Ancient Architecture: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, Greece (History of World Architecture) Review

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(More customer reviews)A part of the series History of World Architecture originally published by Electa in Italian in 1971-7 under a general editorship of Pier Luigi Nervi, it was translated to English and published by Abrams in 1971-80 in b&w only, but at 10 x 11 1/4 inches. Subsequently, the series was reedited, shrunk to 8 5/7 x 9 1/2 inches, and published by Electa / Rizzoli in 1985-9 with a few color photos added including each front cover. In the early 2000's, the series was reissued by Phaidon unchanged except for the front cover photo. It is a pictorial "Ferrari" of history of architecture books. Almost every page contains one or - usually - more than one illustration as photo, plan, section, elevation, axonometric view, etc. of the highest quality. They depict the best examples of topical architecture covering the most significant ones. The text was written by one of the best experts in the field. While relatively concise, it is still comprehensive and complete enough even for students of architecture.
The Abrams' edition combines Ancient and Greek Architectures and contains 525 black & white illustrations, including 179 diagrams and reconstructions.
PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS:
*ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE*:
(24 color and 249 black & white illustrations in non-Abrams' editions.)
Seton Lloyd and Hans Wolfgang Muller describe the beginnings of architecture in the Ancient Near Middle East and Egypt, the brithplace of Western civilisation, where the newly born science of construction merged with an emerging aesthetic practice. This book examines sites and structures from neolithic temples in Anatolia to the royal tombs of Egypt. Each page combines reconstruction drawings of site plans, building perspectives, and decorative elements with photographs of archeological sites including aerial views and details. An extensive section is devoted to Egyptian architecture from its origins to the first century AC. Also included are the first dwellings on a circular plan, dating from the 8th millenium BC in Jordan, the famous site of Catal Hayuk, the ziggurat towers of the Neo-Assyrians and Neo -Babylonians, and the Achaemenids. The book examines the theological requirements, organization, and hierarchies in the architectural practices of the era.
*GREEK ARCHITECTURE*:
(24 color and 276 black and white illustrations in non-Abrams' editions.)
This volume presents an extraordinary collection of images and covers the whole range of Greek architecture, from a thorough analysis of Minoan Crete - which marked the beginning of the history of Western architecture - through Mycenae, to the magnificence of the Doric places of worship: from the temples of Corinth, Delphi and the Acropolis to those of Magna Graecia. The book covers the birth and evolution of the doric and ionic orders, religious architecture, and the temples and structures of Classical Greece. There is a substantial section on civic architecture, which closely reflects the formation and evolution of the political community, the most original aspect of ancient Greece. Important centres outside Greece are discussed, including Agrigento and Segesta in Sicily. The final section documents the Hellenic phase, with its unparalleled innovations and its influence on the greater Mediterranean.

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This book traces the earliest history of architecture at its birthplace in the ancient Middle East (primarily the current Iran and Iraq) and ancient Egypt, and covers archeological sites, temples, tombs, and early dwellings - several of which have been the subject of recent news coverage on sites and treasures threatened by the Iraq war and political instability. The History of World Architecture is one of Electa's most popular architecture series, with each book in the series providing a comprehensive overview of its subject by a world-renowned expert in the field, accompanied by 200-300 black-and-white photographs, plans, and drawings and 24 colour plates. First published in the 1970s and 1980s, the Italian editions of these books remain standard reference works in architecture history and continue to sell well due to the authority of their authors, their judicious combination of text and illustrations, and careful use of accurate yet accessible terms. The English editions, after being out of print for several years, are now available again exclusively through Phaidon. The books are ideal for college-level students of architecture history, and for anyone who seeks one basic and i--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book as soon as it came out. I became a fan of S.I. Johnston as soon as I read her Hekate book.
In this book she describes the evolvement of the relationship between the living and the dead in ancient Greece. Being a Greek I was amazed of how much it has survived of what Greek think as far as the dead are concerned. It is very rewarding to see that so much of the old religion is still around us and that Christianity has not destroyed everything yet...
Having said that, this book is an academic endeavour and not a New Age or Neo-Pagan writing. Mrs. Johnston is a true scholar and she does honour to the University she teaches.
Read her other books too.

