Lessons in Chemistry is a well-paced and light-hearted book which is well worth a read.
A fictional account of the Dutch East India Company gives an insight into what it must’ve been like to work for them.
Amazon’s Tolkien series initially looked dreadful in trailers, but won me over with stunning visuals, excellent dialogue, and first-rate acting. The epic dwarf mines and elvish scenes felt authentically Middle-earth. While the diverse casting works well, the Harfoots (hobbits) feel out of place and annoying. Early promise exists, but success depends on maintaining quality and delivering a satisfying conclusion.
As a small boy I desperately wanted a telescope. I loved looking at the stars and the Moon. Light pollution meant I could only rarely make out the Milky Way – when I did it just looked like light cloud – but I really wanted to see it in more detail. I’d also heard that
It is easy to forget that the biggest threat to the Roman Empire throughout its history was the Persians. We read a lot about all the barbarian inroads into the empire, and know that the western empire was destroyed by the Goths and the eastern one by the Turks, so it is easy to underestimate
The Persians and the Romans had been longtime rivals. In fact from Julius Caesar’s time when Pompey had established hegemony over Armenia and Colchis the Persians had been either resisting further Roman expansion, attempting to subvert Rome’s clients in the region or when the wind was up their tails trying to push back into Egypt