Phillip’s review of The Reopening of the Western Mind: The Resurgence of Intellectual Life from the End of Antiquity to the Dawn of theEnlightenment > Likes and Comments
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Thanks for the review, Phillip. I am so glad you enjoyed the book. It has not sold well, perhaps it is too heavy (!) in the sumptuous edition that Knopf have produced. There is not even a paperback version due. Yet the audio, marvellously narrated by Mark Bramhall, has done well (for some reason I could not discover it was Number One in Amazon audio charts in European History ten days ago but now much further down.) Good reading.
If I might suggest, if you have the chance read “ The Ancient Engineers” by L. Sprague de Camp. I think you would really enjoy it. I thought of Sprague’s book when you were discussing printing. Sprague brought up the humble EYE GLASSES! The combination of printing and eye glasses meant that more people could read and read all their lives! This was truly revolutionary! I thought of you where the last time in human history that a well read man could read all the books in the world was 1500!
I hope that many more people read “ Opening.” It’s one of those histories that makes me look at the world differently! Please keep up the great work!
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Charles
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Jan 12, 2026 04:08AM
Thanks for the review, Phillip. I am so glad you enjoyed the book. It has not sold well, perhaps it is too heavy (!) in the sumptuous edition that Knopf have produced. There is not even a paperback version due. Yet the audio, marvellously narrated by Mark Bramhall, has done well (for some reason I could not discover it was Number One in Amazon audio charts in European History ten days ago but now much further down.) Good reading.
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If I might suggest, if you have the chance read “ The Ancient Engineers” by L. Sprague de Camp. I think you would really enjoy it. I thought of Sprague’s book when you were discussing printing. Sprague brought up the humble EYE GLASSES! The combination of printing and eye glasses meant that more people could read and read all their lives! This was truly revolutionary! I thought of you where the last time in human history that a well read man could read all the books in the world was 1500!I hope that many more people read “ Opening.” It’s one of those histories that makes me look at the world differently! Please keep up the great work!
