#benson bobrick

[1111astrology]

The seven deadly sins in the Bible were supposedly founded from the seven planets. - Sloth (Saturn) - Pride (Jupiter) - Anger (Mars) - Gluttony (Sun) - Lust (Venus) - Avarice (Mercury) - Envy (Moon)

[sparksofcalliope]

Two Poems by Benson Bobrick

#poetry #poems #poemas #SparksofCalliope #poetrylovers #poetrycommunity

My Wife & I Go Down the Road Blest pair of Sirens, Voice & Verse,Keep the hollow from our purse,Now that we have put you first;Give us both enough to eat,Shoes below to clothe our feet,Rafters up above from sleet;Tea and honey for the throat,Pen and paper for the notes,And the lines for which I hope. Doubt I am no longer confident of culmination—The voice of Truth, the Protean voice of…

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Bronze, silver, gold ... how did the Olympics become what it is today?

If you want to take a deeper dive into the Olympics and learn more about the historic roots of these games, we've got a book for you!

A Passion For Victory: The Story of the Olympics in Ancient and Early Modern Times by Benson Bobrick

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Fated Sky | Author: Benson Bobrick | Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2006)

[daneshzaki]

The Caliph's Splendor: Book Review

Benson Bobrick's The Caliph's Splendor takes us on a journey from the times of the Rashidun (rightly guided) Caliphs (representatives) to the end times of the Abbasid and Umayyad dynasties. It is a fairly unbiased view covering their rise and fall. The book focuses a great deal on the cities of the time: Baghdad, Cordoba, Sicily and others; specifically, the architecture of the buildings, the Hamams (public baths) and overall city planning. There is an entire chapter devoted to Baghdad alone. Bobrick also touches upon the situation of the society: literacy, culture, religion, occupations and pastimes. He presents a more balanced view of some of the notable Caliphs such as Harun Rashid, stating that he welcomed people of all faiths and encouraged learning and trade. In Baghdad and Andalusia (now in Spain), their seemed to have existed universities where a great deal of development on science, mathematics, physics, chemistry and medicine seems to have taken place. One can imagine them to be like the developed countries of today. As is the case with most kingdoms and dynasties, the initial Caliphs were pious and the later ones were lavish, and extravagant. Their wealth seems to have been disproportionate and possibly one of the causes of their downfall along with their in-fighting. The book is not too detailed and tries to weave events into a story. It is a good read on the subject but readers looking for a more detailed account should read "A Short History of Saracens" by Syed Ameer Ali (freely available in the public domain).

[infinite-expectation]

America was not thinking so much of her wrongs as a colony, but already of her rights as a republic.... The real case for the colonists is that they felt they could be something, which they also felt, and justly, that England would not help them to be. England would probably have allowed the colonists all sorts of concessions and constitutional privileges; but England would not allow the colonists equality: I do not mean equality with her, but even with each other. [William Pitt, the first earl of] Chatham might have compromised with Washington, because Washington was a gentleman; but Chatham could hardly have conceived a county not governed by gentlemen. [Edumund] Burke was apparently ready to grant everything to America; but he would not have been ready to grant what America eventually gained. If he had seen American democracy, he would have been as much appalled by it as he was by French democracy, and would always have been by any democracy. In a word, the Whigs were liberal, and even generous aristocrats, but they were aristocrats; that is why their concessions were as vain as their conquests.... [The English] did not really drive away the American colonists, nor were they driven. The [Americans] were led on by a light that went before.

Benson Bobrick quoting G.K. Chesterton in Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired, at page 297.