Cornelius Tacitus was born ca. A.D. 56 and died around 115. He had a senatorial career and became consul in 97 and governor of Asia from 112-113. In 77, Tacitus married the daughter of Agricola, governor of Roman Britain. Tacitus wrote The Agricola as a sort of eulogy for his father-in-law, and in it he recounts Agricola's career. Tacitus also wrote The Germania, in which he provides a colorful description of the indigenous tribes of Germany during the time of the Roman Empire.There is something to be said of the style with which Tacitus writes, and that is to say that his accounts of Agricola and Germania are full of wit. However, there are some problems when analyzing Tacitus as a factual source. For one, he is constantly making social commentaries about the declining role of the Senate in the affairs of the Roman Empire. In addition, Tacitus makes claims about territories that it is difficult to determine if he would actually have been able to visit and study. Therefore, one must think of his analysis of these areas as being hearsay. For instance, in The Germania, he discusses tribes of northern Germany where there was not much communication or contact. However, one cannot look past the value of this work, for although biased, it does offer insight into the way the Romans viewed the frontier and the frontier peoples. Up until archaeological discoveries, the works of Tacitus and toehr Roman historians was all the world knew of the indigenous "barbaric" peoples of Europe. However, as excavations reveal more flourishing pre-Roman cultures in Europe, Tacitus' claims may be validated or viewed as being culturally biased, uninformed and imaginative. However, as a primary source, his view of Roman Britain remains an essential part of the study of Classical Rome.

Agricola was one of the Roman governor's in Britain. He was also Tacitus' father-in-law. So he set down Agricola's great life down for posterity. With some brief descriptions of Britain that they had recently found was an island, there are accounts of battles that Agricola made to push the edge of the Empire even further. In Germania, Tacitus gives a fascinating account of the German people, and as far as I know a unique account of their "barbarian" society. As may be typically Roman, Tacitus speaks with a Romo-centric tone, but these works provide a lot of basic information of the world at the time, without being as Tacitus' very long (and incomplete) Histories and Annals.

In The Agricola, Cornelius Tacitus describes in masterful language the fantastically interesting life of his father-in-law, Agricola. As one of the most militarily successful governors of Roman held Britain, the account of Agricola is packed with fascinating descriptions of important Roman military victories. The battles fought and the characters involved ensure that the interest level stays at an elevated level. The Germania is almost equally as interesting in its description of the Germanic tribes encountered by the Romans. Their seemingly bizarre military and social traditions provide for a very engaging read. Although the Agricola and the Germania were the first historical works of Tacitus, they are in no way inferior in style or interest level to his later works. A definite must for history enthusiasts everywhere!

As a gentile, I bought copies for friends to show them insights Katchor gives of "ourselves" through Knipl's words/actions/self-doubts. Nostalgia, combined with 'layers' of deep, Jewish wisdom, humour and pathos makes this something all generations should read.

This book is where it all begins. Strange, beautiful stories that make you take notice of the aspects of the world that you might miss. Required reading if you have ever lived in New York. -yakov

Mozart was born to make music whereas Ben Katchor has the gift of capturing the essence of free enterprise and the soul of Everyman in 20th century America. My God, if Katchor had been alive in the 1800's, what conclusions could we have drawn from that age? Don't stop, Katchor! You're onto something that will endure. Your insight is amazing. Your humor is matchless.

I am an avid reader of books on health and I found this book to be a real gem for my library collection.
I have presented it to many of my friends over the age of 40 - for I believe that "aging well" should start early. This book has helped me and my parents, and all other relatives and friends enormously. It should be on everyone's bookshelf.

This book is an excellent reference for anyone interested in the aging process.
It is easy to read and yet provides a depth of knowledge not readily available in other books.
It is also a superb gift for anyone who enjoys life and desires to continue doing it, by aging well!

I have really enjoyed reading this book. It has given me insight into the aging process from a medical and scientific point of view which very few books do. Armed with this knowledge, I feel more confident about taking care of my parents and of my own health. Thank you Dr. Jeanne Wei and Dr. Sue Levkoff for sharing with us this wealth of information!

The purpose of this book was to document the lives of former slaves, grouping together areas of similar experiences. The full gamut of the horrors of American slavery are described, whether it was being beaten, raped, or having your family split apart for different masters to take away. The living conditions and variety in their treatment also are discussed, making this book, while simple enough to be read by middle schoolers, powerful enough to be read by anyone seeking a true account of slavery prior to the Civil War.

