reviews

Bloody Empire... Author:  Robert Graves The angelic and demonic aspects of the human psyche have been explored by philosophers, artists and others for millennia.  Even in the first bit of the 21st century we’ve had ample demonstration of the latter trait and the preceding century certainly provided numerous opportunities to point out humanity’s moral failings, but by many measures, the dawn of the Roman Empire was as foul a display as ever.  Numerous efforts have been made to reconstruct what life was like in the imperial court two thousand years ago, one of the most acclaimed being I, Claudius, a [...]

The River Abides... Author:  Wade Davis Given his highly accomplished world-wide travel resume, as well as his experience as a river guide, I was surprised to learn that author Wade Davis had never made the trip down the mighty Grand Canyon.  Barely able to contain his enthusiasm, he makes the most of a recent opportunity to spend a couple weeks rafting the 226 miles downstream from Lee’s Ferry, braving the sun, wildlife and plenty of treacherous rapids.  He tells of his adventure, as well as much of the history of the Colorado River itself, in River Notes, a thoughtful addition [...]