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The Kingdom of Armenia: New Edition (Caucasus World) Review

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(More customer reviews)Of all the concise English-language books that I have read on the ancient and medieval history of Armenia, none have come close to match Mack Chahin's eloquent style of writing, research, and attention to detail in his "Kingdom of Armenia." Chahin is clearly aware that the majority of Western scholars have often dismissed Armenia as just another minor vassal state, straddling on its borders much more larger, and far more interesting apparently, powers, such as Assyria, Rome, Greece, Byzantium, and the Arabs.
It is precisely this notion that Chahin attempts to dispel, as he documents the rich cultural, political, and social characteristics of Armenia, beginning from the ancient Kingdom of Urartu. The fact that Chahin chose to start from here (circa 1300 BC) is significant enough, considering that many scholars choose to ignore Armenian history until the late medieval era (circa 900 AD), when the Bagratuni Kingdom was established. And yet, he devotes roughly 2/3 of the book to Urartian history, richly describing the cultural and political legacy it left behind and showing that, far from being a weak state subject to the whims of the Assyrians, it always provided to be a thorn in the soft northern belly of Assyria, and, at certain points in its history, as well as its regional equal.
There were only a few faults I found in this book: I was a little distressed of how Chahin broached the topic of the transition from Urartian to Armenian rule. Chahin takes the word of ancient historians, most notably Herodotus, at face value, and concludes that the Armenian people must have been colonists from Europe. This may be easier to forgive since new studies proving that Armenians were original inhabitants of the region only came to light in the 1980s, and that this book was published only in 1987. Chahin could have also devoted more space to the other kingdoms of Armenia; i.e., the Yervanduni, the Artashesyan, the Arshakuni, the Bagratuni, and the Cilician kingdoms. In the grand scheme of things, 230 pages on the Urartian kingdom seems significant, but it falls somewhat short when 1500 years of history is summarized in a space of only 90 pages. Nevertheless, it's an engaging read and a great introductory tome on the little known kingdoms that were founded in the Armenian highlands.

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While the majority of contemporary works on Armenia concentrate on the modern era, The Kingdom of Armenia takes its beginning in the third century BC, with the ancient literate peoples of Mesopotamia who had commercial interests in the land of Armenia, and continues with a comprehensive overview through to the end of the Middle Ages.

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Pausanias: Travel Writing in Ancient Greece (Classical Literature and Society Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)Maria Pretzler's book on Pausanias is fantastic. I first heard of Pausanias while touring through Greece this spring. Multiple times the tour guide or exhibit explanation would mention how Pausanias described things back in antiquity, such as mentioning hundreds of statues at Delphi that were present back in 160 AD that were presently gone. I had been reading up on ancient Greece for the year previous, but had never heard of Pausanias. I thought it would be cool to actually read the author himself.
Pretzler's book itself doesn't quote a lot of text or even go into a lot of detail summary of what Pausanias described, but it is more of an analysis of the book itself. Initially, I held off on reading the Pausanias because it was written maybe 500 years after the classical period, during the Roman occupation, but Pretzler shows that Pausanias was very proudly Greek and was frequently using his book to showcase and tout Greek accomplishments from their glory years. This is a major theme. More contemporary critics have derided the book as second rate for not being thorough and exacting, but Pretzler shows that this selection was purposeful.
There are also several very interesting and very scholarly sections at the end that describe how Pausanias has been received and what his impact has been since a manuscript of his work was rediscovered in 1453. I wonder if there are many more such works just waiting to be rediscovered?
The writing overall is very thoughtful and insightful. I actually had a hard time putting it down. Now I'm looking forward even more to reading the sections of Pausanias that describe the buildings and locations I visited.
As an addendum, Pretzler's book works equally well either before, after, or without ever reading Pausanias' text, though after reading Pretzler, you'll probably want to at least browse through the original text.