I had to read this book for a college class, and I was really moved by it. It's such a powerful read. This book will give the reader a first hand experience of what it was like to be a slave. What makes this book so good is that it's the words of the slave. It's their stories and their words. The reader will learn how they were beaten and how their families were split up...sometimes for life. If you have a interest in reading about slavery, then you must add this to your collection.

A Great Book sums it up. The book is made by shorts exerts from other books or from people in the Library of Congress. It is hard to read, to see what our forfathers did to the blacks. It really is. I have read other books about slaves but nothing as far in as this. Its saddening. It tells you how the slaves were sold by fellow africans so the whites who crammed them onto small boats. They made it so that the slaves could only sit. One person was quoted on saying that they couldn't stand up again until 2 weeks after they go off the boat. After getting off the boats, there were sold to their masters on the auction block. Then it told how the slaves revolted. They did it a bit at a time in different ways. Some rebelled by acting as stupid people as their masters thought they were. Then as the Civil War came, many slaves were freed and other ran away. As the emancipation came, all slaves were freed. The slaves didn't know what to do though. Like how to plant, farm, anything. As the book said, "Negroes were bit by two snakes, One that pointed south that bit slavery, the other faced north and bit freedom. They both hurt the negroes."

This and the Hannibal and Alexander books in the series provide very detailed descriptions of the battles. Unlike for the Alexander book, the author was able to visit the battlegrounds covered in this book to confirm the feasibility of claims made by prior historians. That in itself is useful. What is lacking is any kind of analysis of events and battle tactics and, more importantly, there's no synthesis whatsoever that addresses the Origin and Growth of the Art of War, the theme of the series. For that, the first volume of Delbruck's series is more insightful and the four books by Connolly, Hanson, Goldsworthy, and Warry on greek and roman warfare have more illustrative maps.events and battle tactics and, more importantly, there's no synthesis whatsoever that addresses the Origin and Growth of the Art of War, the theme of the series. For that, the first volume of Delbruck's series is more insightful and the four books by Connolly, Hanson, Goldsworthy, and Warry on greek and roman warfare have more illustrative maps.

I have found this to be an excellent account of Ceasars battles, my only criticism is the lack of information on the training and conditioning of the troops. The book tells of the excellent discipline and fighting skills of the legionaries but not how they got that way. Other than that the book was very hard to put down.

You will enjoy Dodge's grand study of Caesar's military career once you accept its central premise: this is "purely" a military study. Dodge NEVER strays into either a description of the political scene, and is loathe to render moral judgments. This may be occasionally frustrating: the Egyptian sojourn, for instance, is merely a lesson on why a general should not separate himself from his main legion. Cleopatra is little more than a marginal note. The clashes with Pompey, and the fateful decision to cross the Rubicon, are purely a matter of assessing the strengths and dispositions of the competing legions. Once or twice, Dodge will stray from his pedantic terms of reference, for example, he joins many others in condemning Caesar's cruel and dastardly massacre of around 430,000 German tribesfolk during the Conquest of Gaul. But Dodge - like any good West Point man of the c.19th - is far more interested in the engineering feats, of fording and bridging rivers, of marching armies vast distances in a day, of fortifying camps, of digging trenches and of building elaborate siegeworks. In this respect, Dodge's study is methodical and brilliant.

Ben Katchor's eerie cityscapes evoke the ruins of the kind of world that appeared to be happening in the background of 1950's films noir, and his fanciful industries, charities, and fraternal organizations hearken back to the same imagined time. Reading his work, one becomes nostalgic for a time that never existed. This form of humor is subtle. In fact, it is not the humor for which I buy Katchor's work as much as it is for that strange feeling of fictional nostalgia. You can get humor anywhere, but Katchor's world view is unique to the man himself. If you ever get jaded, remember this review: immersing yourself in a book of Katchor's is unlike anything you've ever felt before.

Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer Stories is a collection of Ben Katchor's comics about about middle-class guys in New York City. At first glance each comic (usually 4 or 8 panels) seems to have no point, and the tone tends to remind me of the Jim books (I Made Some Brownies, And They Were Pretty Good, etc.), but Katchor seems to have staked out some pretty bizarre literary territory with these little stories.

One of my favorites concerns a man who is nearly poked in the eye with an umbrella on a rainy day. He's telling a companion his story, when a bystander overhears and tells him that many city residents are actually suffering from eye injuries on a day like this. This eye-injury enthusiast takes our man to the hospital, to see him "offer condolences to the families of the injured."

