CDROM flaw, 09 Nov 2008
If you are fortunate enough find and buy a copy of the 3rd edition with CD-ROM, get in touch with OUP as the Versabook system doesn't work correctly with Windows XP or later and you will be unable to scroll down through articles. OUP can provide you with a patch to fix this.

A Must for Classics Students, 11 Jul 2008
I've been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome ever since I was a child (Which wasn't that long ago), but I have never done a formal degree in the Classics. If I had studied the subject then I would have found this book invaluable.

It's basically a series of very short essays that cover every aspect of the Classical World, from politics and biography to literature; military; science and philosophy; art; food and drink; economy; law; geography; mythology; religion and social history. It also provides information on archaeological topics.

The book mentions virtually everything about the Classical period. For instance, if you were to pick the book up and look through the 'C' section, you'd find on the first few pages topics such as Cabiri, Cacus, Cadmus, Caecilia Attica, Caecilia Metella (1), Caecilia Metella(2) and so on.

Every topic is written by an expert on the subject, and a short bibliography is given at the end of every entry so that you can check up on their sources.

Some entries have more space dedicated to them than others. For instance Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Plato will often have biographies that run for several pages. A lot of space is also dedicated to language, literature and science.

The only fault I find with the book is that the Late Antique period is not given as much attention as Classical Greece and Rome. I tried to find information on the Scholae Palatina but I couldn't find an entry. Oddly, the Comitatenses do get an entry though, but the Scholae aren't mentioned under that section.

The newest version of the book now comes with a list of new entries, a guide to the area advisors and an index to the intials of the contributors.

At 1,640 pages long, this a very large and heavy tome. The entries are written in very small print, so it could be a strain on your eyes if you have bad eye-sight. No illustrations or photographs are provided in the book.

Overall, if you are serious about the Classical World, you will find this book an absolute treasure. It might be expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Highly Recommended!

Essential but flawed, 17 Jul 2007
Browsing this book is an excellent experience. Articles vary in length, but provide a good overview in most cases; they also provide further reading on each individual topic.

The price is hefty, but worth it - collecting a series a books covering the breadth of information covered here would be far more expensive. It is not limited to the 'Golden Age', but covers developments in late antiquity - most articles take a historical overview of their topic, not just a snapshot. As an example: the article on the mythical figure of Oedipus does not review the well-known story as given by Sophocles' "Oedipous Tyrannos", but ealier and later versions of the story too.

The fault lies less in the content than in the organisation. If you are looking up a historical or literary figure, then it is fine, but working out what heading a particular topic can be found is an extremely frustrating process. Trying to second-guess an editor seems a pointless exercise; when even a "Thomson Directory" provides a cross-referencing index, how can omitting one here be justified?

In conclusion, this is an excellent resource; but at this price, it feels a little too skimped on production values.

A strange omission, 25 Jun 2007
Pages x-xii of The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World contain a list of 56 "Major Authors, from Homer and Hesiod to Plutarch." What is extraordinary about this list is its omission of the name of Sappho, the more so because of the inclusion of her (less important) contemporaries Alcaeus and Alcman. There are no females in this list. Perhaps there are not many women in antiquity who could have been included, but Sappho could have been and should have been.

Excellent, 21 Oct 2005
Excellent, simply excellent. I'm an undergraduate, and I use it every single day. It is the best starting point for research into most topics in ancient history.
Oh, Dr. Mark Taylor: this is not the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. That is a different book. And Alkaios is just as important as Sappho, albeit from from a political perspective rather than a social one.

CDROM flaw, 09 Nov 2008
If you are fortunate enough find and buy a copy of the 3rd edition with CD-ROM, get in touch with OUP as the Versabook system doesn't work correctly with Windows XP or later and you will be unable to scroll down through articles. OUP can provide you with a patch to fix this.

A Must for Classics Students, 11 Jul 2008
I've been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome ever since I was a child (Which wasn't that long ago), but I have never done a formal degree in the Classics. If I had studied the subject then I would have found this book invaluable.

It's basically a series of very short essays that cover every aspect of the Classical World, from politics and biography to literature; military; science and philosophy; art; food and drink; economy; law; geography; mythology; religion and social history. It also provides information on archaeological topics.

The book mentions virtually everything about the Classical period. For instance, if you were to pick the book up and look through the 'C' section, you'd find on the first few pages topics such as Cabiri, Cacus, Cadmus, Caecilia Attica, Caecilia Metella (1), Caecilia Metella(2) and so on.

Every topic is written by an expert on the subject, and a short bibliography is given at the end of every entry so that you can check up on their sources.

Some entries have more space dedicated to them than others. For instance Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Plato will often have biographies that run for several pages. A lot of space is also dedicated to language, literature and science.

The only fault I find with the book is that the Late Antique period is not given as much attention as Classical Greece and Rome. I tried to find information on the Scholae Palatina but I couldn't find an entry. Oddly, the Comitatenses do get an entry though, but the Scholae aren't mentioned under that section.

The newest version of the book now comes with a list of new entries, a guide to the area advisors and an index to the intials of the contributors.

At 1,640 pages long, this a very large and heavy tome. The entries are written in very small print, so it could be a strain on your eyes if you have bad eye-sight. No illustrations or photographs are provided in the book.

Overall, if you are serious about the Classical World, you will find this book an absolute treasure. It might be expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Highly Recommended!

Essential but flawed, 17 Jul 2007
Browsing this book is an excellent experience. Articles vary in length, but provide a good overview in most cases; they also provide further reading on each individual topic.

The price is hefty, but worth it - collecting a series a books covering the breadth of information covered here would be far more expensive. It is not limited to the 'Golden Age', but covers developments in late antiquity - most articles take a historical overview of their topic, not just a snapshot. As an example: the article on the mythical figure of Oedipus does not review the well-known story as given by Sophocles' "Oedipous Tyrannos", but ealier and later versions of the story too.

The fault lies less in the content than in the organisation. If you are looking up a historical or literary figure, then it is fine, but working out what heading a particular topic can be found is an extremely frustrating process. Trying to second-guess an editor seems a pointless exercise; when even a "Thomson Directory" provides a cross-referencing index, how can omitting one here be justified?

In conclusion, this is an excellent resource; but at this price, it feels a little too skimped on production values.

A strange omission, 25 Jun 2007
Pages x-xii of The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World contain a list of 56 "Major Authors, from Homer and Hesiod to Plutarch." What is extraordinary about this list is its omission of the name of Sappho, the more so because of the inclusion of her (less important) contemporaries Alcaeus and Alcman. There are no females in this list. Perhaps there are not many women in antiquity who could have been included, but Sappho could have been and should have been.

Excellent, 21 Oct 2005
Excellent, simply excellent. I'm an undergraduate, and I use it every single day. It is the best starting point for research into most topics in ancient history.
Oh, Dr. Mark Taylor: this is not the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. That is a different book. And Alkaios is just as important as Sappho, albeit from from a political perspective rather than a social one.

Incredibly detailed and concise, 16 Jun 2008
This is an excellent book. It complements Mallory's book on the Indo-Europeans and takes a similar no-nonsense line. It is particularly good in its refutation of the woolly notions of certain archaeologists like Renfrew, Cunliffe and Pryor who would have us believe that the Indo-Europeans spread throughout Europe with farming. While it is quite technical in places, any intelligent general reader will be able to follow his arguments without difficulty. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The origins of proto-Indo-European in some detail., 21 Apr 2008
A very detailed and convincing book that almost certainly explains the origins of proto-Indo-European people and languages in the Pontic Ukraine. All links to surrounding cultures and languages and their links to PIE are discussed in minute detail. This is a very thick book which needs to be read twice to really understand fully. The only critisism is that Anthony does not summarise or give enough maps to help the quick reader, but there are enough maps and illustrations to provide detail to the dedicated reader with an interest in PIE.

