north america to south america and from before Columbus to the settlement of New England; the Inka, the Maya, the Mexica, the Mound-builders, the Iroquois, and others you may not have heard of because they were too small or isolated to get mentioned in school.
None of the arguments are definitive (they can't really be, since we're talking about cultures that either because of historical distance or the lack of concern on the part of the European conquerors were not recorded), but they are convincing: I believe that the pre-Columbian Americas were more inhabited and more civilized than our schools generally give them credit for.
Recommended.
The Mystery of the Duchess of Malfi by Barbara Banks Amendola
Just about every university english major has read the play The Duchess of Malfi--but probably very few others have. Barbara Amendola actually lives in the Italian city of Amalfi, which is the more modern name for Malfi, and she found herself often wondering about the historical duchess, on whom the play was based.
It turns out that actually, not much is known. Giovanna d'Aragona didn't leave a diary, the first writing about her came about after her death (which we don't know the actual date of), and even the portrait that was supposedly of her probably wasn't (however, another portrait may actually be her, and that picture is used on the cover of this book). It's still fascinating reading (especially since she lived in the late 15th/early 16th centuries--the period of, among other things, the European discovery of North America (discussed above)), but it is all highly speculative and involves a lot of guessing. A brief synopsis of the play is included at the end of the book.
Mildly recommended.