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This book combines a thorough introduction to Pausanias with new perspectives. It considers the influences that shaped the Periegesis, and its literary and cultural context. Pausanias' text records contemporary interpretations of monuments and traditions, and is concerned with the identity and history of Greece. Parallels with various texts of the period offer insights into Pausanias' attitudes as well as illustrating aspects of Second Sophistic culture. A discussion of Greek texts that deal with fictional or actual travel provides a background for a detailed study of the Periegesis as travel literature. Pausanias' treatment of geography and his descriptions of landscapes, cities and artworks are considered, as are his methods as a historian. The final chapters deal with Pausanias' impact on modern approaches to Greece and ancient Greek culture.

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The Mycenaeans (Peoples of the Ancient World) Review

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(More customer reviews)Castleden has done a very good job synthesizing the archeological evidence and presenting a look at Mycenean society, the people and their interactions with their neighbors while comparing it with the traditional legends that had come from that time. The book is well written with easy to follow text and discourse, and is filled with illustrations and annotations of artifacts, maps, floorplans of extant buildings, and pen & ink representations of wall paintings and artifacts.
Since Castleden is well versed in Minoan studies he is quick to point up just how much the Myceneans had appropriated from this island culture: Their art, their dress, and eventually their trade routes and craftsmen. However, he also points up the Mycenean accomplishments as well, expanding out of the Polyponese where most other books focus, and into the northern territories dominated by Orchomenos and Thebes. He looks at their engineering feats and discusses how they might've been influenced by Hittite and Egyptian cultures as well.
These people were bureaucratic, they were not afraid to attempt to change the landscape to suit their needs, diverting rivers, and draining shallow lakes, and they were militaristic. The author addresses the various other interpretations put forth and comes forward with his own take on the material. By and large, presenting a well-reasoned and supporting argument for his interpretations. He discusses the daily life of the common people, and puts forth a hypothetical reconstruction of the trade routes of the various Mycenean cities with their overseas trading partners, and presents the various hypotheses of what happened to bring this age crashing down. The biggest issue brought forth by him is the reinterpretation of the citidels which were argued to be the Palaces of the Kings to actually be the temple centers of the kingdom, akin to the acropolis in classical athens, but temples that took a more active role in administering to the material being of the kingdoms.
All in all, I found this volume very enjoyable and informative.

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Following on from Rodney Castleden's best-selling study Minoans, this major contribution to our understanding of the crucial Mycenaean period clearly and effectively brings together research and knowledge we have accumulated since the discovery of the remains of the civilization of Mycenae in the 1870s.In lively prose, informed by the latest research and using afull bibliography and over 100 illustrations, this vivid study delivers the fundamentals of theMycenaean civilization including its culture, hierarchy, economy and religion. Castleden introduces controversial views of the Mycenaean palaces as temples, and studies their impressive sea empire and their crucial interaction with the outside Bronze Age world before discussing the causes of the end of their civilization. Providing clear, easy information and understanding, this is a perfect starting point for the study of the Greek Bronze Age.

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Ancient Worlds, Modern Reflections: Philosophical Perspectives on Greek and Chinese Science and Culture Review

