Written by the renowned authority on ancient ships and seafaring Lionel Casson; The Ancient Mariners has long served the needs of all who are interested in the sea; from the casual reader to the professional historian. This completely revised edition takes into account the fresh information that has appeared since the book was first published in 1959; especially that from archaeology's newest branch; marine archaeology. Casson does what no other author has done: he has put in a single volume the story of all that the ancients accomplished on the sea from the earliest times to the end of the Roman Empire. He explains how they perfected trading vessels from mere rowboats into huge freighters that could carry over a thousand tons; how they transformed warships from simple oared transports into complex rowing machines holding hundreds of marines and even heavy artillery; and how their maritime commerce progressed from short cautious voyages to a network that reached from Spain to India.
#655155 in Books Princeton University Press 1999-10-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 1.05 x 6.25l; 1.70 #File Name: 0691010242448 pages
Review
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful. A must read for every student and seeker of religious experienceBy Gregory R. MuirheadI have just finished reading this astonishing book; and it is a truly amazing history of American religious experiences---and of various historical thinkers' perspectives on those experiences. It is profoundly moving and liberating. Dr. Taves took great care to describe the different experiential movements; preserving the language of the original participants and observers to present a clear picture of how they understood events in their own time and place. By doing so; she successfully reconstructed bridges of cross-disciplinary thought that have since been torn apart by the increasing fragmentation of academic specialties.The book is full of provocative and probably under-appreciated historical characters and thinkers whose perspectives on religious experiences are as vital today as they were in their own time. For instance; Taves' account of the life and intellectual development of La Roy Sunderland; from preacher to psychological theorist; via an exploration of trance; is fascinating and touching.I found the book's review of William James' thoughts on religious experiences particularly eye-opening; including the way he related workings of the subconscious mind with Darwin's theory of evolution. Among other things; James forces a re-examination of what we usually consider mental disorders. Consider his thought that "dissociation; although generally linked with degeneration; may simply prefigure a re-aggregation of the personality and growth in new and untried directions." This struck me as quite wonderful in the face of modern psychology's focus on pathologies; which has resulted in blindness to the healthy possibilities of unusual mental activities.Every student and seeker of religious experience should read this book.