Essentially the Northern Black Sea was the source of a steppe people who had first mastery of horses wagons and later chariots and copper smelting all of which gave them advantages over neighbouring peoples. PIE slowly spread over time through a combination of assimilation domination and conquests, using PIE as a type of networking language. The steppes initially provided a fast means to transmit that culture with the aid of the horse, and the Steppes had a unique advantage of having access to the 4 origins of civilisation in the Balkans the Middle East, Eurasia and China. More detail is given to the Eastern PIE peoples like the Tocharians and Indo-Iranians, than to the origins of European languages.


A FASCINATING JUMP INTO THE PAST, 22 Jan 2008
I just read few pages of this wonderful book. I've always been fascinated about the origins and the changes of our languages, and I, being neither an archeologist nor an historical linguist, find astonishing how those scientist can reconstruct phonological and lexical shifts during the eras, and so can reconstruct our history too. I am reading this book as a novel. It includes the top scientific research but it is also easy readable. Every concept and tool is explained in detail. I am an italian translator and think this book deserves quickly an italian translation.
Silvio Ferraresi

CDROM flaw, 09 Nov 2008
If you are fortunate enough find and buy a copy of the 3rd edition with CD-ROM, get in touch with OUP as the Versabook system doesn't work correctly with Windows XP or later and you will be unable to scroll down through articles. OUP can provide you with a patch to fix this.

A Must for Classics Students, 11 Jul 2008
I've been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome ever since I was a child (Which wasn't that long ago), but I have never done a formal degree in the Classics. If I had studied the subject then I would have found this book invaluable.

It's basically a series of very short essays that cover every aspect of the Classical World, from politics and biography to literature; military; science and philosophy; art; food and drink; economy; law; geography; mythology; religion and social history. It also provides information on archaeological topics.

The book mentions virtually everything about the Classical period. For instance, if you were to pick the book up and look through the 'C' section, you'd find on the first few pages topics such as Cabiri, Cacus, Cadmus, Caecilia Attica, Caecilia Metella (1), Caecilia Metella(2) and so on.

Every topic is written by an expert on the subject, and a short bibliography is given at the end of every entry so that you can check up on their sources.

Some entries have more space dedicated to them than others. For instance Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Plato will often have biographies that run for several pages. A lot of space is also dedicated to language, literature and science.

The only fault I find with the book is that the Late Antique period is not given as much attention as Classical Greece and Rome. I tried to find information on the Scholae Palatina but I couldn't find an entry. Oddly, the Comitatenses do get an entry though, but the Scholae aren't mentioned under that section.

The newest version of the book now comes with a list of new entries, a guide to the area advisors and an index to the intials of the contributors.

At 1,640 pages long, this a very large and heavy tome. The entries are written in very small print, so it could be a strain on your eyes if you have bad eye-sight. No illustrations or photographs are provided in the book.

Overall, if you are serious about the Classical World, you will find this book an absolute treasure. It might be expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Highly Recommended!

Essential but flawed, 17 Jul 2007
Browsing this book is an excellent experience. Articles vary in length, but provide a good overview in most cases; they also provide further reading on each individual topic.

The price is hefty, but worth it - collecting a series a books covering the breadth of information covered here would be far more expensive. It is not limited to the 'Golden Age', but covers developments in late antiquity - most articles take a historical overview of their topic, not just a snapshot. As an example: the article on the mythical figure of Oedipus does not review the well-known story as given by Sophocles' "Oedipous Tyrannos", but ealier and later versions of the story too.

The fault lies less in the content than in the organisation. If you are looking up a historical or literary figure, then it is fine, but working out what heading a particular topic can be found is an extremely frustrating process. Trying to second-guess an editor seems a pointless exercise; when even a "Thomson Directory" provides a cross-referencing index, how can omitting one here be justified?

In conclusion, this is an excellent resource; but at this price, it feels a little too skimped on production values.

A strange omission, 25 Jun 2007
Pages x-xii of The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World contain a list of 56 "Major Authors, from Homer and Hesiod to Plutarch." What is extraordinary about this list is its omission of the name of Sappho, the more so because of the inclusion of her (less important) contemporaries Alcaeus and Alcman. There are no females in this list. Perhaps there are not many women in antiquity who could have been included, but Sappho could have been and should have been.

Excellent, 21 Oct 2005
Excellent, simply excellent. I'm an undergraduate, and I use it every single day. It is the best starting point for research into most topics in ancient history.
Oh, Dr. Mark Taylor: this is not the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. That is a different book. And Alkaios is just as important as Sappho, albeit from from a political perspective rather than a social one.

Incredibly detailed and concise, 16 Jun 2008
This is an excellent book. It complements Mallory's book on the Indo-Europeans and takes a similar no-nonsense line. It is particularly good in its refutation of the woolly notions of certain archaeologists like Renfrew, Cunliffe and Pryor who would have us believe that the Indo-Europeans spread throughout Europe with farming. While it is quite technical in places, any intelligent general reader will be able to follow his arguments without difficulty. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The origins of proto-Indo-European in some detail., 21 Apr 2008
A very detailed and convincing book that almost certainly explains the origins of proto-Indo-European people and languages in the Pontic Ukraine. All links to surrounding cultures and languages and their links to PIE are discussed in minute detail. This is a very thick book which needs to be read twice to really understand fully. The only critisism is that Anthony does not summarise or give enough maps to help the quick reader, but there are enough maps and illustrations to provide detail to the dedicated reader with an interest in PIE.

Essentially the Northern Black Sea was the source of a steppe people who had first mastery of horses wagons and later chariots and copper smelting all of which gave them advantages over neighbouring peoples. PIE slowly spread over time through a combination of assimilation domination and conquests, using PIE as a type of networking language. The steppes initially provided a fast means to transmit that culture with the aid of the horse, and the Steppes had a unique advantage of having access to the 4 origins of civilisation in the Balkans the Middle East, Eurasia and China. More detail is given to the Eastern PIE peoples like the Tocharians and Indo-Iranians, than to the origins of European languages.


A FASCINATING JUMP INTO THE PAST, 22 Jan 2008
I just read few pages of this wonderful book. I've always been fascinated about the origins and the changes of our languages, and I, being neither an archeologist nor an historical linguist, find astonishing how those scientist can reconstruct phonological and lexical shifts during the eras, and so can reconstruct our history too. I am reading this book as a novel. It includes the top scientific research but it is also easy readable. Every concept and tool is explained in detail. I am an italian translator and think this book deserves quickly an italian translation.
Silvio Ferraresi

Good, but a little too long (and contains time travel science fiction), 08 May 2008
Steven Mithen tells the story about how agriculture was discovered on the different continents of the earth. He is a gifted writer and being a researcher he has a lot of stories to tell and a lot of information to give.

Sadly Mithen has chosen to dedicating a fairly equal number of chapters to each of the continents of the Earth. So when he gets to Australia and East Asia he ends up repeating himself telling the same story that he also told about some of the earlier continent. So frankly the end of the book is a little boring and I had to struggle to finish it up.

In an effort to keep the readers attention Mithen invents a time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologist named John Lubbock and allows him to visit some of the places described in the book. So he switches back and forth between facts and fiction. This doesn't really work because we never get to hear who Mithens version ofJohn Lubbock really is and frankly I did not buy a history book to read science fiction about time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologists. The least they could do is to mention Lubbock in the description on the back of the book.

