Ancient Egypt
The scale of ancient Egyptian history is overwhelming. Americans (North and South) wrestle with the consequences of five hundred years of invasion, conquest, and settlement. Europeans argue over what delineates different phases of their history (modern, the rise of the nation-state, phases of the Renaissance, medieval, post-Roman, and so on). Well, that gets you back only 1500 years. Classicists pride their discipline on another thousand years. Egyptians look on, bemused. They go back 6000 years without breathing hard. Ancient Egypt (a deep and long category, obviously) represents a civilization that still fascinates us. Think pharaohs, pyramids, mummies, hieroglyphs, the Sphinx, the Nile, "King Tut." Children and adults love such stuff. I debated with myself whether to be a purist on Ancient Egypt and end my listings with Alexander the Great's conquest and the great era of the Ptolemaic dynasty, but you would miss so much in those 275 years leading up to the pragmatic and unimaginative Romans building their empire on Egyptian grain. I wanted to include the Pharos lighthouse, Alexandria and its library, Cleopatra. So I did, and I will. This page, these offerings, like the rest of Whistlestop, will be carefully curated and vetted and supplemented as I find and list interesting items.
The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World
The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World
ABOUT THE RISE AND FALL OF ALEXANDRIA
A short history of nearly everything classical. The foundations of the modern world were laid in Alexandria of Egypt at the turn of the first millennium. In this compulsively readable narrative, Justin Pollard and Howard Reid bring one of history’s most fascinating and prolific cities to life, creating a treasure trove of our intellectual and cultural origins. Famous for its lighthouse, its library-the greatest in antiquity-and its fertile intellectual and spiritual life–it was here that Christianity and Islam came to prominence as world religions–Alexandria now takes its rightful place alongside Greece and Rome as a titan of the ancient world. Sparkling with fresh insights on science, philosophy, culture, and invention, this is an irresistible, eye- opening delight.
PRAISE
“Lively and Lucid. The real action [in] the classical world lay in Alexandria. Tells the story of ancient Alexandrian science, Cleopatra, with relish and brio.”
–The Weekly Standard
“A marvelous work, a sweeping narrative, as grand as it is unusual, Pollard and Reid breathe life into the dust of philosophers and kings.”
-Barry Strauss, author of The Trojan War: A New History and The Battle of Salamis
“Lucid, entertaining, full of exquisite images.”
-Michael Hirst, screenwriter of Elizabeth
Justin Pollard, a freelance writer and producer specializing in historical documentaries, has written for PBS and A&E. Howard Reid has made award-winning documentaries for National Geographic, the BBC, and Channel 4, including The Story of English. He is the author of five books.