Posts tagged Book
Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy by Giulio Magli
Mar 3rd
Note: Giulio Magli was one of the examiners of my thesis, so his book is hardly likely to get a bad review.
This review rounds off a trilogy to go with Skywatchers, Shamans and Kings and People and the Sky. Like the other two books this could be said to be part of a World Archaeoastronomy approach, but Giulio Magli adds a twist. Some of this is down to the approach he’s taken to archaeoastronomical sites, but he also adds a bit more.
Magli’s approach is similar to what I would have done if I was writing an introduction to archaeoastronomy book. He tackles the sites around the world. So take a deep breath because in his opening section of twelve chapters – slightly over half the book – he covers. Palaeolithic Europe, Prehistoric Britain, the temples of Malta, Egypt, Babylon, East North America with the Hopewell and Cahokia, West North America with Chaco and the Anasazi, Northern Mexico and Tenochtitlan, The rest of Mesoamerica and Palenque, The Incas, Nazca and Polynesia. That leaves massive holes where you would expect to find India, China, Korea and Japan and a lack of African material. That’s more due to the state of play in academic More >
Creating Prehistory by Adam Stout
Dec 15th
I could draw up quite a list of people who won’t like this book. Adam Stout purports to be an unapologetic relativist (more of that later). His history of archaeology in Britain, mainly in the inter-war period, comes from this position and is allied to his interest in alternative pasts such as druidry and earth mysteries. If you think the history of archaeology is primarily a story of how our knowledge of the past came to be more accurate, you’ll struggle with this. If you think the success of people such as OGS Crawford and Mortimer Wheeler was down to employing scientific methodology you’ll struggle with this. If you think the only sane response to modern druids is mockery you may struggle with this. I certainly disagree with a few of the author’s characterisations of archaeology. Despite (or even because?) of this it’s a challenging and engaging view of the development of archaeology.
The first point of difference between myself and Stout is a matter of how Political with a capital P archaeology is. I accept that archaeology is a political action, but so is going down to the shops to buy a loaf of bread. I might be reifying abstract More >
Loot by Sharon Waxman
Dec 7th
In short, the best archaeopolitics book I’ve read since Edward Fox’s Sacred Geography. I was kindly sent a review copy by the publishers and I have a feeling that they were hoping for a bit more than that, so I’ll add a bit more.
It’s subtitled “The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World” The ancient world here is pretty much Greece, Rome and Egypt, which means she doesn’t have a lot to say about the stripping of sites in Africa, the Americas or Asia. To some extent that’s a bit of a shame, but by focussing tightly on a few examples Waxman is able to go into the details of how the market for illicit antiquities works. You have to keep a close eye on what’s happening as I get the impression that one of the inspirations for the antiquities trade was the three-card trick. The book is four parts. She opens by looking at Egypt and the attitude of the Louvre. (more…)
The best new archaeology books?
Nov 26th
I’ll put this link up before I forget. Michael E. Smith is looking for what you think are the best new archaeology books. It made me realise that this year I don’t think I’ve really taken much time out to read for pleasure. I’ve got a couple of new Anthony Aveni books which I haven’t had chance to read yet. However, I think top of the list will be Adam Stout’s Creating prehistory : Druids, ley hunters and archaeologists in pre-war Britain. I attended a talk by him when it was work in progress and I thought it was an interesting take on the history of archaeology. Quite a few histories emphasis the development of scientific progress in archaeology, the context being what came before and what when after. Stout’s view strikes me as being a bit more, archaeological for want of a better word. He was emphasising the social context of archaeology including the actions of antiquarians. I can’t remember if it was him or Ronald Hutton who suggested that, in the UK, archaeology supplanted antiquarian use of prehistoric sites – rather than grew from it.
I don’t think it’s going to be a universally popular book and I’ll be surprised More >
On Deep History and the Brain
May 31st
Let’s begin at the very beginning Smail on Deep History at Times Higher Education.
Thoughts on The God Delusion
Aug 8th
The God Delusion. Photo (cc) somefool.