But then again the first half is really exiting, so if you buy the book and read the first half then you still get a lot of knowledge and a really good experience for only 10£.


A genuinely enthralling study., 05 Jul 2007
Most people have at least a passing interest in prehistory, and the origin of modern human civilisation, and they generally do not want to wade through, as Mithen aptly puts it 'jargon-laden prose' which only academics of archeology and the like will be able to comprehend. And now, the 'casual' reader has been catered for by Mithen in this hefty tome; 'After the Ice'. And indeed, it works very well, being a reletively simple read, and yet being stimulating and informative - it does not patronise the reader.
We are given a detailed glimpse of the past through a device that works rather well; Mithen uses a fellow named John Lubbock (who shares a common name with a Victorian archeologist) who wonderes the globe, stopping by at various hunter-gather campsites in order to learn of their day to day life. Sensibly, Mithen doesn't give this Lubbock chap a personality as such, nor does he engage with conversation with the ancient peoples, he is merely a by-stander, Mithen simply describes what he sees. As I said, the device works well, however whilst these sections are mostly a joy to read, they tend to grow somewhat repetetive, even rambling in some cases. Occasionally one suspects that the everyday behaviour these tripespeople were supposed exhibit isn't based on archeological evidence, and rather he is making an 'educated guess' on how these people went about their daily affairs; however it is nice to see the author inject some imagination into the book, rather relying completely on strict scientific fact.
The rest of the book is made up of descriptions of the excavation of various hunter-gatherer sites, and the evidence found therein. These sections are again, thrilling and endlessly fascinating, however as the book wares on, the endless discussions of old animal bones, so-called 'stone nodules' and scrpas of charcoal and other human waste can become very repetative, and even boring in some cases.
So prehaps the book is a tad too long, the main 'book' itself is 511 pages of rather small print. The rest of the book is extensively endnoted - one doesn't have to read these, but if you want a deeper and more complex read, the endnotes will provide more detail on various points, so one certainly can't complain about a lack of detail - but prehaps it's length and repetition of various similar points will render it tiresome for some less comitted readers.
The book generally fills the reader with a sense of wonder and awe, and leaves you in high spirits. Unfortunatelly, Mithen saw the need to blight the end of the book with a chapter looking to the fururte of the human race, and he makes several bleak and grim predictions about global-warming. Ending the book on this deeply pessemistic note was completely inappropriate, and other blighted an otherwise uplifting book.

All in all, this is a generally fascinating book, and will enlighten the interested casual reader to no end. Recommended - provided you are a commited reader, and are prepared to wade through some repetition.


Wonderful Wonderful Book, 09 Apr 2007
If you have even the remotest interest in history, archaeology, anthropology or sociology you NEED to have this book. Its brilliantly written, engaging and well researched (although the field is moving so fast some of the ideas a little outdated especailly in respect to the populating of the americas/clovis debate). It takes you on a journey in time around the world to look at our earliest ancestors from a unique first person perspective- and allows you to feel like you are actually THERE watching these distant peoples. I really cant praise this book enough.


The Time travelling paleontologist, 17 Mar 2006
For someone who has been waiting for a compendium of everything paleontologists know to date about prehistoric Man, this book is a must-have. For the passing enthusiast, 511 pages on everything there is to be known about pre-Neolithic hunter gatherers can be a bit much.
The format chosen, however, makes the treatment of the subject matter less dry than it might have been. Perusing the evocative chapter titles gives a hint as to what is in store- Village Life in the Oak Woodland, In the Valley of Ravens, Islands of the Dead, Baked Fish by the Nile. Each features captured moments in time and place, vignettes of hunter-gatherer life as a paleontologist, John Lubbock, floats ghost-like across the millenia to happen upon prehistoric scenes just at the moment they leave their archaeological remains -- the infant in Southeast Europe just as his tribe buries him along with a jawbone under the hearth, hunters of arctic hare in 10,000 B.C. Australia as they cook, a cave painter as he paints. Each scene is followed by a scientific discussion of everything paleontologists have said about those remains.
There are revelations concerning some big questions in paleontology: the Earth did indeed suffer great flooding at the end of the last Ice Age; the transition to farming from hunter gathering was a traumatic one, forced upon humans by severe climatic change; Homo sapiens did indeed arise out of Africa; the Clovis hunters did indeed contribute to the extinction of megafauna; Just how long ago was early Man in the Americans? These are gems tucked into endless info on types of microlith (stone chippings used to make tools) and shapes of pottery bowls.
Being an archaeology nut, this is the sort of book where I would usually devour each and every footnote – it has a luscious 61 pages of ‘em -- underlining things in the book and making notes for future research. However, the book was just so long (did I mention? -- 511 pages), I was proud of myself just for getting through the text.
As the ghost Lubbock doesn't speak or understand Mesolithic languages (otherwise, he could just go up and ask the cave painter ‘Why did you put a red handprint next to your painting of that mammoth?’) we don't get treated to much dialogue or characterization. This can get a bit boring.
More problematically, the analysis can be a bit undialectical at points, following hypotheses suggesting that human societies did things for purely ideological reasons. At these points, the author’s anti-Marxist bias leads him to some silliness. Contenders for a woman ‘offer their head’ in some ritual fashion to be bashed in, for example. Most of the analysis is, however, sober.
An underlying sub-theme of the book is the dangers the earth and its creatures face from global warming. When you read about the disastrous consequences of that 7 degree warming 10,000 years ago, how much more afraid do we need to be about what we are doing in the 21st century? As the book is about paleontology, it naturally doesn’t suggest any political solutions- which makes the anti-Marxist bias even sillier.
A bit hard to get through, but worth it.

The Way We Were, 15 Jun 2005
Various forms are being applied to popularise what science has discovered about Nature, particularly our nature. Paleontologist Steven Mithen utilises a favourite technique of SciFi - time travel - to explain how our ancestors once lived. Although this might be a risky method in the hands of someone less talented, Mithen carries it well as he takes us on a global journey. From Western, Southern and Eastern Asia, through Africa, Europe and the Americas and Australia, he introduces us to the daily activities of those people who moved across the planet as the glaciers retreated. While that sounds highly speculative, Mithen's method is a way of introducing us to the numerous dig sites prehistoric scholars have found and analysed. The evidence for his depictions is laid out and the interpretations arising from the data is carefully presented.

Mithen isn't our guide in this tour. He assigns that task to a figure named for a contemporary of Charles Darwin. "Victorian John Lubbock", as Mithen dubs him, wrote one of the earliest paleoanthropological works, "Prehistoric Times" - an attempt to describe what our ancestors were like. Lubbock coined the terms "Palaeolithic" and "Neolithic" to give order to a chaotic scene. In this account, the Time Traveller refers to his namesake's publication for comparison of what has been revealed today by Mithen's digging colleagues. What did your ancestors do during the day? What challenges did they face and how did they overcome them? Time Traveller Lubbock tries to impart these questions and their answers with distant observation and active participation alike. The method, when the releaved evidence is explained, proves an excellent balance. You are there at the time of events and alongside the archaeologists as they sift through artefacts thousands of years old.

Human prehistory is probably science's most contentious field. For years, the story of how and when the Western Hemisphere was populated has been a simmering issue. Mithen, although giving passing attention to the "Clovis debate" and other questions relating to the human invasion of the America's, gently disentangles himself from the specifics. Instead, he focusses on how the environment affected the way in which societies formed here. This isn't just an evasion tactic. Mithen is more concerned with how humanity solved various problems facing them as they settled in uncontested lands. What adds to our interest is the comparison of such elements as the domesticating grains and animals here with that of Western Asian populations. Mithen meticulously describes how the genetic patterns of grains and animals alike were changed by human intervention.