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(More customer reviews)It had always intrigued me how ancient Greek culture, cradle of Western civilization, compared with ancient Chinese culture, because China has been for most of the last 2000 the most advanced nation on earth. Were revolutionary ideas, like that there should be a rational explanation behind every phenomenon, uniquely Greek, or did the Chinese independently come up with them too ? Geoffrey Lloyd is probably one of the very few, erudite enough on both cultures, to have written a relatively concise book in which he compares both cultures on a number of issues, such as human rights, logic, the existence of one absolute truth, the nature of scientific discovery etc...
It turns out that both cultures were very different (although the author stresses they were not incomensurable, whatever that means in this context), in particular the process of scientific and philosophical discovery. Greek philosophers acted as individuals, defending their theories against colleagues with purely rational arguments on the stage in front of their audience in search of the more convincing truth, even if it was uncomfortable, in an environment where almost all opinions could be voiced (with notable exceptions, such as Socrates) and all (men) were in principle equal, and with the victor earning a larger following of students, much like Western academics do to this day (except at Harvard lately). On the other hand, Chinese philosophy stressed that there is a natural order, with the emperor at the top, with his subjects all interconnected and philosopher mandarins - they were employed servants rather than independent minds - needing to convince the emperor of specific policies beneficial to society as a whole. Although to a biased Westerner like me, the Chinese approach looks doomed to political interference and therefore failure, it did produce the goods : until some three centuries ago China was well ahead of Europe in science.
Reading this book also made me realize even more which monumental debt we owe in the West, in particular in science and academics, to ancient Greece. The standard model of science progressing by continuously being tested against new theories is a Greek one. It is also clear that freedom of opinion and speech was a necessary condition for Greeks to practice philosophy as they saw it, whereas this was not necessarily so in China.
The book is no beach reading material, but luckily it is relatively concise, save for the latter parts, where the author suddenly launches a scathing attack of several pages on the US, in particular its refusal to ratify the Kyoto protocol, which puzzled me : what does this have to do with ancient Greece and China ? (Hence only 4 stars)

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The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very handy, useful, and well-chosen representative selection of original sources on the Hellenistic World translated into English. The sources effectively illustrate various aspects of political history, the nature and range of institutions, characteristics of society, and facets of the economy in the period from Alexander the Great to the accession of Rome as a Mediterranean power (end of the second century BC.). The book's scope is widespread not only in the subjects chosen and the lengthy era covered, but also in the very inclusive representation of locations: Sources from Greece, the Aegean, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and even Bactria are included in this volume. The extensive array of sources includes literary evidence, inscriptions, and papyri. The book includes well-written and cogent commentaries and bibliography for each source, a general bibliography, maps, tables of rulers, chronological tables, an index to sources, and a general index. There is cross-referencing to specific literature relating both to the texts, and the subjects. The general introduction is helpful and enlightening. I liked this book because it is valuable source both for instructors and students providing comprehensive access to material not readily available to the non-specialist reader.

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How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription for Health and Happiness Review

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(More customer reviews)This was an extremely well written and inspiring book. I was moved by Dr. Kardaras's story and how someone with his nightclub background could make such a turnaround. I loved how my perspective on the world has changed and how much I have learned about not only philosophy but the new science, our deep connection to the world and how we can elevate ourselves in this self absorbed world! A must read for anyone interested in transformation, history, psychology and, of course, philosophy!

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Herodotus and the Road to History Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a brief, engaging and heavily illustrated biography of the world's first historian. Herodotus lived in the Greek city of Halicarnassus in the Persian empire during the 5th century BC. His situation and personality put him in an ideal place to tell the fascinating stories of the Persian Wars and to travel extensively and collect stories during his travels.
This book is unique in that it shares the basic history of his own life, told in first person narrative. It gives a glimpse into the world he lived in as well as touching upon major events and characters that he wrote about.
It's the perfect companion to a children's edition of the stories of Herodotus. Our family read it after finishing *Stories from Herodotus* by Glanville Downey (which is sadly out of print, but may be available used or from your local library), which made it even more relevant and interesting (lots of "aha" moments!).
The story is suitable for independent reading ages 10 and up, or for a read aloud to younger children. It only took us about an hour to read it out loud and everyone enjoyed it!


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Best-selling author Jeanne Bendick takes us for another informative and amusing journey into places and events of long ago. Herodotus and the Road to History, written in the first person, details the investigative journeys of Herodotus a contemporary of the Old Testament prophet Malachi as he takes ship from Greece and voyages to the limits of his own ancient world. His persistence, amidst disbelief and ridicule, in the self-appointed task of recording his discoveries as histories (the Greek word meaning inquiry ), means that today we can still follow his expeditions into the wonder and mystery of Syria, Persia, Egypt and the barbaric north. Jeanne Bendick's lucid text, humorous illustrations and helpful maps entertain and instruct as they open the way for readers young and old to once again join Herodotus . . . on the road to history..

