My father first introduced me to Alan Furst’s moody, evocative novels of interwar Europe. I devoured the first of them three years ago, and since then have held myself to a careful ration, not reading too many too fast, for fear of running out.
The city of Paris is not exactly an under-exposed subject. Still, Colin Jones’ history of the city deserves a special place on the shelf, the best single volume I have yet read on the evolution of this most beloved of world cities.
I typically work out about an hour a day and spend another half hour or so in the car — so I’m a big consumer of audiobooks and a grateful customer of Audible.com.
As everyone who ever read Byron or watched “300” knows, the Battle of Thermopylae pitted all the hopes of Western civilization against the oppressive pall of Oriental despotism.