It's easy to admit to a sense of wonder at reading this book. The scope is vast, fifteen thousand years of time and the entire globe. That one author could accomplish this feat is at least admirable, if not astonishing. Yet, Mithen's own sense of awe is clearly evident, if not infectious. He's not a classroom-bound academic and some of his own site visits are incorporated into the narrative. His passion for the science is clear and present - something that should prompt younger readers to emulate. The recent dates given for dig sites plainly indicate that real work remains to be done. And speed is critical - the number of sites discovered and worked under the threat of dam, highway and shopping mall building is too depressing to recount here. If you, or anyone you know is looking for a career in science, buy this book, read it and encourage a career in human prehistory. Mithen shows how rewarding it can be. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

CDROM flaw, 09 Nov 2008
If you are fortunate enough find and buy a copy of the 3rd edition with CD-ROM, get in touch with OUP as the Versabook system doesn't work correctly with Windows XP or later and you will be unable to scroll down through articles. OUP can provide you with a patch to fix this.

A Must for Classics Students, 11 Jul 2008
I've been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome ever since I was a child (Which wasn't that long ago), but I have never done a formal degree in the Classics. If I had studied the subject then I would have found this book invaluable.

It's basically a series of very short essays that cover every aspect of the Classical World, from politics and biography to literature; military; science and philosophy; art; food and drink; economy; law; geography; mythology; religion and social history. It also provides information on archaeological topics.

The book mentions virtually everything about the Classical period. For instance, if you were to pick the book up and look through the 'C' section, you'd find on the first few pages topics such as Cabiri, Cacus, Cadmus, Caecilia Attica, Caecilia Metella (1), Caecilia Metella(2) and so on.

Every topic is written by an expert on the subject, and a short bibliography is given at the end of every entry so that you can check up on their sources.

Some entries have more space dedicated to them than others. For instance Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Plato will often have biographies that run for several pages. A lot of space is also dedicated to language, literature and science.

The only fault I find with the book is that the Late Antique period is not given as much attention as Classical Greece and Rome. I tried to find information on the Scholae Palatina but I couldn't find an entry. Oddly, the Comitatenses do get an entry though, but the Scholae aren't mentioned under that section.

The newest version of the book now comes with a list of new entries, a guide to the area advisors and an index to the intials of the contributors.

At 1,640 pages long, this a very large and heavy tome. The entries are written in very small print, so it could be a strain on your eyes if you have bad eye-sight. No illustrations or photographs are provided in the book.

Overall, if you are serious about the Classical World, you will find this book an absolute treasure. It might be expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Highly Recommended!

Essential but flawed, 17 Jul 2007
Browsing this book is an excellent experience. Articles vary in length, but provide a good overview in most cases; they also provide further reading on each individual topic.

The price is hefty, but worth it - collecting a series a books covering the breadth of information covered here would be far more expensive. It is not limited to the 'Golden Age', but covers developments in late antiquity - most articles take a historical overview of their topic, not just a snapshot. As an example: the article on the mythical figure of Oedipus does not review the well-known story as given by Sophocles' "Oedipous Tyrannos", but ealier and later versions of the story too.

The fault lies less in the content than in the organisation. If you are looking up a historical or literary figure, then it is fine, but working out what heading a particular topic can be found is an extremely frustrating process. Trying to second-guess an editor seems a pointless exercise; when even a "Thomson Directory" provides a cross-referencing index, how can omitting one here be justified?

In conclusion, this is an excellent resource; but at this price, it feels a little too skimped on production values.

A strange omission, 25 Jun 2007
Pages x-xii of The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World contain a list of 56 "Major Authors, from Homer and Hesiod to Plutarch." What is extraordinary about this list is its omission of the name of Sappho, the more so because of the inclusion of her (less important) contemporaries Alcaeus and Alcman. There are no females in this list. Perhaps there are not many women in antiquity who could have been included, but Sappho could have been and should have been.

Excellent, 21 Oct 2005
Excellent, simply excellent. I'm an undergraduate, and I use it every single day. It is the best starting point for research into most topics in ancient history.
Oh, Dr. Mark Taylor: this is not the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. That is a different book. And Alkaios is just as important as Sappho, albeit from from a political perspective rather than a social one.

Incredibly detailed and concise, 16 Jun 2008
This is an excellent book. It complements Mallory's book on the Indo-Europeans and takes a similar no-nonsense line. It is particularly good in its refutation of the woolly notions of certain archaeologists like Renfrew, Cunliffe and Pryor who would have us believe that the Indo-Europeans spread throughout Europe with farming. While it is quite technical in places, any intelligent general reader will be able to follow his arguments without difficulty. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The origins of proto-Indo-European in some detail., 21 Apr 2008
A very detailed and convincing book that almost certainly explains the origins of proto-Indo-European people and languages in the Pontic Ukraine. All links to surrounding cultures and languages and their links to PIE are discussed in minute detail. This is a very thick book which needs to be read twice to really understand fully. The only critisism is that Anthony does not summarise or give enough maps to help the quick reader, but there are enough maps and illustrations to provide detail to the dedicated reader with an interest in PIE.

Essentially the Northern Black Sea was the source of a steppe people who had first mastery of horses wagons and later chariots and copper smelting all of which gave them advantages over neighbouring peoples. PIE slowly spread over time through a combination of assimilation domination and conquests, using PIE as a type of networking language. The steppes initially provided a fast means to transmit that culture with the aid of the horse, and the Steppes had a unique advantage of having access to the 4 origins of civilisation in the Balkans the Middle East, Eurasia and China. More detail is given to the Eastern PIE peoples like the Tocharians and Indo-Iranians, than to the origins of European languages.


A FASCINATING JUMP INTO THE PAST, 22 Jan 2008
I just read few pages of this wonderful book. I've always been fascinated about the origins and the changes of our languages, and I, being neither an archeologist nor an historical linguist, find astonishing how those scientist can reconstruct phonological and lexical shifts during the eras, and so can reconstruct our history too. I am reading this book as a novel. It includes the top scientific research but it is also easy readable. Every concept and tool is explained in detail. I am an italian translator and think this book deserves quickly an italian translation.
Silvio Ferraresi

Good, but a little too long (and contains time travel science fiction), 08 May 2008
Steven Mithen tells the story about how agriculture was discovered on the different continents of the earth. He is a gifted writer and being a researcher he has a lot of stories to tell and a lot of information to give.

Sadly Mithen has chosen to dedicating a fairly equal number of chapters to each of the continents of the Earth. So when he gets to Australia and East Asia he ends up repeating himself telling the same story that he also told about some of the earlier continent. So frankly the end of the book is a little boring and I had to struggle to finish it up.

In an effort to keep the readers attention Mithen invents a time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologist named John Lubbock and allows him to visit some of the places described in the book. So he switches back and forth between facts and fiction. This doesn't really work because we never get to hear who Mithens version ofJohn Lubbock really is and frankly I did not buy a history book to read science fiction about time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologists. The least they could do is to mention Lubbock in the description on the back of the book.

But then again the first half is really exiting, so if you buy the book and read the first half then you still get a lot of knowledge and a really good experience for only 10£.


