History Books
| Title | Author | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| The Letters of Cassiodorus | Thomas Hodgkin (trans.) | Invaluable source data |
| The Wars of Justinian | Procopius | Very valuable but tedious |
| The Secret History | Procopius | Very revealing but hardly credible |
| Confessions | Saint Augustine | |
| The Consolation of Philosophy | Boethius | |
| Late Antiquity | Gillian Clark | |
| The World of Late Antiquity | Peter Brown | |
| The Later Roman Empire | Averil Cameron | |
| Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity: AD 395-600 | Averil Cameron | |
| Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | Edward Gibbon | The authority |
| Wandering Begging Monks | Daniel Caner | Snippets |
| The Life of Severus | Zachariah of Mytilene | Snippets |
| Social and Political Life in Late Antiquity | Gutteridge, Machado | Snippets |
| The Civilization of the Middle Ages | Norman F. Cantor | |
| People, Personal Expression, and Social Relations in Late Antiquity | Ralph W. Mathisen | Snippets |
| Come and See the Roman House | Catherine Aitken, Augusta Raurica | For children; very helpful |
| Getreide, Wein und Krisen | Ullrich Fellmeth. Antike Welt 1/12 | |
| Ingenieurkunst und die Kraft des Wassers | Klaus Greve. Antike Welt 3/10 | |
| The Island of Elba | Marco Lambertini | |
| Elba | Merian Heft 4/XIX, 1963 | |
| Synoptika | Silvestre Ferruzzi | |
| Pedemonte e Montemarsale | Silvestre Ferruzzi | |
| Youth in the Roman Empire | Christian Laes and Johan Strubbe |
Writers’ Aids
| Title | Author | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction | Jeff Gerke | |
| Show or Tell? | James Thayer | That is the question! |
| Structuring Your Novel | K.M. Weiland | Very helpful |
| Outlining Your Novel | K.M. Weiland | Very helpful |
| Bring Your Writing to Life | Amy Michelle Wiley, Audrey Miller | |
| New Oxford Style Manual | Oxford University Press | Invaluable reference |
| Story | Robert McKee | The other authority |
Period Novels
| Title | Author | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| The Eagle of the Ninth Chronicles | Rosemary Sutcliff | Excellent read |
| Ben-Hur | Lew Wallace | Brilliant |
| Tristan and Iseult | JD Smith | Good, not very relevant |
| The Rise of Zenobia | JD Smith | Good, not very relevant |
| The Fate of an Emperor | JD Smith | Good, not very relevant |
| Harvest of Rubies | Tessa Afshar | Good, not very relevant |
| Harvest of Gold | Tessa Afshar | Good, not very relevant |
| Komm wieder, Pepino | Evelyne Hasler | For children; good |
| The Dark of the Sun | C Q Yarbro | Obscure and not relevant |
| Citadel of God | Louis De Wohl | Very good read about St. Benedict |
| The Land of Angels | Fay Sampson | Very good read, not very relevant |
| The Oblate’s Confession | William Peak | Intriguing insight into LA monastery life |
| To Forestall the Darkness | Vann Turner | Ca. 590 AD, very infor-mative, poorly edited |
| Gladiator: Fight for Freedom | Simon Scarrow | Ca. 50 BC, exciting but rather implausible |
| Pompeii | Robert Harris | Ca. 79 AD, realistic characters and events |
Books to Learn From
| Title | Author | COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
| Romola | George Eliot | Excellent character development and plot |
| Lord Jim | Joseph Conrad | Well written but over complex |
| Nathan Coulter | Wendell Berry | Brilliant narrative |
| Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel | Far too complicated |
| Pentecost | J.F. Penn | Unconvincing |
| Raw Material | JJ Marsh | Not my style |
| Jane Eyre: Writer’s Digest Annotated Classics | Charlotte Brontë, K.M. Weiland | Excellent writing and helpful annotations |
| Dream Of Darkness: A Hippo Yeoman mystery | John Yeoman | Intriguing whodunit with helpful annotations |
