Dalla montagna sacra. Un viaggio all'ombra di Bisanzio

In 587 AD, John Moschos and his acolyte Sophronius started on a journey that would take them all across the Byzantine world, exploring the vast lands of Eastern Christianity. Almost 1500 years later, Scottish writer William Dalrymple follows in their footsteps, through a landscape that has been rava Leggi tutto

I think this book is very informative for Westerns who thinks everyone from Middle East is Usama bin Laden however it is very biased on Christianity. It is true that Christians in Middle East do suffer a lot (perhaps as a result of what Christians in the West are doing). However, I didn't enjoy taki Leggi tutto

This is a superb book. I found it more of an illuminating history of the middle east through Byzantine and contemporary(ish - it was published in 1997) christians' eyes rather than traditional travelogue. But no matter - Dalrymple more than covers for that in how he unfolds the historical context of Leggi tutto

As good as advertised, and perhaps even more so twenty years after publication, given all that has happened in the meantime. If you're not inclined to sadness over lost traditions, you probably won't care, but I almost cried when the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddha, and I have literally no social Leggi tutto

I have only given this book three stars because I so greatly admire William Dalrymple as a writer and historian. My reservations with this book have nothing to do with his skills in either department and my complete dislike of the Orthodox branch of Christianity. Don't misuynde5rstand me I dislike a Leggi tutto