A genuinely enthralling study., 05 Jul 2007
Most people have at least a passing interest in prehistory, and the origin of modern human civilisation, and they generally do not want to wade through, as Mithen aptly puts it 'jargon-laden prose' which only academics of archeology and the like will be able to comprehend. And now, the 'casual' reader has been catered for by Mithen in this hefty tome; 'After the Ice'. And indeed, it works very well, being a reletively simple read, and yet being stimulating and informative - it does not patronise the reader.
We are given a detailed glimpse of the past through a device that works rather well; Mithen uses a fellow named John Lubbock (who shares a common name with a Victorian archeologist) who wonderes the globe, stopping by at various hunter-gather campsites in order to learn of their day to day life. Sensibly, Mithen doesn't give this Lubbock chap a personality as such, nor does he engage with conversation with the ancient peoples, he is merely a by-stander, Mithen simply describes what he sees. As I said, the device works well, however whilst these sections are mostly a joy to read, they tend to grow somewhat repetetive, even rambling in some cases. Occasionally one suspects that the everyday behaviour these tripespeople were supposed exhibit isn't based on archeological evidence, and rather he is making an 'educated guess' on how these people went about their daily affairs; however it is nice to see the author inject some imagination into the book, rather relying completely on strict scientific fact.
The rest of the book is made up of descriptions of the excavation of various hunter-gatherer sites, and the evidence found therein. These sections are again, thrilling and endlessly fascinating, however as the book wares on, the endless discussions of old animal bones, so-called 'stone nodules' and scrpas of charcoal and other human waste can become very repetative, and even boring in some cases.
So prehaps the book is a tad too long, the main 'book' itself is 511 pages of rather small print. The rest of the book is extensively endnoted - one doesn't have to read these, but if you want a deeper and more complex read, the endnotes will provide more detail on various points, so one certainly can't complain about a lack of detail - but prehaps it's length and repetition of various similar points will render it tiresome for some less comitted readers.
The book generally fills the reader with a sense of wonder and awe, and leaves you in high spirits. Unfortunatelly, Mithen saw the need to blight the end of the book with a chapter looking to the fururte of the human race, and he makes several bleak and grim predictions about global-warming. Ending the book on this deeply pessemistic note was completely inappropriate, and other blighted an otherwise uplifting book.

All in all, this is a generally fascinating book, and will enlighten the interested casual reader to no end. Recommended - provided you are a commited reader, and are prepared to wade through some repetition.


Wonderful Wonderful Book, 09 Apr 2007
If you have even the remotest interest in history, archaeology, anthropology or sociology you NEED to have this book. Its brilliantly written, engaging and well researched (although the field is moving so fast some of the ideas a little outdated especailly in respect to the populating of the americas/clovis debate). It takes you on a journey in time around the world to look at our earliest ancestors from a unique first person perspective- and allows you to feel like you are actually THERE watching these distant peoples. I really cant praise this book enough.


The Time travelling paleontologist, 17 Mar 2006
For someone who has been waiting for a compendium of everything paleontologists know to date about prehistoric Man, this book is a must-have. For the passing enthusiast, 511 pages on everything there is to be known about pre-Neolithic hunter gatherers can be a bit much.
The format chosen, however, makes the treatment of the subject matter less dry than it might have been. Perusing the evocative chapter titles gives a hint as to what is in store- Village Life in the Oak Woodland, In the Valley of Ravens, Islands of the Dead, Baked Fish by the Nile. Each features captured moments in time and place, vignettes of hunter-gatherer life as a paleontologist, John Lubbock, floats ghost-like across the millenia to happen upon prehistoric scenes just at the moment they leave their archaeological remains -- the infant in Southeast Europe just as his tribe buries him along with a jawbone under the hearth, hunters of arctic hare in 10,000 B.C. Australia as they cook, a cave painter as he paints. Each scene is followed by a scientific discussion of everything paleontologists have said about those remains.
There are revelations concerning some big questions in paleontology: the Earth did indeed suffer great flooding at the end of the last Ice Age; the transition to farming from hunter gathering was a traumatic one, forced upon humans by severe climatic change; Homo sapiens did indeed arise out of Africa; the Clovis hunters did indeed contribute to the extinction of megafauna; Just how long ago was early Man in the Americans? These are gems tucked into endless info on types of microlith (stone chippings used to make tools) and shapes of pottery bowls.
Being an archaeology nut, this is the sort of book where I would usually devour each and every footnote – it has a luscious 61 pages of ‘em -- underlining things in the book and making notes for future research. However, the book was just so long (did I mention? -- 511 pages), I was proud of myself just for getting through the text.
As the ghost Lubbock doesn't speak or understand Mesolithic languages (otherwise, he could just go up and ask the cave painter ‘Why did you put a red handprint next to your painting of that mammoth?’) we don't get treated to much dialogue or characterization. This can get a bit boring.
More problematically, the analysis can be a bit undialectical at points, following hypotheses suggesting that human societies did things for purely ideological reasons. At these points, the author’s anti-Marxist bias leads him to some silliness. Contenders for a woman ‘offer their head’ in some ritual fashion to be bashed in, for example. Most of the analysis is, however, sober.
An underlying sub-theme of the book is the dangers the earth and its creatures face from global warming. When you read about the disastrous consequences of that 7 degree warming 10,000 years ago, how much more afraid do we need to be about what we are doing in the 21st century? As the book is about paleontology, it naturally doesn’t suggest any political solutions- which makes the anti-Marxist bias even sillier.
A bit hard to get through, but worth it.

The Way We Were, 15 Jun 2005
Various forms are being applied to popularise what science has discovered about Nature, particularly our nature. Paleontologist Steven Mithen utilises a favourite technique of SciFi - time travel - to explain how our ancestors once lived. Although this might be a risky method in the hands of someone less talented, Mithen carries it well as he takes us on a global journey. From Western, Southern and Eastern Asia, through Africa, Europe and the Americas and Australia, he introduces us to the daily activities of those people who moved across the planet as the glaciers retreated. While that sounds highly speculative, Mithen's method is a way of introducing us to the numerous dig sites prehistoric scholars have found and analysed. The evidence for his depictions is laid out and the interpretations arising from the data is carefully presented.

Mithen isn't our guide in this tour. He assigns that task to a figure named for a contemporary of Charles Darwin. "Victorian John Lubbock", as Mithen dubs him, wrote one of the earliest paleoanthropological works, "Prehistoric Times" - an attempt to describe what our ancestors were like. Lubbock coined the terms "Palaeolithic" and "Neolithic" to give order to a chaotic scene. In this account, the Time Traveller refers to his namesake's publication for comparison of what has been revealed today by Mithen's digging colleagues. What did your ancestors do during the day? What challenges did they face and how did they overcome them? Time Traveller Lubbock tries to impart these questions and their answers with distant observation and active participation alike. The method, when the releaved evidence is explained, proves an excellent balance. You are there at the time of events and alongside the archaeologists as they sift through artefacts thousands of years old.

Human prehistory is probably science's most contentious field. For years, the story of how and when the Western Hemisphere was populated has been a simmering issue. Mithen, although giving passing attention to the "Clovis debate" and other questions relating to the human invasion of the America's, gently disentangles himself from the specifics. Instead, he focusses on how the environment affected the way in which societies formed here. This isn't just an evasion tactic. Mithen is more concerned with how humanity solved various problems facing them as they settled in uncontested lands. What adds to our interest is the comparison of such elements as the domesticating grains and animals here with that of Western Asian populations. Mithen meticulously describes how the genetic patterns of grains and animals alike were changed by human intervention.