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Beyond the Flower of Life: Multidimensional Activation of your Higher Self, the Inner Guru (Advanced MerKaBa Teachings, Sacred Geometry & the Opening of your Heart) Review

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(More customer reviews)Although I agree with most of these reviews, I found that in Beyond the Flower of Life, Maureen does not assume that the reader is familiar with the Flower of Life, has taken a Flower of Life Workshop or even knows the MerKaBa meditation. Rather, she provides valuable information for anyone seeking their Higher Self to immediately apply, regardless of their background of spiritual study. Sure, there are MerKaBa specific details in the book (MerKaBa programs, questions answered, etc.), yet so much of the book contains useful, never-before-explained spiritual material that is fresh and current, that absolutely anyone can pick up this book and be enriched and intrigued by it.


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Beyond the Flower of Life is a new Advanced MerKaBa book by Maureen J. St. Germain. If you are looking to enhance the MerKaBa practice or are ready to take it to the next level, this book was written with you in mind. Already practicing the MerKaBa Meditation and want to make it more fulfilling? Maureen St. Germain will give you MerKaBa insights to enhance what you already have. If you are looking for more heart centered awareness and understanding to fulfill your mind's longing, these tools help satisfy your mind, so it willingly quiets. If Higher Self contact is what you are looking for, Maureen offers a practical, achievable roadmap to manifest a 100% accurate relationship with your Higher Self. By teaching the MerKaBa to over 10,000 students worldwide and developing an Advanced Flower of Life workshop to accompany this work, Maureen has developed tools, techniques and knowledge to support your MerKaBa practice.
Beyond the Flower of Life will bring you peace, contentment and mastery. Along with MerKaBa insights, Beyond the Flower of Life offers the new information regarding the opening of the heart, the Christ Consciousness Grid, how to achieve Fifth Dimensional Awareness and going beyond Fifth Dimension. Since there is no higher energy than Love, Maureen believes it should be easy and effortless to marry the ego to the Higher Self producing Heaven on Earth. With almost 15 years as a Flower of Life course instructor and the outstanding success of her CDs, workshops and Sacred Journeys, she has more than proven this to be true. This unique book consists of steps to developing an accurate understanding of the MerKaBa Meditation and its capabilities - while strengthening your heart connection and learning to program your MerKaBa.
Since 1995, Maureen has developed these revolutionary techniques that allow one to gain full reliable access to their Higher Self. With these tools, MerKaBa Meditators will be able to achieve and exceed their understanding of the world around them and keep their heart open all the time. You may conclude that Maureen's Beyond the Flower of Life is the long awaited follow-up to Drunvalo Melchizedek's books, The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life, Vols. I & II.

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The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas Review

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(More customer reviews)Having written tales set in ancient Greece myself, I know how difficult it is to strike the proper feel, rhythm and tone of voice to attempt to re-create a world that is, on the one hand, vanished and, on the other, totally present and inhering in our modern, Western sphere. If you get too "ancient," you lose the reader. Go too contemporary and the piece feels fake. Eugene Kraay hits exactly the right note with this tale of Theagenes, the great Olympic boxer, as told by Simonides, the poet who wrote the famous epitaph for the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. Theagenes is a tremendous character. Superhuman, larger than life, but deeply flawed, self-tormented, driven, even consumed, by inner imperatives of honor and redemption. This is very Greek (and very American) and "The Olympian" makes you feel it in your bones. It's a quest story. Theagenes starts out seeking one form of redemption, a bout with the great Spartan champion Lampis, and in the end finds another form that is unexpected, far deeper and rings absolutely true. I confess I was skeptical picking this book up because a friend had told me what its ambitions were. But it hooked me from the first page. I know Greece, the land and the sea, and "The Olympian" gets that right too. I felt as if I were reading an actual manuscript from those days that had somehow just been dug up from an archaeological dig. Eugene Kraay is a born storyteller. His tale zigs and zags and never loses a jot of momentum. He gets you "on the road" with his characters and you feel you're right there with them. The scenes at Olympia are tremendous sportswriting, if such a phrase can be applied. By the time the story reaches Thermopylae, to which Theagenes and Simonides have trekked because Lampis has gone there with his fellow Spartans to help defend the pass against Xerxes and the invading Persian multitudes, you are living every second with them. I won't spoil the ending. Suffice it to say, no one has ever hit Thermopylae from this angle and it is powerful, effecting and unforgettable. One final thought. There are many writers who can write a great sentence or a great paragraph or a great chapter, but very few can conceive a story from start to finish, make it unique, and have it hang together all the way through, so that when you've reached the climax, you can look back as a reader at everything that came before and see how nothing was superfluous and everything has borne you skillfully to the pleasure of the finish. Eugene Kraay does that with absolute ease and assurance in this, his first book. I can't wait to see what he'll do next!

