"He is the extreme case of a highly recognisable type in many ages: a brilliant, arrogant aristocrat with political ambitions and considerable eloquence and ability."
No, it's not Malcom Turnbull in 2009, it's Alcibiades in 415BC Athenian society as reported in A History of Histories by John Burrow (p. 45).
A review on LibraryThing appears here. Over 200 members of LibrayThing have given this book an average of 4 stars and I would agree with them. This book is an overview of who has written history from the earliest records to the present day; why they wrote it and why it matters what was going on around them when they did. Scholarly and informative, the author's wry humour leavens what can inevitably turn a little dry. I have enjoyed it in instalments and also secure in the knowledge I was reading just for my own pleasure - not to face a test! If you like history you may well get a lot out of this book.
Wendy
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