It's easy to admit to a sense of wonder at reading this book. The scope is vast, fifteen thousand years of time and the entire globe. That one author could accomplish this feat is at least admirable, if not astonishing. Yet, Mithen's own sense of awe is clearly evident, if not infectious. He's not a classroom-bound academic and some of his own site visits are incorporated into the narrative. His passion for the science is clear and present - something that should prompt younger readers to emulate. The recent dates given for dig sites plainly indicate that real work remains to be done. And speed is critical - the number of sites discovered and worked under the threat of dam, highway and shopping mall building is too depressing to recount here. If you, or anyone you know is looking for a career in science, buy this book, read it and encourage a career in human prehistory. Mithen shows how rewarding it can be. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Must for Anyone Interested in Prehistory, 01 Sep 2008
If you have an interest on the origins of man and the early civilisations of Europe, then this book should already have a space on your shelf. Brilliantly edited by Barry Cunliffe, the one time professor of European Archaeology at Oxford; this book gives you an insight into the development of human society in Europe from 700,000 Years ago, up until the age of the Vikings.
In short, it is an amazing guide to several millennia of prehistory and early history. The book's chapters cover subjects such as:

1. The Peopling of Europe, 700,000-40,000 Years before the Present.
2. The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution.
3. The Mesolithic Age.
4. The First Farmers.
5. The Transformation of Early Agrarian Europe: The later Neolithic and Copper Ages, 4500-2500 BC.
6. The Palace Civilisations of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, 2000-1200 BC.
7. The Emergence of Elites: Earlier Bronze Age Europe, 2500-1300 BC.
8. The Collapse of Aegean Civilisation at the end of the Late Bronze Age.
9. Reformation in Barbarian Europe, 1300-600 BC.
10. Iron Age Societies in Western Europe and Beyond, 800-140 BC.
11. Thracians, Scythians, and Dacians, 800 BC-AD 300.
12. The Impact of Rome on Barbarian Society, 140 BC-AD 300.
13. Barbarian Europe, AD 300-700.

Each chapter is written by an expert on the subject, so we have Barry Cunliffe on Celtic culture, Andrew Sherratt on the Neolithic, and so on.
Because the chapters are often written by different authors, the book often varies in quality, as some sections are slightly better written than others. For instance I found the first chapter by Clive Gamble an interesting read, but I found a few others slightly dry and plodding. That said, the book makes up for this in the sheer wealth of information and facts it provides. The book has many maps, diagrams, charts and graphs, which helps explain the development of such things as tools, or the changes in European vegetation and enviroment.

The book's text is also accompanied by excellent photographs, both black and white and colour. These display photographs of archaeological sites or finds. They compliment the book very well.

Overall, this is a brilliant book, but it certainly isn't for absolute beginners, unless they are brave. The book does have it's downsides in that it can be difficult for the layperson at times. That said, a worthy read for those who'd like to know how civilisation first emerged in Western Europe.

Review of "Prehistoric Europe" by Cunliffe, 31 Jul 2003
I am currently studying Archaeology at University and this book was very helpful when researching information regarding prehistoic Europe. It is very detailed and informative and has many examples and case studies. It is an all round textbook but irrespective of this it would appeal to those who are simply interested in the history of Archaoelogy such as the Stone Age and studying the development of humans from homo erectus to modern day man. Its emphasis is on history rather than scientific methods and principle although there are naturally aspects of this as this is an inherent vital part in Archaeology.

CDROM flaw, 09 Nov 2008
If you are fortunate enough find and buy a copy of the 3rd edition with CD-ROM, get in touch with OUP as the Versabook system doesn't work correctly with Windows XP or later and you will be unable to scroll down through articles. OUP can provide you with a patch to fix this.

A Must for Classics Students, 11 Jul 2008
I've been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome ever since I was a child (Which wasn't that long ago), but I have never done a formal degree in the Classics. If I had studied the subject then I would have found this book invaluable.

It's basically a series of very short essays that cover every aspect of the Classical World, from politics and biography to literature; military; science and philosophy; art; food and drink; economy; law; geography; mythology; religion and social history. It also provides information on archaeological topics.

The book mentions virtually everything about the Classical period. For instance, if you were to pick the book up and look through the 'C' section, you'd find on the first few pages topics such as Cabiri, Cacus, Cadmus, Caecilia Attica, Caecilia Metella (1), Caecilia Metella(2) and so on.

Every topic is written by an expert on the subject, and a short bibliography is given at the end of every entry so that you can check up on their sources.

Some entries have more space dedicated to them than others. For instance Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Plato will often have biographies that run for several pages. A lot of space is also dedicated to language, literature and science.

The only fault I find with the book is that the Late Antique period is not given as much attention as Classical Greece and Rome. I tried to find information on the Scholae Palatina but I couldn't find an entry. Oddly, the Comitatenses do get an entry though, but the Scholae aren't mentioned under that section.

The newest version of the book now comes with a list of new entries, a guide to the area advisors and an index to the intials of the contributors.

At 1,640 pages long, this a very large and heavy tome. The entries are written in very small print, so it could be a strain on your eyes if you have bad eye-sight. No illustrations or photographs are provided in the book.

Overall, if you are serious about the Classical World, you will find this book an absolute treasure. It might be expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Highly Recommended!

Essential but flawed, 17 Jul 2007
Browsing this book is an excellent experience. Articles vary in length, but provide a good overview in most cases; they also provide further reading on each individual topic.

The price is hefty, but worth it - collecting a series a books covering the breadth of information covered here would be far more expensive. It is not limited to the 'Golden Age', but covers developments in late antiquity - most articles take a historical overview of their topic, not just a snapshot. As an example: the article on the mythical figure of Oedipus does not review the well-known story as given by Sophocles' "Oedipous Tyrannos", but ealier and later versions of the story too.

The fault lies less in the content than in the organisation. If you are looking up a historical or literary figure, then it is fine, but working out what heading a particular topic can be found is an extremely frustrating process. Trying to second-guess an editor seems a pointless exercise; when even a "Thomson Directory" provides a cross-referencing index, how can omitting one here be justified?

In conclusion, this is an excellent resource; but at this price, it feels a little too skimped on production values.

A strange omission, 25 Jun 2007
Pages x-xii of The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World contain a list of 56 "Major Authors, from Homer and Hesiod to Plutarch." What is extraordinary about this list is its omission of the name of Sappho, the more so because of the inclusion of her (less important) contemporaries Alcaeus and Alcman. There are no females in this list. Perhaps there are not many women in antiquity who could have been included, but Sappho could have been and should have been.

Excellent, 21 Oct 2005
Excellent, simply excellent. I'm an undergraduate, and I use it every single day. It is the best starting point for research into most topics in ancient history.
Oh, Dr. Mark Taylor: this is not the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. That is a different book. And Alkaios is just as important as Sappho, albeit from from a political perspective rather than a social one.

Incredibly detailed and concise, 16 Jun 2008
This is an excellent book. It complements Mallory's book on the Indo-Europeans and takes a similar no-nonsense line. It is particularly good in its refutation of the woolly notions of certain archaeologists like Renfrew, Cunliffe and Pryor who would have us believe that the Indo-Europeans spread throughout Europe with farming. While it is quite technical in places, any intelligent general reader will be able to follow his arguments without difficulty. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The origins of proto-Indo-European in some detail., 21 Apr 2008
A very detailed and convincing book that almost certainly explains the origins of proto-Indo-European people and languages in the Pontic Ukraine. All links to surrounding cultures and languages and their links to PIE are discussed in minute detail. This is a very thick book which needs to be read twice to really understand fully. The only critisism is that Anthony does not summarise or give enough maps to help the quick reader, but there are enough maps and illustrations to provide detail to the dedicated reader with an interest in PIE.

Essentially the Northern Black Sea was the source of a steppe people who had first mastery of horses wagons and later chariots and copper smelting all of which gave them advantages over neighbouring peoples. PIE slowly spread over time through a combination of assimilation domination and conquests, using PIE as a type of networking language. The steppes initially provided a fast means to transmit that culture with the aid of the horse, and the Steppes had a unique advantage of having access to the 4 origins of civilisation in the Balkans the Middle East, Eurasia and China. More detail is given to the Eastern PIE peoples like the Tocharians and Indo-Iranians, than to the origins of European languages.


