Okay, let's be clear: this isn't a novel with a plot. There's no protagonist, unless you count Jacob Bryant himself, on a centuries-old quest. The 'story' here is Bryant's argument. In Volume 2, he's deep in the weeds, taking the framework he built in Volume 1 and applying it. He picks apart specific myths, names, and religious symbols from cultures across the ancient world. His goal is to show they're not unique creations, but broken fragments of a single, primeval tradition.

The Story

Imagine Bryant as a scholar with a giant whiteboard, covered in strings connecting push-pins. On one pin, he puts the Greek god Dionysus. On another, the Egyptian Osiris. On a third, a Phoenician harvest deity. Then he starts drawing lines, pointing out how they all died and were reborn, were associated with vines or fertility, and were celebrated with similar rituals. His conclusion? They're all the same guy—or rather, they're all different cultural interpretations of the same original divine figure or event, which he traces back to a source much older than any of them. Volume 2 is him doing this, over and over, with a relentless, almost exhausting, attention to detail. He’s trying to reverse-engineer human mythology.

Why You Should Read It

You don't read this to learn 'the truth' about ancient history. We've discovered too much since 1774 for that. You read it for the sheer audacity of the project. It’s a breathtaking example of synthetic thinking. Bryant tried to make sense of the whole chaotic mess of ancient stories by force of logic and comparison. It’s messy, often speculative, and sometimes wildly wrong, but it’s never boring. You get to watch a powerful intellect build a complete, alternate version of the past right in front of you. It’s less about agreeing with him and more about being amazed by the architecture of his idea.

Final Verdict

This is a niche book, but a thrilling one for the right reader. It's perfect for history buffs who enjoy 'lost history' theories, students of mythology who want to see how people used to think about these stories, or anyone who likes seeing how big, flawed, and beautiful ideas are constructed. If you enjoy books that challenge the official narrative—even an 18th-century version of that—and you have the patience for dense, old-fashioned prose, diving into Bryant's 'New System' is a unique and weirdly gripping experience. Just be ready to do a lot of Googling alongside it.