A History of Histories (John Burrow, 2007)

Talk about ambitious - this author tries to cover just what the title states - he reviews historians (and history as a discipline) starting from ancient times. Covers Herodotus and Thucydides early on. Spends quite a bit of time on Roman historians.

It was interesting how much these writers thought about the rise and fall of the great powers. Polybius saw a cycle of kingship into tyranny, aristocracy into oligarchy, democracy into mob rule; almost considered inevitable.

Also interesting how the writers even then lamented how things had been so much better back in the old days.

Josephus wrote about things Jewish though he had crossed over to assist the Romans. Detail about Palestine and yes, zealots in the area.

Then onto Christian historians, many of whom were interested in teaching. Into Renaissance, etc. Detours where politics (always) and nationalistic considerations (later) influenced the writing of history.

The latter parts of the book were difficult to follow - far more historians, many more threads.