Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [250]
Mithen, Steve. After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000–5000 BC. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004. Told through the eyes of a fictional world traveler, a look at the globe as the last great Ice Age was ending, and that change’s impact on human development.
Morton, W. Scott, and Charlton M. Lewis. China: Its History and Culture (fourth edition). New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. A concise, accessible overview of China from neolithic times to the present.
Morton, W. Scott, and J. Kenneth Olenik. Japan: Its History and Culture (fourth edition). New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. A concise chronology and good overview of Japanese history from earliest known civilizations to the modern era.
Moynahan, Brian. The Faith: A History of Christianity. New York: Doubleday, 2002. A very accessible narrative history of two thousand years of Christianity and its impact on world history.
Mysliwiec, Karol, translated by Geoffrey L. Packer. Eros on the Nile. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2002. Not as sexy as the title sounds, a fascinating but scholarly work on just how “hot” the Egyptians were.
Nash, Ronald H. The Gospel and the Greeks: Did the New Testament Borrow from Pagan Thought? (Original title: Christianity and the Hellenistic World.) Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishing Company, 2003. A scholarly work that refutes the idea that Christianity was an outgrowth of Greek philosophy and religion.
Nuland, Sherwin B. Doctors: The Biography of Medicine. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988. A history of medicine that touches on the mythical beginnings of the healing arts.
Page, Jake. In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians. New York: Free Press, 2003. Drawing on the latest archaeology and other research, a comprehensive overview of American Indian history.
Page, Jake, editor. Sacred Lands of Indian America. New York: Harry Abrams, 2001. A photographic collection with essays that ask the very important question “What makes a place sacred?” and, even more important, “How can such places be protected?” Beautiful and provocative.
Pagels, Elaine. Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. New York: Vintage, 1989. Prizewinning scholar’s look at how early Christians viewed sex and transformed the pagan world.
Pagels, Elaine. The Origin of Satan. New York: Vintage, 1996. The Christian view of good and evil and how it influenced the rise of Christianity.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985. A very readable examination of the changing image of Jesus over the course of two hundred years, written by a leading historian of religion.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1996. An assessment of the changing views of Virgin Mary.
Perrottet, Tony. The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Ancient Games. New York: Random House, 2004. A highly entertaining and revealing account of the 1,200-year history of the ancient games. Very readable.
Pinch, Geraldine. Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Very comprehensive and reflecting much recent scholarship, a brief overview of Egyptian myths.
Plato. The Republic. New York: Vintage, 1991. The classic Socratic dialogues. (Many other editions available.)
Porter, J. R. The Illustrated Guide to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Book by book, a look at the “Good Book.”
Porter, Roy. Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002. An entertaining overview of the history of healing, including medicine in the time of legendary healers in Egypt and Greece.
Restall, Matthew. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. A revisionist