A FASCINATING JUMP INTO THE PAST, 22 Jan 2008
I just read few pages of this wonderful book. I've always been fascinated about the origins and the changes of our languages, and I, being neither an archeologist nor an historical linguist, find astonishing how those scientist can reconstruct phonological and lexical shifts during the eras, and so can reconstruct our history too. I am reading this book as a novel. It includes the top scientific research but it is also easy readable. Every concept and tool is explained in detail. I am an italian translator and think this book deserves quickly an italian translation.
Silvio Ferraresi

Good, but a little too long (and contains time travel science fiction), 08 May 2008
Steven Mithen tells the story about how agriculture was discovered on the different continents of the earth. He is a gifted writer and being a researcher he has a lot of stories to tell and a lot of information to give.

Sadly Mithen has chosen to dedicating a fairly equal number of chapters to each of the continents of the Earth. So when he gets to Australia and East Asia he ends up repeating himself telling the same story that he also told about some of the earlier continent. So frankly the end of the book is a little boring and I had to struggle to finish it up.

In an effort to keep the readers attention Mithen invents a time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologist named John Lubbock and allows him to visit some of the places described in the book. So he switches back and forth between facts and fiction. This doesn't really work because we never get to hear who Mithens version ofJohn Lubbock really is and frankly I did not buy a history book to read science fiction about time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologists. The least they could do is to mention Lubbock in the description on the back of the book.

But then again the first half is really exiting, so if you buy the book and read the first half then you still get a lot of knowledge and a really good experience for only 10£.


A genuinely enthralling study., 05 Jul 2007
Most people have at least a passing interest in prehistory, and the origin of modern human civilisation, and they generally do not want to wade through, as Mithen aptly puts it 'jargon-laden prose' which only academics of archeology and the like will be able to comprehend. And now, the 'casual' reader has been catered for by Mithen in this hefty tome; 'After the Ice'. And indeed, it works very well, being a reletively simple read, and yet being stimulating and informative - it does not patronise the reader.
We are given a detailed glimpse of the past through a device that works rather well; Mithen uses a fellow named John Lubbock (who shares a common name with a Victorian archeologist) who wonderes the globe, stopping by at various hunter-gather campsites in order to learn of their day to day life. Sensibly, Mithen doesn't give this Lubbock chap a personality as such, nor does he engage with conversation with the ancient peoples, he is merely a by-stander, Mithen simply describes what he sees. As I said, the device works well, however whilst these sections are mostly a joy to read, they tend to grow somewhat repetetive, even rambling in some cases. Occasionally one suspects that the everyday behaviour these tripespeople were supposed exhibit isn't based on archeological evidence, and rather he is making an 'educated guess' on how these people went about their daily affairs; however it is nice to see the author inject some imagination into the book, rather relying completely on strict scientific fact.
The rest of the book is made up of descriptions of the excavation of various hunter-gatherer sites, and the evidence found therein. These sections are again, thrilling and endlessly fascinating, however as the book wares on, the endless discussions of old animal bones, so-called 'stone nodules' and scrpas of charcoal and other human waste can become very repetative, and even boring in some cases.
So prehaps the book is a tad too long, the main 'book' itself is 511 pages of rather small print. The rest of the book is extensively endnoted - one doesn't have to read these, but if you want a deeper and more complex read, the endnotes will provide more detail on various points, so one certainly can't complain about a lack of detail - but prehaps it's length and repetition of various similar points will render it tiresome for some less comitted readers.
The book generally fills the reader with a sense of wonder and awe, and leaves you in high spirits. Unfortunatelly, Mithen saw the need to blight the end of the book with a chapter looking to the fururte of the human race, and he makes several bleak and grim predictions about global-warming. Ending the book on this deeply pessemistic note was completely inappropriate, and other blighted an otherwise uplifting book.

All in all, this is a generally fascinating book, and will enlighten the interested casual reader to no end. Recommended - provided you are a commited reader, and are prepared to wade through some repetition.


Wonderful Wonderful Book, 09 Apr 2007
If you have even the remotest interest in history, archaeology, anthropology or sociology you NEED to have this book. Its brilliantly written, engaging and well researched (although the field is moving so fast some of the ideas a little outdated especailly in respect to the populating of the americas/clovis debate). It takes you on a journey in time around the world to look at our earliest ancestors from a unique first person perspective- and allows you to feel like you are actually THERE watching these distant peoples. I really cant praise this book enough.


The Time travelling paleontologist, 17 Mar 2006
For someone who has been waiting for a compendium of everything paleontologists know to date about prehistoric Man, this book is a must-have. For the passing enthusiast, 511 pages on everything there is to be known about pre-Neolithic hunter gatherers can be a bit much.
The format chosen, however, makes the treatment of the subject matter less dry than it might have been. Perusing the evocative chapter titles gives a hint as to what is in store- Village Life in the Oak Woodland, In the Valley of Ravens, Islands of the Dead, Baked Fish by the Nile. Each features captured moments in time and place, vignettes of hunter-gatherer life as a paleontologist, John Lubbock, floats ghost-like across the millenia to happen upon prehistoric scenes just at the moment they leave their archaeological remains -- the infant in Southeast Europe just as his tribe buries him along with a jawbone under the hearth, hunters of arctic hare in 10,000 B.C. Australia as they cook, a cave painter as he paints. Each scene is followed by a scientific discussion of everything paleontologists have said about those remains.
There are revelations concerning some big questions in paleontology: the Earth did indeed suffer great flooding at the end of the last Ice Age; the transition to farming from hunter gathering was a traumatic one, forced upon humans by severe climatic change; Homo sapiens did indeed arise out of Africa; the Clovis hunters did indeed contribute to the extinction of megafauna; Just how long ago was early Man in the Americans? These are gems tucked into endless info on types of microlith (stone chippings used to make tools) and shapes of pottery bowls.
Being an archaeology nut, this is the sort of book where I would usually devour each and every footnote – it has a luscious 61 pages of ‘em -- underlining things in the book and making notes for future research. However, the book was just so long (did I mention? -- 511 pages), I was proud of myself just for getting through the text.
As the ghost Lubbock doesn't speak or understand Mesolithic languages (otherwise, he could just go up and ask the cave painter ‘Why did you put a red handprint next to your painting of that mammoth?’) we don't get treated to much dialogue or characterization. This can get a bit boring.
More problematically, the analysis can be a bit undialectical at points, following hypotheses suggesting that human societies did things for purely ideological reasons. At these points, the author’s anti-Marxist bias leads him to some silliness. Contenders for a woman ‘offer their head’ in some ritual fashion to be bashed in, for example. Most of the analysis is, however, sober.
An underlying sub-theme of the book is the dangers the earth and its creatures face from global warming. When you read about the disastrous consequences of that 7 degree warming 10,000 years ago, how much more afraid do we need to be about what we are doing in the 21st century? As the book is about paleontology, it naturally doesn’t suggest any political solutions- which makes the anti-Marxist bias even sillier.
A bit hard to get through, but worth it.

The Way We Were, 15 Jun 2005
Various forms are being applied to popularise what science has discovered about Nature, particularly our nature. Paleontologist Steven Mithen utilises a favourite technique of SciFi - time travel - to explain how our ancestors once lived. Although this might be a risky method in the hands of someone less talented, Mithen carries it well as he takes us on a global journey. From Western, Southern and Eastern Asia, through Africa, Europe and the Americas and Australia, he introduces us to the daily activities of those people who moved across the planet as the glaciers retreated. While that sounds highly speculative, Mithen's method is a way of introducing us to the numerous dig sites prehistoric scholars have found and analysed. The evidence for his depictions is laid out and the interpretations arising from the data is carefully presented.

