'THE FIRST CENTURY: EMPERORS, GODS AND EVERYMAN' - Hardcover

William K. Klingaman

3.95

110 ratings by Goodreads

9780241128879: 'THE FIRST CENTURY: EMPERORS, GODS AND EVERYMAN'

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241128870 ISBN 13: 9780241128879

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 1991

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An engrossing popular history of the major events and people at the time of Jesus, the Roman Empire, and the Han Dynasty.

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From Library Journal:

Since American culture often hedges between Christian and Oriental spiritual thought, sometimes opting to combine the two for a personalized belief system, there is clearly a need to put these two spiritual forces into historical perspective. Klingaman has done just that in his engrossing narrative of the first century A.D. He brings together Augustus Caesar, the ascension of Wang Mang, the poet Ovid, the notorious glutton Claudius, Jesus and his deviation from conventional Judaic tradition, and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism to make an intriguing comparison between Asian and Mediterranean political, military, and spiritual development. The author's attempt to recreate the atmosphere of the era will certainly appeal to lay people, but the lack of annotation will disappoint more serious scholars and students. As a sweeping historical overview of the birth of Christianity and Buddhism, this volume is both engaging and enlightening.
- Gerald Large, California State Univ., Los Angeles
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Parallels between East and West abound in this robust, readable history of the first century. For example, both Augustus Caesar and Chinese emperor Wang Mang, usurper of the Han throne, saw themselves as saviors of battered, debauched civilizations. While the Chinese reannexed the newly independent state of Vietnam led by the two courageous Trung sisters (40-43 C.E.), insecure Claudius sent Roman warlord Vespasian to crush a rebellion in Britain. Klingaman ( 1929: The Year of the Great Crash ) focuses on some 20 central characters in an engrossing, cinematic narrative which regrettably excludes Africa and the Americas and selectively glances at India, Asia Minor and Western Europe. At center stage is itinerant preacher Jesus, waging a cataclysmic holy war to liberate Israel from its state of sin.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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