This week, we feature an influential Renaissance guide to manners and morals and a chilling novel about a social media company that seeks to control users’ lives.
Fiction
‘The Circle’
By Dave Eggers
The Circle Corporation provides more than just social media services. It integrated the online experience and now seeks to assume responsibility for everything associated with life, including users’ personal experiences. The Circle sees privacy as theft. Mae Holland joins The Circle seeking a real and meaningful job. Seduced by the glamour of a cutting-edge technology company, she fails to see that her job lacks value, and willingly forces others into The Circle. A chilling novel showing how good intentions create evil results.
Vintage Books, 2014, 497 pages
Ancient History
‘Crossing the Rubicon’
By Luca Fezzi
Except for Alexander the Great, Gaius Julius Caesar is the best-known conqueror of the ancient world. While his conquest of Gaul is well-known, winning the Roman Civil War won him his most enduring fame. As a fresh examination of Caesar’s activities during that war, this book explores why Caesar won despite being vastly outnumbered and unable to besiege Rome. A fascinating re-examination of an event treated as settled history; it highlights the dangers of blindly following what “everybody knows.”
Yale University Press, 2020, 384 pages
Foreign Policy
‘We May Dominate the World’
By Sean Mirski
America has grown in power at a rate unlike any nation in history. Mr. Mirski demonstrates how the country has utilized that power through its foreign policy decisions, specifically within the Western Hemisphere. Beginning at the end of the Civil War and journeying into the 20th century, the author takes the reader on a tour of policy decisions that have resulted in questionable, at times necessary, and at times harmful, actions. An incisive and engaging look at the difficulties of policymaking.
PublicAffairs, 2023, 512 pages
Travel
‘The Train From Greenville’
By Anna Raglan
This delightful account of a 2011 trip from Greenville, South Carolina, to Seattle relates the magic of traveling by train: having the freedom to roam the cars, meeting other passengers, and watching the landscape gliding past. Here, the train becomes a microcosm of America, and this book is a timely reminder of the goodness and generosity of its citizens. Ms. Raglan has a knack for capturing people in print and brings a spirit of adventure and a sense of humor along with her luggage. All Aboard!
Old Tree Press, 2021, 246 pages
Classics
‘The Book of the Courtier’
By Baldesar Castiglione
That a book on Renaissance manners and morals still retains a place in our literature today speaks to its worth. A group of men and women―aristocrats, artists, and others―play a game to describe a perfect courtier. In their discussions, we are given not only a vivid picture of the past, from the importance of dancing and dress to the arts of conversation, but also lessons in love, leadership, and virtue. This book had enormous influence in its day and contains some apt advice for moderns as well.
Penguin Classics, 1976, 368 pages
For Kids
‘Kidnapped’
By Robert Louis Stevenson
This timeless classic tells the tale of young David Balfour who, after the death of his father, sets out to claim his inheritance. His treacherous uncle betrays him and conspires to sell him into slavery. Stevenson’s vivid storytelling keeps the reader glued to the page as the thrilling adventure explores themes of loyalty, friendship, and freedom.
SeaWolf Press, 2018, 248 pages
