07-23-2012, 02:03 AM
Quote:I was aware that Dando-Colllins was controversial. As always there is a danger that some good things written by such revisionist authors get discarded along with discredited items.'Controversial' might be one word for his work, although I can think of others...
I might have more time for D-C's revisionist notions if he provided any support at all for them, but he doesn't. From what I've seen, he floats an idea as a tentative speculation, then proceeds as if it's established fact (see the thread on his Great Fire of Rome book, for example). When these ideas run entirely against all evidence and prior scholarship on the subject, it rather disqualifies him from serious consideration. I don't doubt that he writes a pacy historical narrative, but so does Simon Scarrow, who doesn't tend to get quoted as a source quite as often... :wink:
Nathan Ross
