It's great to see there is more to the Phoenicians and other people of the ancient Mediterranean than most books ever show us. I liked that the sources for these things include classical writers such as Aristotle who wrote about democracies at Carthage, Minoan Crete and Sparta as well as Athens. Herodotus, Thucydides and many others are included, as are archaeologists from the Middle East, the Greek isles, Spain, and many places in between. It would have been good to have more depth and discussion in some parts. But as it is, the lives of many interesting people and the significant events they lived through keep this from being just a dusty academic trek. It is a remarkably revealing view… Read more
