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A review by nelsta
The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine by Simon Price
3.0
The Birth of Classical Europe was surprisingly dull. It is the first book in the Penguin History of Europe. As a Europhile, I have read and enjoyed other entries in the series. I hoped the start of the series would set the stage, but The Birth of Classical Europe oscillated between interesting and thoroughly bland. It represents an inauspicious start to an otherwise notable collection of histories.
Simon Price divides the book into two major parts: a history of Greece and a history of Rome. It's an understandable beginning to the history of Europe, but I wish Mr. Price had made a stronger attempt to tell the story of other European peoples (the Celts, Gauls, Vandals, Britons, Carthaginians, and a few other peoples all get passing mentions). But even if I ignore that and focus on the history he does provide, I am still disappointed.
The beginning of the book was excruciatingly boring. I genuinely considered chucking the book entirely until about a quarter of the way in. I enjoyed Mr. Price's history of Greece and Macedonia, but I was surprised by his frequent ventures into Middle Eastern and African history. I understand that these regions represented important parts of Greek and Roman history, but I was bothered by the proportion of time he spent on them. Why spend so much time on Roman Palestine or Greek Persia and none on northern or eastern Europe? Surely there are notable events or people from those regions that could have been described.
Exasperation became a common feeling throughout the book for me. I felt like Mr. Price glossed over huge swathes of history to focus on myopic--even irrelevant--events. The Birth of Classical Europe ends abruptly with Augustine, which is a bit strange. Why not end it with the sack of Rome, the founding of Constantinople, or some other momentous event? Augustine spent much of his life in modern-day Algeria and Tunisia, which are not particularly relevant to a history of Europe. (As a side note, I would love for Africa and the Middle East to receive the Penguin History treatment. Europe is great, but a multi-volume history of Africa would be incredible.) All-in-all, I was unimpressed. If you want to read about classical Europe, there are better books out there.
Simon Price divides the book into two major parts: a history of Greece and a history of Rome. It's an understandable beginning to the history of Europe, but I wish Mr. Price had made a stronger attempt to tell the story of other European peoples (the Celts, Gauls, Vandals, Britons, Carthaginians, and a few other peoples all get passing mentions). But even if I ignore that and focus on the history he does provide, I am still disappointed.
The beginning of the book was excruciatingly boring. I genuinely considered chucking the book entirely until about a quarter of the way in. I enjoyed Mr. Price's history of Greece and Macedonia, but I was surprised by his frequent ventures into Middle Eastern and African history. I understand that these regions represented important parts of Greek and Roman history, but I was bothered by the proportion of time he spent on them. Why spend so much time on Roman Palestine or Greek Persia and none on northern or eastern Europe? Surely there are notable events or people from those regions that could have been described.
Exasperation became a common feeling throughout the book for me. I felt like Mr. Price glossed over huge swathes of history to focus on myopic--even irrelevant--events. The Birth of Classical Europe ends abruptly with Augustine, which is a bit strange. Why not end it with the sack of Rome, the founding of Constantinople, or some other momentous event? Augustine spent much of his life in modern-day Algeria and Tunisia, which are not particularly relevant to a history of Europe. (As a side note, I would love for Africa and the Middle East to receive the Penguin History treatment. Europe is great, but a multi-volume history of Africa would be incredible.) All-in-all, I was unimpressed. If you want to read about classical Europe, there are better books out there.