• Recent Posts

    • Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy by Giulio Magli

      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 [...]

    • Creating Prehistory by Adam Stout

      I could draw up quite a list of people who won’t like this book. 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 in the UK.

    • Loot by Sharon Waxman

      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 best new archaeology books?

      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.

    • On Deep History and the Brain

      On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail shows that there is a place for ‘Neurohistory’ and that some basic assumptions in history have remained unchallenged despite decades of advances in related fields.

    • Thoughts on The God Delusion

      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 [...]

    • Now THAT’S a review

      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. [...]

    • Archaeology is a Brand! by Cornelius Holtorf and illustrated by Quentin Drew

      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 [...]

    • The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek by Barry Cunliffe

      Why read? These days it’s mainly work. This in contrast was for pleasure, and it is a pleasure. I’ve has this for a while but I haven’t written a review because I wanted to be able to refer back to the book as I wrote – and I mislaid it.
      The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the [...]

    • The Case for Mars

      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 [...]