My only small quibble is that I wish this book is available on kindle, as I find Kindle’s indexing feature handy to locate searches through all my books downloaded in device useful. There is no wasted space in this book, even the intro essay left me a lot to think about as it discussed the idea of civilisation, especially in how it questioned the old understanding of civilisation being superior to ones that were regarded as barbarians. I also liked how each map came with a key, so it was easy to follow as I read the text, and gave me a clearer sense of where all the big (capita) ancient cities are located in the world. I also liked the maps, which are clear and detailed, and sometimes took half a page or more of the one double page chapters. The photos are in colour and crisp, and I found the detail is clear without needing to use a magnifying glass, so kind of made up for the zoom feature of Kindle android. My book has a softback cover, and is published in 2005. The information in each chapter was enough to give me an understanding to easily follow what happens next. Each part starts with an intro over a few pages, followed by chapters only double page in length that focus on the development of that civilisation.įor example, part 1, The Ancient Near East, the first three chapters are The First Farmers, The First Towns and The Sumerians ending with The Persian Empire and The End of the Ancient Near East. The book is divided into 5 parts, covering 5 areas of the globe and how civilisation developed there – the one that took me by surprise is North America, the rest (from the Near East, Africa, Ancient China, the Indus and Ancient Europe) I’ve already come across through other readings, documentaries or art. What stood out quickly was how much planning and thought must have gone in to write such a short book loaded with succinct information that is accompanied by maps and photos. The book is divided into 5 parts, covering 5 areas of the globe and how civilisation developed there – the one that took me by surp It’s hard to believe that the book is 150 pages by the length of time it’s taken me to read it – this is all my doing and no fault of the book – the book is something I wish I had found sooner. It’s hard to believe that the book is 150 pages by the length of time it’s taken me to read it – this is all my doing and no fault of the book – the book is something I wish I had found sooner. This book transformed my visit to the MET from enjoyable to mindblowing. It's not as much as a standalone book, but it's a great companion to reading, and, what I enthusiastically discovered, to bring to museums. Not for this book - timelines are conveniently provided (you can see what happened at the same time in different parts of the relevant region) and there's a ton of beautiful maps. What can I say - I LOVE ancient civilizations, and for every other book I read on the subject, I try to make some graphs and timelines in my notebooks. It's not as much as a standalone book, but it's a great companion to reading, and, what I enthusi Highly recommended as a companion-book, a bit dry for a standalone read. Highly recommended as a companion-book, a bit dry for a standalone read.
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