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In the 75th Olympiad by Greek reckoning, the strongest, fastest, quickest and most agile men in Hellas gathered at Olympia to celebrate life through athletic competition.That same year, 480 BCE by our reckoning, the Persian Emprie ruled the known world save for that small peninsula dominated by a dozen democratic city-states.To avenge the defeat of his father on the plain of Marathon 10 years earlier, Xerxes, the Great King amassed an army a million men strong to bring these free states to heel.Amid the cheering crowds, the sweat, dust and blood on the Elisian fields of friendly strife, and threatened by the impending clash of armies with the fate of Western Civilization in the balance, two men, one a boxer, the other a poet, come to the revelation that the true worth of a man is based on more than what he does for himself.The Olympian explores a little known reason why only 300 Spartans faced a million men in the Thermopylae Pass, and stands as tribute to those extraordinary warriors who waged a battle that saved Western culture.

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Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition, Violence, and Culture (Sports and History Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)Poliakoff gives a thorough overview of the three combat sports of the ancient Olympics (wrestling, boxing, & pankration), their rules, the training involved, and the attitudes of the Ancients towards those sports. He speaks briefly of Egyptian stick fighting, but the dearth of ancient literature on the subject means he can treat it only superficially.
In addition to describing the sports, Poliakoff gives biographies of some of the more famous practitioners and voices some opinions about the usefulness of combat sports to the body politic, especially in the field of athletics.
In his exposition, Poliakoff sometimes dismisses as fantastical legend some feats which are achievable by well trained athletes. For example, he expresses grave doubts about the tradition that the wrestler Milo of Kroton could lift and carry a bull. In the mid-20th century there was a carnival performer, H.E. Mann, who lifted and carried a bull as a part of his act. Mann's act was inspired by Milo. Poliakoff neglects to mention that Milo is credited as the father of "progressive resistance" weight training. Milo began with a calf and lifted it daily until it became full grown. H.E. Mann trained for his carnival act exactly as Milo did, beginning with a calf and lifting it daily until it became full grown. One of the USA's earliests vendors of weight training equipment was the Milo Barbell Company.
Poliakoff takes a dim view of the savagery involved in ancient combat sports and sees no correlation between the combat sports and actual military service. Although Poliakoff seeks to show that excellent combat athletes make poor soldiers, he does cite numerous counter examples to his position. It seems ancient Greek history is full of individuals who distinguished themselves both in the games and on the battlefield.
Notwithstanding Poliakoff's anti-combat-sports agenda, the book is an informative and enjoyable reading experience.


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A study of the practice of combat sports in the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome and the Near East. The author discusses topics such as the function of competition and violent games in ancient society, the significance of combat sport in myth and literature, and their cultic functions.

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The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Review

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(More customer reviews)Enticed by a review of it in a local free-bee circular, I really wanted to like this book. The illustrations are good, but neither they nor the text were especially engaging. I'm not familiar with the author's other works, but i suspect this is not his best.

