A review by reggiewoods
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt

5.0

Greenblatt provides an insightful piece of scholarship with this history. The story of Adam & Eve has had religious scholars and artists puzzling over it for millennia. This book takes us on a trip through it's history; how it has evolved, how we have interpreted it, and the consequences those interpretations have had on our culture, society and history. It also contains a few mini-biographies of some of the more influential contributors to this story such as St. Augustine and John Milton. The demonstration of how our interpretation of the stories we hear can have such a significant impact on our view of the world is especially relevant today when interpretations and stories abound. For a scholarly work it is very accessible to the average reader and not daunting at 325 pages. The only part that may be slow going for readers are the detailed descriptions of paintings, but thankfully pictures of them are included in the paperback version which is very helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone that is curios about how our history has shaped our present.