Notes Ancient & Modern

Theodore Ziolkowski, "Gilgamesh: An Epic Obsession," berfrois, 1 November, draws on the author's book, Gilgamesh Among Us: Modern Encounters With the Ancient Epic. Christopher Carroll, "The Vanished City," The Book, 2 November, reviews Richard Miles's Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization. Simon Schama, "Robert Hughes Reimagines a Glorious Rome in New Book," Daily Beast, 30 October, reviews Hughes's Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History. Schama avoids the controversy.

Ross Posnock, "American Idol: On Nietzsche in America," Nation, 1 November, reviews Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen's American Nietzsche: A History of an Icon and His Ideas. Fred Siegel, "Lyrical Leftist, Dogged Idealist," WSJ, 24 October, reviews Vivian Gornick's Emma Goldman. Rob Verger, "The Vets Who Conquered Everest," Daily Beast, 3 November, interviews Wade Davis, the author of Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest. Andrew Litchenstein, "Landscapes of American History," Facing Change: Documenting America, 2011, is a slide-show of Litchenstein's extraordinary photographs.