Another story concerns a group of volunteers who man phone lines all night, just to take calls from concerned citizens who have heard fire engine or ambulance sirens. Lots of the stories are about businessmen with bizarre, pathetic, or just loopy invention ideas: a suitcase that turns into a wastebasket, a storefront which sells rock candy, but only wholesale...

The text is punctuated by hilarious proper names, such as:

Blood & Sawdust Brand Cirkus Straws

The Ascending Colon, with Horace Bismuth and Vivian Scybala

Citric Acid Council

Viosh Shirue's Natural Rainwater Cistern

Katchor doesn't look down at his characters or approach them with anything similar to condescension. If I am motivated to feel anything at all after reading this, it's a bit more humility and compassion for my fellow man. At times these little stories are laugh-aloud funny, but mostly they just bring a smile and a little chuckle.

I am glad I ran across this book.

ken32

And yes, these pieces were not created to be consumed en masse. If you find a few amusing or worthwhile, but they get tiresome after a bit, just put the book down, and read a few of them each day, as you would if your daily newspaper carried them.

these haunting stories are a notch above the first julius knipl book. one can only wonder where katchor is taking us with this series. his comic stories bounce around between the panels and the reader is forced to create other stories that are only hinted at on the page. it's totally beautiful. great book for anyone into old new york, american yiddishkeit, or gorgeous comics.

Contrary to what we could think, this novel is not dedicated to Julius Caesar's death, as Shakespeare did in his tragedy. It does not talk about his life, either. It just tells us about his last eight months.
He does it with a tecnique different from tradicional historical novel from the XIXth century and it's different, too, from the pseudo-memories, which is the favourite form of historical novel in the XXth century. Thornton Wilder prefers to juxtapose in four books a series of documents from different sources: letters, political pamphlets, inscriptions, poetry... He does not follow a chronological order but, as a kind of consecutive focusing, each book starts before and ends later than the previous one. And the very core, the central point, is September 45 BC, when an attempt against Julius Caesar's life was made. This way of telling the story is very pleasant but it asks a little effort from the reader to organize those materials in his mind.
Anyway, Thornton Wilder is not strictly historical, and he tells us beforehand. Some events happened years before 45 or 44, some characters were already dead. I think he does not really want to talk about Caesar or his time. He prefers to talk about loneliness: of a ruler that can trust no one, of man in front os his own mortality, of the absence of gods (lived not dramatically but with no consequence, either).
In the last part of the book I think he tells exactly what he's worried about: the mistery of life is very huge. It's so big that we have not a definitive idea about it, is life good or bad? tidy or chaotic? To sum it up, has it got any sense at all?
It looks as if Caesar was only worried about posthumous glory, the way future generations were going to remember him. It sounds a very poor reward, but it is more that what the majority of us will achieve.
I liked some femenine portrays in this book. Not Cleopatra or Clodia Pulcher, the first one is a mistery in herself (a Greek princess in an Egyptian kingdom), the second one so evilishly depicted by Catullus poetry that we could never get what she really was. The great women are the Roman matrons, the ones that had such a big influence in the Roman Republic, and the respect towards them as the real shadow cabinet.
Why should anyone read this book? Because it's very entertaining and you could learn some philosophy and a little bit (not too much, really) history.

Fine blend of history and storytelling. Captivating story told through letters between and among key Roman characters. Fun and entertaining read. Don't have to be a history or antiquities buff to enjoy.

I really liked Thornton Wilder's "The Ides of March" because of it's drama and it's philosophical content. The first thing to note is the great structure of the book which makes it very dramatic. The book is structured into four separate parts and each parts leads up to a scene that is anticipated throughout the part. For part I, it is the dinner at Clodia and Clodius Pulcher's; for part II, it is the reception at Cleopatra's; for part III, it is the profanation of the mysteries of the goddess by clodia pulcher and her brother; and for part IV, it is Caesar's assasination. From the very start of each part, Wilder whets your appetite for how the climactic event is going to go and I was so anxious to find out what happened, which kept me turning the pages. The second thing I want to mention is the great amount of thought provoking philosophical content in this concise, 246 page novel. There is alot of reflection in Caesar's journal about the rational grounds for religion (a belief in God or the Gods), there is a passage on living one's life with the knowledge that one will die one day, and stuff about love and relationships. Also, there is alot of character analysis, analyzing Caesar's character, contrasting it to Cicero's and Junius Brutus's and others. The fact that Caesar and these others are these famous historical figures from ancient rome tinges it all with that feeling that one is gaining an education about the roots of Western Civilization, in touch with the classics. My favorite parts are probably the letters of Caesar to his friend Lucius Mamillius Turrinus because of the great philosophical content and also the letters at the end of each section where some other character will describe in a long letter what happened at the climactic event. I heartily recommend this book because of the great drama and philosophical content. I've read other books set in the ancient past, such as Mary Renault's "The Last of the Wine", set in ancient Greece during the Peloponessian War, but I like this one better because there is more drama, more excitement, as well as more philosophical content, more real wisdom about life. And it does all this in 246 pages compared to around 430 for Renault's book. Any fans of this book who have recommendations for me please e-mail me! Greg Feirman

This is Spanish for "the cat has four limbs and only four" meaning...don`t look for more!