I bought this a while ago when it came out in paperback because Sainsbury’s had it on special offer. I’ve read it, but haven’t commented on it for a few reasons. Partly because I seem to have bought a faulty copy. The God Delusion is a vicious angry screed against religion, or so I’m told. I wouldn’t know because my version is, in contrast, polite and reasoned. By and large that makes it a more dangerous book, because although I don’t think there’s anything particularly new in it, it is presented well and puts forward both a positive view of atheism and why Dawkins thinks religion is a problem. To the joy of theists though there are a couple of disappointing sections.
One is use of the term Neville Chamberlain Atheist. I don’t like it. It’s inelegant. It’s used describe those who would appease relgious demands by equating them with the British Prime Minister who initially appeased Hitler, but then took a stand and decided to take Britain to war, despite a large number of people in Parliament still favouring appeasement. It’s not just the equation with Neville Chamberlain that I don’t think works. There’s an More >
Now THAT’S a review
May 17th
Photo (cc) Analog Photos.
Phil sent me a link to the Amazon UK page for the new book by Richard Littlejohn. He’s a hack for the Daily Mail, a news organisation that makes Fox News look fair and balanced, so I thought that Phil’s recent trip to Syria had left him with mental trauma. Not so. You’d expect the book to pick up mixed reviews. On the contrary it’s picking up wide acclaim, and masses of five star votes. Here’s a sample of the 5/5 reviews:
No-one else can express such complex right wing views in such a monosyllabic form. To buy only one copy of this book would be a crime.
With this insightful, visionary, and – I am not ashamed to say – celestially inspirational commentary on modern life, Richard Littlejohn has rendered the entire canon of Western literature, philosophy and ethical discourse entirely moot.
Littlejohn’s book is so brilliant that when, as is inevitable in modern Britain, a gay immigrant made an attempt to steal it from my bag it literally burnt his hands and made them dissolve a little bit.
There are those who credit Plato with defining that obscure and fluctuating artefact which has been termed the ‘western mind’. More >
Archaeology is a Brand! by Cornelius Holtorf and illustrated by Quentin Drew
Mar 25th
I did have some qualms about reviewing this book before it arrived. It’s a free review copy, so I was wondering what to do if it turned out to be awful. I tend not to write negative reviews if I can help it, unless something is surprisingly bad, because I prefer to spend my time talking about things which deserve attention. Fortunately this remains an unsolved puzzle, because Archaeology is a Brand! by Cornelius Holtorf and illustrated by Quentin Drew is (unsurprisingly) good.
In fact I shall be cheerfully taking ideas out of this book for a few posts in the future. The reason is that this book tackles an under-appreciated aspect of archaeology, it’s public perception. Holtorf argues that archaeology is in an enviable position compared to other academic subjects as it is one of the few fields which seems to enjoy mass appeal. Yet despite this the public perception of archaeology seems to remain a major problem for some in the profession. In one of the many quotable passages he says:
I have given up counting the number of exhibitions, educational events and publications that are shouting into the reader’s face that “the real archaeologist works practically never like Indiana More >
The Case for Mars
Jan 12th
This is a response to the question Will the human race ever populate another planet? posted on Toshiba’s Love to Lead site. Toshiba set a question and then bloggers answer it, with links back to the Toshiba site in the hope of winning a laptop. You can also add a button like the one on the right like I have, because I’m not proud. It looks like an interesting competition, but more importantly it’s an interesting question. It’s also an excuse to talk about Robert Zubrin’s thought provoking book The Case for Mars.
Populating another planet really depends on two factors. There has to be the ability and the will to settle another planet. If we lack either then it will not happen. in particular, the crunch point is the ability. Is it physically possible? If it’s not then no amount of wishing is going to make it happen. What are the challenges we need to overcome getting to, and settling on, Mars? Shortly after reading Oliver Morton’s excellent Mapping Mars, I read Robert Zubrin’s The Case for Mars, as it was mentioned so often by Morton. If you want an overview of the problems in interplanetary colonisation this is an excellent introduction. More >
