MyBookReview

I’m sure many have watched the movie 300, the story of 300 Spartans defending their homeland at a narrow gorge called Thermopylae or Hell’s Gate.  The story of the 300 brave spartans is just one many heroic stories featured in this book.  There are even stories from the bible such as the fight between David and Goliath, a classic example of how the underdog won.  True courage is one of the most highly attributes of humanity.  Throughout history we have heard and read about the accounts of extraordinary people conquering overwhelming odds. There over 70 accounts of heroism in this book, men, women showed real courage with most the time with their lives on the line.

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Hannibal, regarded as the father of military strategy was able to shake the Roman’s military might to its core and almost conquered Rome.  He lived from 247 to 183 BC, son of Hamilcar Barca the Carthaginian general.  After his father’s death  he vowed eternal hostility towards Rome and made that promise to his father. Hannibal’s greatest military feat was marching to the Italian Peninsula by land.  On the way his army had to overcome not only physical environment but also hostile tribes.  His army crossed the Alps on to Rome’s doorstep.  What remains of his army, with 20,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry and few war elephants, Hannibal took on the might of Rome by decimating Gaius Flaminius’s army on the shores of Lake Trasimene.  His army also destroyed a calvary counterattack lead by Gaius Centenius. By then his army was too weary from battle to take on the undefended Rome capital.  He was just three miles away.   And at Cannae, southern Italy,  the Carthaginian army left 60,000 Roman soldiers dead.

He was finally defeated by Scipio Africanus at Zama, and went on the run eversince.  He committed suicide in 183 rather than submit himself to the Romans.  The Romans regarded Hannibal as a worthy adversary and recorded his exploits.

Hannibal is only one of 100 greatest military commanders feature in this book.  The commanders featured in this book, from the Spartan Leonidas of 300 fame to General Colin Powell during the first Gulf War.

For military buffs this is a good book to read and to have as reference.

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Have you heard about The Antikythera mechanism?  It is the earliest known computational device for calendrical functions. It is believed to have been made in 87 B.C. and comprised of precision gearing components.  Very advance device for that period.  The book tells what and how the ancient civilisation invented tools and devices up to the invention of computers and related technologies.  It seems ever since man existed there has been instances of extraordinary ingenuity to aid in the advancement of civilisations.

The book has detailed explanation as well as figures and charts to illustrate the innerworkings of these inventions. All the inventions featured in this book are for the benefit of mankind, what it does not include are the inventions with destructive purposes.  After reading this book, you will come to appreciate these the inventors and the inventions.  You will start asking yourself, why don’t you start to invent something.

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When I was in secondary school we learned in our history class the Malaccan sultanate.  In history, it was also mentioned about a famous chinese admiral at the height of the sultanate,  his name was Cheng Ho or Zheng He.  Zheng He made Malacca his base in the South East Asia as a stopover point to his legendary voyages.  During the opening ceremony of the 29th Olypimpics in Beijing recently, the naval might of Ming Dynasty China was also highlighted.

Gavin Menzies in this book, gave a controversial discovery that could rewrite history as we know it.  At least for the western world.  He mentioned that Zheng He and his fellow admirals made four important voyages that cicumnavigated the world.  These voyages occured from 1421 to 1423.  One of these in 1421, includes the discovery of America.  History claimed that Columbus discovered America in 1492.  The Chinese did it first 70 years earlier!  Anyways, the book contains many evidence of such voyage especially regarding maritime navigation charts.  Menzies a former British submarine commander, provided a powerful revelation of what the Chinese achieved decades before the first European did it.  In my opinion, it was possible for the chinese to achieve such a feat because their civilisation was far ahead compared to the europeans at that time.  However due the political turmoil that succeeded the Ming Dynasty, many of the documented evidence were destroyed.  China then closed its doors and revert backward instead while the european continent rose.

It is an interesting book if you like history.  It will change your perspective on what the chinese contributed to the world heritage.

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