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  3. John Julius Norwich is the author of more than a dozen books on Norman Sicily

John Julius Norwich is the author of more than a dozen books on Norman Sicily

游客2023-12-15  23
问题    John Julius Norwich is the author of more than a dozen books on Norman Sicily, the Sahara, Mount Athos and the Venetian and Byzantine empires. Yet even his immense knowledge is not euough to keep his latest chronicle--of 5, 000 years of Mediterranean history—from appearing somewhat lopsided.
   Lord Norwich’s first test, he notes in his introduction to The Middle Sea, was to compensate for an ignorance of Spain. He records that he was fortuitously invited to dinner by "my dear friend" the Spanish ambassador to London and "a few weeks later there came an invitation for nay wife and me to spend ten days in Spain. " It is hard to believe that was all the effort he made, for he acquits himself well, even in the convoluted diplomacy that ended in the war of the Spanish succession.
   Lord Norwich’s second task was to strike a balance over time. The Middle Sea reaches from ancient Egypt to the first world war. Like many long, chronological narratives, it becomes progressively more detailed, though it is debatable whether this is a good thing. Few people have changed the region as much as the Romans, yet their republic’s five centuries get only a page more than the great siege of Gibraltar which began in 1779.
   Lord Norwich’s final, and arguably most important, challenge is the area that is most likely to engage modern readers: the intermittent, but frequently savage, conflict between Muslims and Christians. Impatient with the notion, echoed most recently and disastrously by Pope Benedict, that the Koran sanctions the spreading of Islam by the sword, Lord Norwich is no Islamophobe. He is hostile to the Crusades and fulsome in his praise of that traditional Western schoolbook villain, Saladi.
   Yet his account remains disappointingly focused from Christendom outwards. It is true that Muslims do appear in his book—usually in battle—but they rarely speak. Only two items in the 170-volume bibliography are by Arab scholars and only one is by a Turk. This is unabashedly history of the old school: Eurocentric (Octavian, the author declares without irony, was the "undisputed master of the known world") and largely uninterested in what other economic, social and technological changes may have shaped events.
    What fires Lord Norwich is recounting the doings of princes and preachers, warriors, courtiers and courtesans. And he does it with consummate skill. He spices his nan-ative liberally with entertaining anecdotes, deft portraits and brisk judgments. Aristotle, for example, is given short shrift as "one of the most reactionary. intellectuals that ever lived". Lord Norwich’s control of his vast and complex subject matter is masterly. And the subject matter itself is as colourful as history can get. No sooner have readers bidden farewell to a short, fat, dissolute sultan, Selim the Sot, than they encounter the "piratical Uskoks, a heterogeneous, but exceedingly troublesome community". Although few will resist the temptation to keep turning the pages, readers will close this monumental work exhilarated and informed, but with plenty of questions still unanswered. [br] The author’s overall comment on Lord Norwich’s book is one of
选项 A、disapproval.
B、impartiality.
C、ambiguity.
D、extollment.
答案 B
解析 态度题。本文开篇指出Lord Norwich的新书是lopsided(有失偏颇的)，之后逐一对各主要章节进行评论。第二段指出西班牙那部分写得好he acquits himself well，第三段对各时期的史实等量齐观的做法提出质疑，第四段和第五段就他的立场提出质疑：Yet his account remains disappointingly focused from Christendom outwards，末段评价他的写作亮点，指出And he does it with consummate skill。全文最后一句进行总结：Although few will resist the temptation to keep turning the pages, readers will close this monumental work exhilarated and informed，but with plenty of questions still unanswered．这说明作者对该书的评价非常客观，既指出了问题，又肯定了优点，[B]符合文意，故为答案。disapproval是指全面否定，extollment指肯定赞扬，两者都是极端评价，排除；作者观点鲜明，排除[C]。  
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