Best of
Roman
1933
The Life of Monsieur de Molière
Mikhail Bulgakov - 1933
The life of Molière, born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, is a story of struggle and dedication, and Bulgakov tells it with warmth and compassion.
Library of History, Volume I: Books 1-2.34
Diodorus Siculus - 1933
80-20 BCE, wrote forty books of world history, called "Library of History, " in three parts: mythical history of peoples, non-Greek and Greek, to the Trojan War; history to Alexander's death (323 BCE); history to 54 BCE. Of this we have complete Books I-V (Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Greeks) and Books XI-XX (Greek history 480-302 BCE); and fragments of the rest. He was an uncritical compiler, but used good sources and reproduced them faithfully. He is valuable for details unrecorded elsewhere, and as evidence for works now lost, especially writings of Ephorus, Apollodorus, Agatharchides, Philistus, and Timaeus.The Loeb Classical Library edition of Diodorus Siculus is in twelve volumes.
Hashish: A Smuggler's Tale
Henry de Monfreid - 1933
Infamous as well as famous, his name is inextricably linked to the Red Sea and the raffish ports between Suez and Aden in the early years of the twentieth century. This is a compelling account of how de Monfried seeks his fortune by becoming a collector and merchant of the fabled Gulf pearls, then is drawn into the shadowy world of arms trading, slavery, smuggling and drugs. Hashish was the drug of choice, and de Monfried writes of sailing to Suez with illegal cargos, dodging blockades and pirates.