Episode · Modern Wisdom · 2026-04-16
Books mentioned on The Rise of History’s Greatest Emperor: An Untold Story - Alex Petkas - #1085
Alex Petkas is a historian, writer, and podcaster. What can one of history's greatest empires, and its most notorious leaders, teach us about the modern world?
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life
On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life by Friedrich Nietzsche is a philosophical essay exploring how the study of history can either nourish human vitality and action or paralyze spiritual growth through excessive historicism.
Recommended“But it a friend of mine a few months in recommended that I read this book by Nietzsche. One of his early books that and I'd read some Nietzsche before. It's called On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life.”
Where to get it
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Cyropaedia
Discussed“Somebody brings up the example of Cyrus the Great, the great king of Persia who founded the Persian Empire. Um Xenophon says, doesn't he that Cyrus made all these arrangements before his death that he wanted to be buried in this way and this should happen and so forth after he was um after he was gone. And of course”
Where to get it
