hawkwing_lb | Paul Cartledge, 'The Spartans: An Epic History'

Book 158, Nonfiction 8:

8. Paul Cartledge, The Spartans: An Epic History

Where are my footnotes, damnit? Endnotes referencing sources without further discussion just don't cut it.

Cartledge is a noted specialist on Sparta and the Spartans, and thus I must conclude that this book is designed for the general, as opposed to the scholarly, audience. While it gives a solid overview of Spartan history (and the Spartan mythos) from archaic on down to more modern times, it doesn't contain the kind of juicy academic discussion I was hoping for.

Cartledge presents a chronological progression of Spartan history, interspersed with spare 'biographies' of known and/or important figures therein. The ones of Demaratus and Gorgo are perhaps the most interesting of these. Also interesting is the Appendix, which discusses the ancient Greek approach to hunting in light of the apologetics for (now-outlawed) fox-hunting in the UK.

Epic, this book is not.

He's perhaps a little too in love with the Spartan mirage, and never presents a detailed critique of any single period in Lacedaimonian history. (A couple of times, it almost seems as though he's finally going to get his teeth in and shake, but no joy.)

That said, it's a decent introduction to Sparta and Sparta's peculiar place in Greek history and modern myth.

My next history-for-fun read is Sarah Pomeroy (and I'm growing a chaste academic crush on that professor and all her works), Spartan Women, so it should make an interesting comparison.

So, I'm probably going to WFC 2008. Am I better off flying Dublin-London-Calgary, or should I fly Dublin-Toronto and either connect, or entrain, to get to the right place at the right time?

(I figure on flying out of Dublin on a Wednesday evening, and returning overnight on the following Tuesday. But my experience with long-haul international travel with connecting flights is rather limited. Thus, the request for advice. :) )

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If the prices are similar, I'd say Dublin-London-Calgary would be a better bet unless you really like trains. I suspect Toronto to Calgary is close to 24 hours on a train, the entire trip being across very cold terrain in late fall.

I'm envious. WFC looks like fun.

I'm looking at Dublin-Toronto-Calgary vs Dublin-London-Calgary (I mean, I could hostel it, stay a night in Toronto, and fly on to Calgary, if necessary.) The upside is that Dublin-Toronto and Toronto-Calgary flights are somewhat more frequent than London-Calgary direct flights. The downside is making the connecting flight on a foreign continent, gasp and horror! :)

I've never been. But it does look good. :)

If your main worry is whether you'll make the connection, then don't worry. Complete idiots travel and make connections, or they miss connections and get their flights rescheduled. So it's a question of timing and whether you want to be on one soul crushing flight or one soul maiming flight followed by another flight that is merely very long.

Talk to Leah. She is going from Toronto to Calgary via plane and it is really cheap. Plus she can play sherpa guide as far as how to get you from one plane to another.

A train would take much too long. Just at a guess, unless you've been to Canada before I don't think you know how really far the distance is.

I thought that, regarding trains. (I am so not used to the vastness of continents, though.)

I should do that, shouldn't I? Were I awake and thinking clearly, I might have thought of it. :)

Thanks.

OK, one question: why WFC? As you probably know: It's a pro-conference, (with a relatively high proportion of writers, editors, agents, as opposed to a fan-con -worldcon where there may be as many writers, but they're more dilute :-)) although less so than it used to be. It's quite good (but the competition is stiff) for making useful contacts in the writing world. It does require schmooze-ablity... Which I have in the average thimble-full. Kiddies thimble. It varies on organising committee, but I found it impossible to get onto a panel or get a reading - with 7 books out and 200K sales. (No, I don't love doing this, but it is part of the job)There were many, many less known authors up on panels. It's simply a question of knowing people or being enormously famous. Therefore: Point 2 - make sure you know a few other people who are going before you go. It helps a great deal to make it a better experience, no matter why you go. I'm not sure if I will be able to go - the expense of moving continents :-( is hectic.(I have to eat vast quanties of food for the energy to push that hard)

Because. It's Canada, man. I've always wanted to go, and this way means I can maybe see Toronto and Calgary in '08, and hit Montreal for Worldcon '09, while meeting cool new people and finally seeing LJ people in the flesh.

Since no way am I passing through the US until it develops a sane administration (reasons of principle, plus a healthy dose of paranoia), odds are against me seeing another major con after those two for some few years after that.

And I don't think I need to schmooze, you know. Kinda think you need an actual finished novel for that to be even worth thinking about. Me, I'm just going to see the big city lights, so to speak. :)

Paul Cartledge, 'The Spartans: An Epic History'

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