Recently, I had a conversation with my colleague Dr. Zrinzo, who you will remember conversed with me on the subject of “America’s gun culture.” The conversation in fact continued, and the subject of “female genital mutilation” (FGM) came up. This time Dr. Z blamed the three monotheistic religions, particularly the Catholic faith. I thought this […]
A book review of The Story of Medicine by Victor Robinson, MD. Dr. Victor Robinson was Professor of History of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia.[1] Because the history of medicine has been neglected for decades, this specialty will no longer be found listed among the faculty or the subject of any medical school
A history of medicine from a secular humanist perspective! Read More »
Recently we observed — or rather, failed to observe — two important anniversaries. The first was October 12, Columbus Day, which we largely ignore. The second was October 10 or 11, the approximate date of the Battle of Tours, which we ignore entirely. Charles Martel won the Battle of Tours in 732, which saved Europe
Charles Martel, Where Are You? by David C. Stolinsky, MD Read More »
Suleiman the Magnificent: Scourge of Heaven by Antony Bridge is an engaging, but not exhaustive, narrative of the major events in the life and times of the great Ottoman Sultan Suleiman (r. 1520-1566). I was not disappointed in this book, which reads like a charming storybook. The tome is at times suspenseful, always informative, and
Suleiman the Magnificent and His Time Read More »
Soldiers of Fortune: The Story of the Mamlukes (1973) is another undiscovered gem of a book by a scholar, historian, author, and soldier, a British Lieutenant General, Sir John B. Glubb (1897-1986), better known as Glubb Pasha by the Arabs he commanded in the Middle East in his many years of service while in the
The Story of the Mamlukes by British Commander Glubb Pasha (1897-1986) Read More »
The Galleys at Lepanto by Jack Beeching (1982) is a marvelous book, so well researched and mellifluously narrated as to read almost as a fairy tale or an epic romance of yore, elegantly scribed in poetic prose. Foremost among the knights-errant in this tale of chivalry is Don John of Austria, illegitimate son of Holy
