Lacking Natural Simplicity

The Phoenix Guards, by Steven Brust, P.J.F., copyright 1991; Tor/Tom Doherty Associates, Inc., first edition August 1991, ISBN 0-312-85157-X. This is the first book in Brust's fantasy homage to Alexandre Dumas, set in Dragaera, the empire he introduced in his Vlad Taltos series, but much earlier. We get to meet people who are pivotal in the history of Dragaera and contribute much to the Taltos books. Lots of fun.

Antiquity: From the Birth of Sumerian Civilization to the Fall of the Roman Empire, by Norman F. Cantor, copyright 2003; Harper Perennial/HarperCollinsPublishers; ISBN: 0060930985; Edition: Paperback; 2004-09-01. This book covers all of antiquity from the birth of Sumerian civilization to the decline of Rome and the rise of Christianity in 240 pages and does it surprisingly well.