Four compact reviews connect social-media practice, personal calling, impact, and leadership. Read together, the books form a snapshot of the questions shaping Jeff Guin’s professional thinking in the mid-2010s: how to build a distinctive public presence, do work with intention, learn through repeated practice, and keep strategy tied to purpose rather than activity.
Tag Archives: Book Review
Reviews and reflections on books related to history, heritage, archaeology, preservation, public memory, and cultural practice.
A Compelling Gaze into “the Belly Button of the Ancient World”
A review of Michael Scott’s history of Delphi, focusing on the site’s remarkable political, religious, and archaeological longevity. The book succeeds by making a dense history legible through narrative, strong illustrations, and a substantial treatment of the modern archaeological record—an especially useful bridge between ancient significance and the site visitors encounter today.
No Greater Valor and the Role of Faith in a Pivotal WWII Battle
A review of No Greater Valor, examining the role of faith, folklore, primary sources, and personal conviction in narratives about the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
Dek Unu
A review of Gor De Meel’s speculative novel Dek Unu, a layered mix of archaeology, science fiction, faith, and post-apocalyptic storytelling built around the idea that knowledge of the past shapes what becomes possible in the future.
The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig
A review of The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig, using barbecue, whole-hog cooking, recipes, and restaurant profiles as an entry point into Southern foodways, memory, family, and regional identity.
The Impact Equation
A review of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith’s <em>The Impact Equation</em>, focused on the challenge of building a distinctive online platform without flattening one’s voice to fit the crowd. The book’s argument resonated with the early Voices experience: digital reach matters, but only when it is paired with clarity, usefulness, and the willingness to be recognizably different.
Herculaneum: Past and Future
A review of Andrew Wallace-Hadrill’s Herculaneum: Past and Future, examining how archaeology, conservation, architecture, geology, material culture, and site management combine to reveal the ancient city as both a preserved place and an ongoing preservation challenge.
“St. Francis” by Robert West
A review of Robert West’s concise biography of St. Francis of Assisi, focused on the tension between Francis’s radical simplicity and the complicated religious, political, and institutional world around him.