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The Ancient Mediterranean (Meridian) Review

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(More customer reviews)Michael Grant has shown over the years to be an authority on ancient times (in the Western World). He has especially dedicated a number of his books to Greece and Rome. In the Ancient Mediterranean, he broadens his field to the various civilizations around this body of water, particularly the ones on the eastern shores.
This book is only partly history. It is also anthropology, as Grant examines what made up the culture of these various groups. Since a lot of this is very ancient, there are not many individuals in much of this book; instead this is the story of various groups. Only late in the book, when the focus moves to Greece and then Rome do we see individual historic figures; even then, Grant only glosses over them as he examines the societies.
Because of Grant's style, this can be slow reading at times, but there is a lot of good information here. If you are interested in Greek and Roman history, this book is insufficient, but to get a context in which these great civilizations arouse, this book will work well.

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History News: The Egyptian News Review

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(More customer reviews)As a homeschooling mom, I highly value books that inform my child about historical facts, while captivating them with exciting stories. I highly recommend this book as a supplement to any Egyptian studies. Written in "newspaper format", it is a joy to read aloud to my children. Using imaginative headlines and wonderful illustrations and photos, this book has definitely captured my child's attention. The plethora of historical facts presented are accurate and entertaining. I would recommend this book for children between the ages of 5-12.

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"These entertaining, deftly organized books will make terrific light-hearted additions to cirriculum units on ancient civilizations." — Publishers WeeklyStop the presses! What if ancient civilizations had daily newspapers? And they were amusing and compellingly informative? They might just look like this innovative series of historical nonfiction, presented in a unique, kid-friendly format.

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Ancient Greece: Ancient History Series, Volume II (v. 2) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a pretty good book if you are looking for something in the introductory level of Greek history. I bought it for an Ancient Greek history course, and it was a lot more interesting than my teacher. Its well written so it makes it easy to read. The chapters are well divided with subsections.

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ANCIENT GREECE is the second volume in a new three-volume series on ancient civilizations. This study of ancient Greece brings together the findings of historians, archaeologists, linguists, geographers, art historians, scientists, and other specialists. The thought-provoking book does not shy away from controversial issues and topics. Volume II on the ancient Greeks follows Volume I, THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, and precedes Volume III, ANCIENT ROME.

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Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean Review

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(More customer reviews)Charles Freeman's work, Egypt, Greece and Rome, is a long and ambitious work, intended as an undergraduate introductory text as well as a text for the layman. Works of this size and scope (over 600 pages of text and illustrations covering the Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman civilizations as well as some others) tend to leave the reader breathless as they jump from one important topic and time period to another. This is not the case with Freeman's work. He wisely juxtaposes the overviews of civilizations with interludes that highlight a small part of the civilization in greater detail.
For example, between Chapter 14 ("Religion in the Greek World") and Chapter 15 ("Athens: Democracy and Empire") is an interlude titled "The Classical Age in Art." This short section discusses the golden age of art in ancient Greece, and brings us to the modern age briefly as the art historian Johann Winckelmann is discussed in relation to his views on the age. ("Winckelmann claimed that the `sublimity' of Classical art was the result of the atmosphere of liberty and exuberance which followed the Persian Wars" 244.)
The text is very accessible, and has a generous bibliography at the end of each chapter in case one wants more. Recommended highly as an introduction to the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean.

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Egypt, Greece, and Rome is a unique and comprehensive introduction to the ancient world's three major civilizations. The book draws a fascinating picture of the deep links between the cultures across the Mediterranean and explores the ways in which these civilizations continue to be influential to this day. Beginning with the emergence of the earliest Egyptian civilization around 3500 BC, Charles Freeman follows the history of the Mediterranean over a span of four millennia to AD 600, beyond the fall of the Roman empire in the West to the emergence of the Byzantine empire in the East. The author examines the art, architecture, philosophy, literature, and religious practices of each culture, set against its social, political, and economic background. Especially striking are the readable and stimulating profiles of key individuals throughout the ancient world, covering persons like Homer, Horace, the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and Alexander the Great. The second edition incorporates new chapters on the ancient Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East, as well as extended coverage of Egypt. Egypt, Greece and Rome is a superb introduction for anyone seeking a better understanding of the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean and their legacy to the West.

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