If dorothy dunnett grabs you - also pick up louis l'amour's "the walking drum"
--
srs (blackberry)
-----Original Message-----
From: Supriya Nair <supriya.n...@gmail.com>
Sender: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus....@lists.hserus.net
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2010 15:58:27
To: <silklist@lists.hserus.net>
Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
Subject: Re: [silk] Popular histories on the Balkans and the Golden Age of
the Arabs
Golden Age Islam: 'Aladdin's Lamp' by John Freely kind of bombs
stylistically but it's quite packed. Jonathan Lyons wrote a good, v readable
one called 'The House of Wisdom' too. Both are on Flipkart at reasonable
prices.
Dorothy Dunnett's The Lymond Chronicles has one complusively entertaining
book that is essentially a 16th century road - and sail - trip from Europe
through the Western Ottoman Empire to Stamboul. As with much of Western
fiction set in ~the Orient~ it's problematic, but it's quite beautifully
researched and monstrously readable. (I mean really monstrous: it's
chock-full of gore and assorted horror.) The book is called 'Pawn in
Frankincense.' I think it's readable even if you aren't familiar with the
first three books in the series.
On Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Aadisht Khanna <li...@aadisht.net> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I'm interested in reading up on the Balkans in the middle ages/
> Rennaisance, the Ottoman Empire, and the Golden Age of Islam/ Arabia
> (Haroun al-Rashid, etc).
>
> What are the popular history books that you'd recommend?
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Aadisht
> Email for lists: li...@aadisht.net
> Personal Email: aadi...@aadisht.net
> Mobile (TN): +91-96000 23067
> Website: http://www.aadisht.net/
> Blog: http://www.wokay.in/
>
>
--
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