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Professor Lionel Casson: Libraries in the Ancient World
How a culture organizes their data is often insightful in learning about what they appreciated.

Prof Anthony Grafton: Rome Reborn: The Vatican Library and Renaissance Culture
Exhibition companion to a 1993 show at the Library of Congress

Anthony Everitt: Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor
This book weaves together a biography of Augustus with cultural themes of how Romans lived. It reads somewhat like a novel with a narrative tension during heated moments of the emperor's life. It brings to life the ancient sources. Good reading -- especially if you have a fundamental knowledge of Roman history. (****)

Ross King: Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Fascinating and witty (british humour) examination of Michelangelo's daunting task of painting the Sistine Chapel. Writing is spirited, insightful, and compelling. Hard to put down! (****)

Tom Standage: A History Of The World In Six Glasses
Wonderfully entertaining and in depth examination of 6 beverages which shaped the history ane economics of their ages: Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea and Coca Cola. Very good alternative look at culture as influenced by economic forces. (*****)

Kenneth C. Davis: Don't Know Much About Mythology : Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned (Don't Know Much About...)
Very readable book about mythology which weaves history and myth into an easily understood examination of "culture" through the ages. (****)