I was moved to write this critique after reading the comments of another reviewer...he founds the novel enjoyable but he complaints that the author "digresses from what is happening"..."not adding to the message of the novel".

I just have to say that the beauty of this novel is that the author is SO refined at casually "touching" the message that the novel comes trough as natural and very witty.

Bryce Echenique has ridiculized novels having a "social purpose"...a "message purpose" frequently...(just read "La vida exagerada de Martin Roma~na for example).

This novel is great because it was written for the sole pleasure of writing.

It has some message, it is intentional, but is not "intended"...and only a satirical person like Bryce can succeed at this.

Un Mundo Para Julius es probablemente la mejor novela de la literatura peruana y una de las mejores de la literatura latinoamericana.

Bryce no solo logra desarrollar una critica aguda pero sutil de la oligarquia peruana, sino que desarrolla una historia sencillamente extraordinaria acerca de la perdida de la inocencia.

El retrato de la tristeza que rodea y de alguna manera define la vida de Julius es conmovedor pero contenido y no desborda en tonos melodramaticos como tantas otras novelas latinoamericanas.

Mas alla de ello, creo que el estilo narrativo de esta novela, llega a cotas muy dificiles de alcanzar. Por momentos, nos embulle en el proceso mental desordenado e incoherente de una persona dejando una sensacion extrana.

Para los cineastas; creo que este libro constituye un extraordinario material para adaptar.

Inexplicable que alguien que haya vivido en suramerica donde el contraste entre la pobreza extrema y la frívola riqueza es demasiado grande para ser ignorado pueda considerar esta hermosísima novela como una mera lectura banal. Un mundo para Julius del peruano Alfredo Bryce Echenique es una de las novelas más importantes que se han escrito en nuestro continente porque es el fiel retrato de una sociedad decadente donde a veces las personas son tratadas como meras bestias de carga y los niños críados para seguir esta tradición. Lo grande de esta novela es que en ningún momento se siente una obra de resentimiento social sino un bello retrato casi proustiano de un sensible niño que crece en el seno de una tradicional familia limeña, rodeado de lujos, de amor, apenas percatándose que es un privilegiado. Poco a poco se ve enfrentado a un sinfin de peripecias que desenmascaran ante sus ojos la crueldad de la vida al igual que en el cuento "El Principe Felíz" de Oscar Wilde.Como en todas las obras de Bryce Echenique: humor y ternura hacen que esta bella novela sea una inexperiencia inolvidable. Y al que no este de acuerdo conmigo, lo reto a un duelo.

I was fortunate to attend a talk by Julius Lester just last night. His talk, titled "Story: A Way of Self-Knowledge," describes the power of story in helping us define ourselves, our beliefs, our loves, our fears, our pain, and our joy. Story is done and experienced by all people everywhere and has been since the dawn of mankind. Every religion has its own creation story that seeks to define how we relate the divine. In this adaptation of an African creation story, Lester uses modern sights, sounds, and realities to bring families together in the search for how to make sense of God and make God's love tangible. He read the book in its entirety and the entire room laughed and nodded throughout, finally giving him a standing ovation when he finished. It may not be for everyone, but the point is that all of us have our own stories that give meaning to our lives. You must find or create the one that works for you.

I loved this book! I highly recommend this book because... It focuses on diversity. It brings to light a new version of the creation myth. Not only is it easy to read, but also "God" is not alone. He has help. Everyone is part of something. One can easily tire of the typical creation myths. Instead, this book allows us to consider other possibilities. It also causes us to question the creation myth and to acknowledge that there are different points of view. I would love to read this to a class along with other creation myth books. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll get the opportunity since it deals with religion. True, this book is not for everyone, but it is definitely a must read! It was also nice to see that God was portrayed as African-American. Even though I myself am not African-American, it is nice to see some diversity in children's books=) Also, the artwork was very colorful and well done! I look foreward to more books such as this one.

