andrewfontenelle's review against another edition
4.0
In "Black Spark, White Fire", Richard Poe challenges views on ancient history as accepted by elements of the Western Academic Establishment.
What is particularly interesting about the book is that he doesn't really approach the subject as if he were preaching incontrovertible truths; instead the reader is provided with enough information to draw their own conclusions. Even the reproduction of the face of the Ancient Egyptian Priest presented on the cover (which was re-produced from the skull of a mummy by a leading Forensic Artist) is left to the judgment of the reader as to its ethnicity.
I was particularly (and pleasantly) surprised at how objective Poe was in devoting much time to opposing views and carefully highlighting anything which could not be proven. He draws much on the testimonies of classical writers together with new research which has been carried out in recent years.
I think one important lesson from this book is that often what we think as conventional truth, supposedly based on detailed research and analysis, just turns out to guesswork, assumption and a good measure of bias. And despite the fact that when these ideas have been shown to be incorrect or without basis, once they have taken root, it is very difficult to overcome them!
Much of what we find in this book has been covered by many others over the years, but Poe’s style of presentation is easily read and digested.
What is particularly interesting about the book is that he doesn't really approach the subject as if he were preaching incontrovertible truths; instead the reader is provided with enough information to draw their own conclusions. Even the reproduction of the face of the Ancient Egyptian Priest presented on the cover (which was re-produced from the skull of a mummy by a leading Forensic Artist) is left to the judgment of the reader as to its ethnicity.
I was particularly (and pleasantly) surprised at how objective Poe was in devoting much time to opposing views and carefully highlighting anything which could not be proven. He draws much on the testimonies of classical writers together with new research which has been carried out in recent years.
I think one important lesson from this book is that often what we think as conventional truth, supposedly based on detailed research and analysis, just turns out to guesswork, assumption and a good measure of bias. And despite the fact that when these ideas have been shown to be incorrect or without basis, once they have taken root, it is very difficult to overcome them!
Much of what we find in this book has been covered by many others over the years, but Poe’s style of presentation is easily read and digested.
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