Review of 'The book of the dead' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Is biographical compendium a legit genre? Because if it's not, it should be, and more people should be reading it. This book contains the intriguing lives of many people, each described in just a few pages and loosely grouped around ten themes. Even in the secular West, we would do well to heed the truth in the Venerable Bede's 1300-year-old admonition that we must learn from those who went before us:
"If history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good: or if it records evil of wicked men, the devout, religious listener or reader is encouraged to avoid all that is sinful and perverse and to follow what he knows to be good and pleasing to God."
Is biographical compendium a legit genre? Because if it's not, it should be, and more people should be reading it. This book contains the intriguing lives of many people, each described in just a few pages and loosely grouped around ten themes. Even in the secular West, we would do well to heed the truth in the Venerable Bede's 1300-year-old admonition that we must learn from those who went before us:
"If history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good: or if it records evil of wicked men, the devout, religious listener or reader is encouraged to avoid all that is sinful and perverse and to follow what he knows to be good and pleasing to God."