A wonderful book for your kids, to read aloud at children's time on Sunday morning, or just to chuckle at by yourself. Julius Lester imagines God in his own way in the Jewish tradition of midrash, and humor and insight are the result. My favorite character is Shaniqua, the Angel in Charge of Everybody's Business. Children will see that their picture of God is not the only picture that exists, and also learn to revel in the joy and beauty of Creation. A must have for any thinking Christian family.

I'm in quest for the books like this from the times I'd read Fred Pohl's memoir THE WAY THE FUTURE WAS. Not only books and stories I love, not only legendary magazine titles - but the real men and women of the Golden Age of science fiction. Now we know how they changed the world, and it's a great to read about how do they feel this.

Julius Schwartz is very private, he is not world-changer at all - but from the first meeting with Mort Weisinger he was in the bussines of improving of the reality. Comic books never were the subject of interest for me, but I understand that for the millions of fans they were, and I'm sure our world would be far less livable without Batman on the light pole of it and Jocker on the dark pole.

And, of course, with Julius - mastering them.

"Man of Two Worlds" is a pleasant walk down memory lane, from the perspective of someone who has been a major "behind the scenes" player in the comics and science fiction fields. Julius Schwartz was a literary agent for H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Robert A. Heinlein and a host of others from the golden age of pulp magazines. As an editor for D. C Comics, he was instrumental in the revival of the comic book industry during it's "Silver Age." He relaunched the Flash and Green Lantern, and he put the yellow circle around the Bat signal.

The cast of characters in this memoir is truly amazing, but the names are dropped out of true friendship rather than self-promotion. The book is brimming with affection for old friends long gone, and new friends to pass the torch to. There is a nice piece about Julie attending a Lovecraft convention, where he was the only person in the room that had actually met the author.

The book is not thick, and there are no secrets to be revealed. There is some interesting insight into being an editor in the comics field, but that is not the focus. However, the book is so charming, so full of love for this industry and the people in it that reading it is an enjoyable experience. The afterword by Harlan Elison ends with simply, "I love you, Julie." Definitely a guy I'd like to know.

The less than rapturous reviews below speak more to the cynincal nature of todays Media-Obsessed SF and Comics Fans than they speak to the quality and importance of this 1st person Memoir by the Great Julie Schwartz who straddles the linked worlds of Comics Fandom and Organized SF Fandom like the Colossus of Rhodes. He is, like the Colossus, one of the wonders of a more ancient world, one largely lost to fans such as myself who came of age in the 70's. His memoir, aided by the conservative style of his co-writer, Brian Thomsen (formerly of Warner Books and several other star-studded imprints) tells gentle and affectionate stories while hinting at some of the more seething controversies he witnessed first-hand. Any fan who has had the pleasure of 5 minutes with Julie knows he does NOT dish DIRT on ANYONE, not even the mean-spirited. In fact, as this memoir attests to so well, Julie's entire career was really one that proved him to be a force for good in his times, a hopeful optimist, a true Sci_Fi boy from the Bronx who envisioned a better world coming from technology. I insist that even the most jaded of us Baby-Boomers, Baby-Busters, GenXers, and GenY-ers can learn something from his remarkable narrative restraint and instead focus on the cherished memories he has chosen to finally share with his fans after a very discreet public life. True, Julie is often more forthcoming at Panels or at Autograph sessions if you put a direct question to him, but clearly the goal of this book was to state the things Julie would have us remember and to celebrate the people Julie feels we fans should look at more closely. Eventually, after coming to the end of what I sincerely hope is only the 1st volume of his memoirs (Please Julie, do three books like your good pal Isaac Asimov did), one is left with a more complete understanding of the intertwining of the two distinct art forms: Comics and Science Fiction. It's only fitting that a couple of years ago, DragonCon in Atlanta instituted a Lifetime Achievement Award called THE JULIE which recognizes oustanding accomplishment in both fields. Of course, Julie got the first one and I believe Ray Bradbury the second. MAN OF TWO WORLDS is also an opportunity for a person who considers themself primarily a fan of only one of these genres to see to just what an extent, they are in fact bound to the other in spirit. Finally, what thrilled me the most was Julie recounting his earliest years as a fan and his attendence at the 1st World SF Con. As brief as those chapters were, they made me yearn for a working Time Machine so I could be whisked away back to a time before Science Fiction had became so angry and negative. Many heartfelt thanks to Julie for finally getting this book into fans' hands and for all those panels he has sat on in the past 15 years.