THE HUSSAR WISDOM LIBRARY

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Precept 15 from the Code of Lauren

Each Hussar must take on a Wisdom Book once she or he has passed the Reading Proficiency Test.  Approved Wisdom Books are to be selected by the Grand Scribe.

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Books in the Hussar Wisdom Library

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Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Even emperors need an inner life.

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Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade by James Reston Jr.

The story of two warriors with deep spiritual convictions.

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Beowulf

With one foot in paganism and the other in primitive Christianity, Beowulf is a fortifying read.

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Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault

A novel about a young Alexander the Great and a young Western Civilization struggling to find their identities.

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The Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Maggie Hoskie shows she’s the greatest monster hunter since Beowulf as she maneuvers through a world of medicine men, witchcraft and gods.

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Plutarch’s Lives

Greeks and Romans. History and Philosophy. The original and still greatest “brief lives” collection.

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The Book of Five Rings by Musashi

Musashi is without a doubt the writer on this list with the greatest body count. It’s as if John Wick wrote a book of philosophy.

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Ragnarok: The End of the Gods

During WWII, a young English girl reads a book of Norse myths that informs her inner world and helps her cope with the disaster happening all around her.

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Anabasis by Xenophon

In Crazy Hawk, Deirdre experiences her own Anabasis as she tries to make it back to Hussar Valley.

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The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon

Philosopher, soldier, master horseman, Xenophon is the perfect writer to support the Hussar ethos.

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Discourses by Epictetus

Deirdre improved her status in the Hussar community by bringing this stoic classic back from her adventures.

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The Cynic’s Breviary by Chamfort

Precept 14 of the Code of Loren reads: Every Hussar child is to be encouraged to develop an interior life. “Happiness is no easy matter: it is very difficult to find it in ourselves and impossible to find it elsewhere.” - Chamfort.

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The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki

This is a book of insightful wisdom and profound beauty. It’s not an approved Wisdom Book for Hussars because it lacks a military dimension, but it was young Deirdre’s favorite book.

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The Cloud of Unknowing

This Christian Classic is not in the Hussar library but it was the inspiration for the spiritual exercises taught to Jube by Oliver of the Brothers of Mercy.

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