Justin Pollard

An extraordinarily enjoyable and illuminative history of Alexandria, albeit with some occasional jumping in the timeline that doesn't detract from the authors' enthusiasm at sharing the story of Alexandria. Who knew (well, probably most of you) how incredibly important Alexandria was as a center of philosophy, education, and culture during its heyday? It was not just the well-known library of Alexandria, but it was a crossroads and center of learning for much of its history. The destruction show more of the library didn't end the city's importance-- instead the long final demise took, with a ghostly echo of modern times, the narcissistic power-hungry machinations of St Cyril whose actions so weakened the city under the guise of spreading christianity that the remaining scholars and learned were forced to flee, taking the few remaining books with them. That weakened city, no longer a cultural or scholarly center, further decayed over the following decades and eventually fell to islamic expansion. show less

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria is a collection of stories about Alexandria over its approximate 1000 year history, from the founding by Alexander the Great. Pollard describes it as the intellectual capital of the ancient world, at least until about the 5th century. He discusses the famous library, political stories such as Anthony and Cleopatra. It's a cross-grain book, meaning it's a full history but not a lot of depth, however the grain he cuts through is very interesting and useful to show more understanding not only the ancient world but the modern. Many great discoveries were made at Alexandria, it was remarkable. A map of the known world, the size of the earth, large mechanical machines and robots, an early computer, sophisticated surgery. For 100s of years it was a place of exciting wonder and possibility, the leading light like its famous lighthouse so symbolic. Pollard is able to weave a compelling story that rarely falters, his experience with television no doubt helping with the narrative. I felt by the end like it was a grand epic. A few times I had stop and think hard, was Christianity a negative force? It replaced reason with faith and new discoveries came to an end. Gibbon came down against Christianity in The Rise and the Fall and its easy to see why, the old ways were discarded and ignored for about a thousand years. From the perspective of Alexandria, Christianity was a disaster, but then there is more to it than knowledge and learning, the weak and downtrodden would now have a chance at inheriting the earth. show less

This is a marvellously readable account of the life and reign of a king justly called the Great (though that appellation was first used only 700 years after his life). One can get an impression of the real voice and thoughts of Alfred from his commentaries on his translations into English of classic religious and secular works, which is a unique contribution we possess whether from this era, or many later ones. He truly laid down the foundations for the England of later centuries in terms of show more national defence, territorial unity, a clear line of royal descent, as well as modern government, literacy and education. He fully deserves his appellation. show less

During the Anglo-Saxon period there existed an institution called the witan-- an assembly of elders who could remove an inept or unpopular king. Think about that for a minute.

The Ninth Century in what is now England met the definition set by Hobbes. It was panicky and bad. Suddenly on the horizon, longships! Matters were now worse. Or were they, in terms of the longue duree Braudel asserts elsewhere that the marauding of the Vikings removed wealth from such intense concentration and helped show more distribute such, which likely inspired artisanal efforts and possibly investment. The Danish kickstart of the swerve or Renaissance is left under-reported. The Danes trading networks for the Berber coast to the House of Rurik can't be ignored.

Well, anyway, there were a number of kingdoms in that nascent England and Alfred was the youngest of the heirs. Attrition was common in the Anglo-Saxon era and before Bob's your uncle, he's king. He proceeds with caution and prefers negotiations with the Danes, unfortunately this drains the coffers and suddenly the witan toss him aside and the Vikings are invited in to the vacuum to stabilize. Alfred lives in the woods for a while and becomes a folk hero of sorts. There's a popular revolt and Alfred is back. Populism has been the coin of many realms. Well, all of this from a Welsh scribe named Asser, who happened to be in the employ of Good King Alfred.

Learning from the repeated Viking raids and plunder, Alfred institutes a civil defense network, he invites intellectuals to his side and begins some serious nation building, including legal codes and the promotion of literacy. He also modernized their navy and consequently the Danes left, or did they? I hear you knocking, Norman Invasion show less