Two more from the LIbrary...

Xenophon and Thermopylae hitting mainstream?

Here's a book review from the NY Sun.

Tocqueville

The Economist has an article on Tocqueville here.

Aenied

The Boston Globe has a nice write-up for a new translation of the "Aeneid." Here's another from the New York Times. Robert Fagles has done it again. Viking/Penguin did not have the book on their site yet? I tried several searches to no avail. Here's a link to Powell's Books.

Robert Kagan's Dangerous Nation

The October 23, 2006 edition of The New Republic has an article from Robert Kagan. It appears to be a synposis or teaser for his Dangerous Nation: America's Place in the World from its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century. The Wall Street Journal has another. The Carnegie Endowment has a good site for the book's launch. There is a debate with Thomas Friedman. I mentioned the TNR article to my gym buddy, Dick "Doc" Delgado. Now he blames me for adding history to his usual investment reading. Anyway, he has borrowed Stephen Kinzer's Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. He is a pretty knowledgeable guy. his interest range from his past vetrenarian career. Based on what he has told me, Kinzer breaks down our Empire-like history into chapters. He likes, and I would agree, how it is structured. Just from his description and a quick puruse at the bookstore, I think it reminds me of The Prince? NPR had a interview. Democracy Now another.

The End of the Poem, Paul Muldoon

The Economist ran a review of this book of literary analysis. It was a teetering one in that it at once dislikes Muldoon's method, but then admits that his writing makes one laugh.

Woodward: State of Denial

Just finished Woodward's new book about the Bush Administration. It seems he used parts one and two to set up three. I made a mistake in assuming that the writing would be great. It is not bad, but lacks something intangible. This is an unfair assessment. On the other hand, it is not as if David McCullough is writing great literature, but his "srotes" flow and engage. This book does not. With all that said, it is still worth a read. It details much of what the "liberal" perspective has superficially assumed. Its attack is less on Bush than on the Administration. In fact, it convinced me that Bush is not dumb, but merely intellectually lazy (he certainly lacks curisoity...remember that after announcing his presidencial candidacy he still had not bothered to learn the names of major world leaders...)