A History of Western Architecture - David Watkin

Advantages: A classic that deserves to be read, though perhaps not to be a classic.
Disadvantages: Seems hurriedly and sometimes carelessly written.

...of older philosophy is perhaps necessarily sketchy and the book gets more detailed as he precedes and is better, or at least harder, in the section on early and later modern philosophers. One of the great advantages of the book, however, is that it tells a coherent and connected story: Russell points out in the introduction that if the history of ideas has any unity, this can only be set forth in a book if "early and later periods" are "synthesized in a single mind". Highly useful as an introduction to and an overview of figures from 3,000 years of Western philosophy – particularly ones who might otherwise only remain more or less famous names: Anaxagoras; Epicurus; Francis Bacon – but Russell's judgments cannot be regarded as definitive and the book is perhaps better read for educative enjoyment than for enjoyable education.... Read review

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Advantages: A good overview and general survey
Disadvantages: Could get into a bit more depth at times

...Some of the problems that many Western readers have when confronting a topic such as the history of Islam include difficult names for people (to the Western ear), unfamiliar place names (some less unfamiliar now due to the Western attention focussed upon the Middle East at present), and unusual theological concepts and practices that don't always neatly relate to Western ideas of philosophy and religion. Authors Fred James Hill and Nicholas Awde obviously took these difficulties into account when developing this text on the history of the Islamic world, for it is exceptionally readable and accessible to the Western audience, its intended group. Hill and Awde have written then with somewhat of a bias, which is admitted early in the text. This is both a history and a celebration of Islamic culture; whereas often history of non-Western... Read review

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Advantages: Well written, fascinating subject
Disadvantages: -

...King David is hailed in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament as the greatest of the kings of the Israelites, the model of kingship, and the forerunner of messiahship. Later ideas of the messiah often focused upon David; most who claimed to be the messiah in later times would look to the military and political aspects to support their claim; even Jesus, who eschewed the idea of an earthly kingdom, nonetheless had David as a primary image. Some see David as a mythological figure. Certainly the image projected of him and the shadow this character casts over subsequent Israelite and biblical history is one of mythic proportions. Partly the constructs around David have become so strangely skewed that one asks the question, as the literature both in the biblical texts and later developments can lead one to asking the question, 'can any one man... Read review

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