Books, Magazines, Movies, Music

Mistress of the Vatican:
The True Story of
Olimpia Maidalchini
The Secret Female Pope
by Eleanor Hermon
large print
Kindle

I haven’t (at least, not much), although I do have a copy of the other one about the Chinese fleet.

I’m going to give it the old college try, but to read all five in three weeks isn’t realistic. I generally get a bunch when I go because I’m never quite sure which ones I’ll enjoy. Last year I tackled two new titles about Shakespeare. :’)

I loved that NG article with the anecdote about the fishermen hauling their nets. "Ask them why they do it, they don't know." That's one of the better openings for an article on ancient history.

I loused up the Kindle link for the Menzies title, here it is: Kindle

Good luck!

The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini, The Secret Female Pope

Yeah, uh huh

That’s what I get for posting too fast. I thought this was going to be another “Pope Joan” screed. Actually this, and the other books in the list look very interesting.

Oooh, do let me know how you like the Menzies book! I have it too, but haven’t started it yet.

In the same vein is “The City of Light,” by Jacob d’Ancona. So far, intriguing! It’s d’Ancona’s journal of how he entered China four years before Marco Polo did. Scholars still argue its legitimacy.

I started the one about the Chinese fleet and got about one fourth in when I came to suspect his scholarship. There are plentiful footnotes but few, if any, that support his most extraordinary factual assertions. Just my opinion of course.

1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance by Gavin Menzies

Gavin M reminds me of John Candy's line in Splash: "When something works for me, I stick with it!"

It is a fool who doesn’t bookmark a Civ post.
I enjoyed this Marco Polo bio:
http://www.amazon.com/Marco-Polo-Venice-Xanadu-Vintage/dp/1400078806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231300672&sr=1-1

And am reading this on the rise of Islam....
http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Crucible-Making-Europe-570-1215/dp/0393333566/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231301088&sr=1-1

1434:
The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance
by Gavin Menzies

I head this guy interviewed on Coast to Coast. It was fascinating. He has a very interesting hypothesis, and the story of the fate of the fleet was amazing.

I've got some pretty wild interests myself, and love to plunge over the edge of the fringe from time to time.

Dude, Plunging over the edge can be fun sometimes. Years ago, before the internet was nearly as big as it is now, I used to get an email newsletter called "Conspiracy For The Day". Sometimes it was a really H00T! Sometimes, it made you go, "hmmmm", and file the information away for future reference.

(Anything is possible when you don't understand how anything happens.)

OMG that's hilarious! Thanks!

Now that one could be very interesting....after the trauma of the 2008 election...I have decided to get serious about reading some books on the Early years....

Just finished :

The Last Great Sea: A Voyage Through the Human and Natural History of the North Pacific Ocean (Paperback)

by Terry Glavin (Author)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Terry Glavin sheds light on the mysteries of the North Pacific Ocean — a place of cultural and ecological richness and complexity. The maritime history of the North Pacific is rife with apocryphal voyages, legendary armadas, lost colonies, and fabled portals through continents. Glavin also explores current ecological phenomena — huge phytoplankton blooms and dying birds and fish — and the significance of these events. The Last Great Sea is a thoroughly researched, beautifully written exploration of one of the world’s most mysterious places.

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I found it very interesting...has some graphical maps that I found interesting...

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And about half way thru this one:

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Hardcover)

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by Jared Diamond (Author) "A suitable starting point from which to compare historical developments on the different continents is around 11,000 B.C..."

*************EXCERPT*************************

From Library Journal Most of this work deals with non-Europeans, but Diamond's thesis sheds light on why Western civilization became hegemonic:

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I have the paperback....

Fascinating read....

And gave me a reasonable answer as to how wheat was domesticated..... was concerned about that on an earlier thread.....

I think I was on that same list. Hell, for all I know, I edited it. ;’) ;’) ;’)

I should spend more time reading books instead of web pages, but hey, no one’s ever had an epitaph, I wish I’d spent less time on the Internet...

Ana’s journey opens mystery of ‘oceanic superhighway’
[Tracking Green Sea Turtle]
WWF | 19 Dec 2008 | WWF
Posted on 01/07/2009 8:25:00 AM PST by BGHater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2160277/posts

Thanks for that link!

Thanks for the kind remark! And for the link. Here's one that may be of interest (if it's even still in print):

The City of Light:
The Hidden Journal of the Man
Who Entered China Four Years Before Marco Polo
by Jacob D'Ancona
tr by David Selbourne