Last year my reading list sort of fizzled out. Part of that was due to the tornado, but even more to blame was my seeming addiction to reading inconsequential adventure/spy/war books on my phone towards the end of last year. Those took the place of good books and also had me looking at my phone way too much. So this year I have decided to be serious about reading paper books, and mostly good ones. So without further ado here is a report on the first one I read.

The Rescue of Jerusalem was recommended/loaned to me by my father-in-law, a serious reader of history books. I had rather high hopes for it based on the subject matter and his endorsement. Unfortunately it disappointed, perhaps due in part to my own expectations.

The book focuses on a Biblical battle featuring Hezekiah the King of Judah, the Assyrian invaders, and an army from Kush, part of the Egyptian empire. While I was anticipating a thrilling narrative along the lines of Steven Pressfield’s work, this reads much more academically, like a thesis perhaps, as it makes an argument in favor of the author’s point of view.

So in summary while I found it interesting, it was a bit of a chore to read, and I would only recommend it to those with a keen interest in very ancient history presented in a dry and uninspiring manner.