All Things Andy Gavin

Julian – The End of an Era

March 4, 2012 | 0 Comments

This excellent novel was a bestseller in the 1960s and that in of itself is a sad testament to the intellectual decline of the American reader. Its a novelized biography of the fourth century Roman Emperor Julian, known as The Apostate.

The Eagle

July 17, 2011 | 0 Comments

It’s interesting that in the last year or so there have been two movies about the Roman legion “lost” in North Britain during the Hadrianic period. It just goes to prove that Hollywood loves to copy. Two volcano movies? Two Wyatt Earp films? Two Lambada films? And, to boot, it’s unlikely the legion was actually “lost” (as in militarily). More likely it was just disbanded and the sketchy historical record makes it seem to have disappeared.

At the Roman Table

July 16, 2011 | 9 Comments

What better intersection of my interests than a meal based on Ancient Roman cuisine. On Thursday July 14 and 15th the Getty Villa offered a combination of lecture on ancient food and a meal of authentic Roman dishes based on…

Book Review: The Road to Tyburn

February 28, 2011 | 2 Comments

This is a phenomenally interesting book about the London Underground of the 1720s. You think it was bad in Dickens time? — woah, things really calmed down in the century between.

Book Review: The First American

February 15, 2011 | 0 Comments

Ben was a pretty amazing guy, as influential in his own wry way as any man in history. And he didn’t kill thousands or conquer nations doing it. Ben was a man of rare genius. And he’s depicted here with all his very human faults. But fundamentally he was a spirit of curiosity, optimism, energy, and general good intentions.