I have always enjoyed big cities. They offer a large variety of multicultural events and a swarms of people from all over the world. When I heard about 5 Cities that Ruled the World by Douglas Wilson, I was excited about reading and reviewing it. I am not one to jump into reading historical books. I will watch documentaries about aspects of history, but my reading travels other directions for the most part. All that to say that reading this was a stretch. Unfortunately, it confirmed the reason why I don't do much reading of history. Excepting the occasional interesting anecdote about the cities (Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York) I was rather bored with the book. I felt cheated, wanting to know more than what I was given. The subtitle offered to answer how these cities shaped global history, but didn't deliver much substance. I would have felt better served had Wilson chosen to stay within the parameters of a specific aspect of global history, instead of jumping all over the board.
1 comment:
Jon, This is interesting. Wilson shaped many of my thoughts pertaining to headship and covenant faithfulness (I would agree with about 99%)as well as apologetics. I knew that he was a historian, but have never read any of those works.
Bob
Post a Comment