Mithen isn't our guide in this tour. He assigns that task to a figure named for a contemporary of Charles Darwin. "Victorian John Lubbock", as Mithen dubs him, wrote one of the earliest paleoanthropological works, "Prehistoric Times" - an attempt to describe what our ancestors were like. Lubbock coined the terms "Palaeolithic" and "Neolithic" to give order to a chaotic scene. In this account, the Time Traveller refers to his namesake's publication for comparison of what has been revealed today by Mithen's digging colleagues. What did your ancestors do during the day? What challenges did they face and how did they overcome them? Time Traveller Lubbock tries to impart these questions and their answers with distant observation and active participation alike. The method, when the releaved evidence is explained, proves an excellent balance. You are there at the time of events and alongside the archaeologists as they sift through artefacts thousands of years old.

Human prehistory is probably science's most contentious field. For years, the story of how and when the Western Hemisphere was populated has been a simmering issue. Mithen, although giving passing attention to the "Clovis debate" and other questions relating to the human invasion of the America's, gently disentangles himself from the specifics. Instead, he focusses on how the environment affected the way in which societies formed here. This isn't just an evasion tactic. Mithen is more concerned with how humanity solved various problems facing them as they settled in uncontested lands. What adds to our interest is the comparison of such elements as the domesticating grains and animals here with that of Western Asian populations. Mithen meticulously describes how the genetic patterns of grains and animals alike were changed by human intervention.

It's easy to admit to a sense of wonder at reading this book. The scope is vast, fifteen thousand years of time and the entire globe. That one author could accomplish this feat is at least admirable, if not astonishing. Yet, Mithen's own sense of awe is clearly evident, if not infectious. He's not a classroom-bound academic and some of his own site visits are incorporated into the narrative. His passion for the science is clear and present - something that should prompt younger readers to emulate. The recent dates given for dig sites plainly indicate that real work remains to be done. And speed is critical - the number of sites discovered and worked under the threat of dam, highway and shopping mall building is too depressing to recount here. If you, or anyone you know is looking for a career in science, buy this book, read it and encourage a career in human prehistory. Mithen shows how rewarding it can be. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Must for Anyone Interested in Prehistory, 01 Sep 2008
If you have an interest on the origins of man and the early civilisations of Europe, then this book should already have a space on your shelf. Brilliantly edited by Barry Cunliffe, the one time professor of European Archaeology at Oxford; this book gives you an insight into the development of human society in Europe from 700,000 Years ago, up until the age of the Vikings.
In short, it is an amazing guide to several millennia of prehistory and early history. The book's chapters cover subjects such as:

1. The Peopling of Europe, 700,000-40,000 Years before the Present.
2. The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution.
3. The Mesolithic Age.
4. The First Farmers.
5. The Transformation of Early Agrarian Europe: The later Neolithic and Copper Ages, 4500-2500 BC.
6. The Palace Civilisations of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, 2000-1200 BC.
7. The Emergence of Elites: Earlier Bronze Age Europe, 2500-1300 BC.
8. The Collapse of Aegean Civilisation at the end of the Late Bronze Age.
9. Reformation in Barbarian Europe, 1300-600 BC.
10. Iron Age Societies in Western Europe and Beyond, 800-140 BC.
11. Thracians, Scythians, and Dacians, 800 BC-AD 300.
12. The Impact of Rome on Barbarian Society, 140 BC-AD 300.
13. Barbarian Europe, AD 300-700.

Each chapter is written by an expert on the subject, so we have Barry Cunliffe on Celtic culture, Andrew Sherratt on the Neolithic, and so on.
Because the chapters are often written by different authors, the book often varies in quality, as some sections are slightly better written than others. For instance I found the first chapter by Clive Gamble an interesting read, but I found a few others slightly dry and plodding. That said, the book makes up for this in the sheer wealth of information and facts it provides. The book has many maps, diagrams, charts and graphs, which helps explain the development of such things as tools, or the changes in European vegetation and enviroment.

The book's text is also accompanied by excellent photographs, both black and white and colour. These display photographs of archaeological sites or finds. They compliment the book very well.

Overall, this is a brilliant book, but it certainly isn't for absolute beginners, unless they are brave. The book does have it's downsides in that it can be difficult for the layperson at times. That said, a worthy read for those who'd like to know how civilisation first emerged in Western Europe.

Review of "Prehistoric Europe" by Cunliffe, 31 Jul 2003
I am currently studying Archaeology at University and this book was very helpful when researching information regarding prehistoic Europe. It is very detailed and informative and has many examples and case studies. It is an all round textbook but irrespective of this it would appeal to those who are simply interested in the history of Archaoelogy such as the Stone Age and studying the development of humans from homo erectus to modern day man. Its emphasis is on history rather than scientific methods and principle although there are naturally aspects of this as this is an inherent vital part in Archaeology.

Interesting though academic, 19 Dec 2007
I bought this to inform other reading about the genetic pre-history of the UK. Once I opened it I discovered that it is really an academic text designed to support undergraduates - this means the style is somewhat dry (though well written) compared to the rather more coffee table book I was expecting.

On that basis I have rated 3* - quite possibly a more academic reader would rate it higher.

CDROM flaw, 09 Nov 2008
If you are fortunate enough find and buy a copy of the 3rd edition with CD-ROM, get in touch with OUP as the Versabook system doesn't work correctly with Windows XP or later and you will be unable to scroll down through articles. OUP can provide you with a patch to fix this.

A Must for Classics Students, 11 Jul 2008
I've been interested in Ancient Greece and Rome ever since I was a child (Which wasn't that long ago), but I have never done a formal degree in the Classics. If I had studied the subject then I would have found this book invaluable.

It's basically a series of very short essays that cover every aspect of the Classical World, from politics and biography to literature; military; science and philosophy; art; food and drink; economy; law; geography; mythology; religion and social history. It also provides information on archaeological topics.

The book mentions virtually everything about the Classical period. For instance, if you were to pick the book up and look through the 'C' section, you'd find on the first few pages topics such as Cabiri, Cacus, Cadmus, Caecilia Attica, Caecilia Metella (1), Caecilia Metella(2) and so on.

Every topic is written by an expert on the subject, and a short bibliography is given at the end of every entry so that you can check up on their sources.

Some entries have more space dedicated to them than others. For instance Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Plato will often have biographies that run for several pages. A lot of space is also dedicated to language, literature and science.

The only fault I find with the book is that the Late Antique period is not given as much attention as Classical Greece and Rome. I tried to find information on the Scholae Palatina but I couldn't find an entry. Oddly, the Comitatenses do get an entry though, but the Scholae aren't mentioned under that section.

The newest version of the book now comes with a list of new entries, a guide to the area advisors and an index to the intials of the contributors.

At 1,640 pages long, this a very large and heavy tome. The entries are written in very small print, so it could be a strain on your eyes if you have bad eye-sight. No illustrations or photographs are provided in the book.

Overall, if you are serious about the Classical World, you will find this book an absolute treasure. It might be expensive but I think it is worth every penny. Highly Recommended!

Essential but flawed, 17 Jul 2007
Browsing this book is an excellent experience. Articles vary in length, but provide a good overview in most cases; they also provide further reading on each individual topic.

The price is hefty, but worth it - collecting a series a books covering the breadth of information covered here would be far more expensive. It is not limited to the 'Golden Age', but covers developments in late antiquity - most articles take a historical overview of their topic, not just a snapshot. As an example: the article on the mythical figure of Oedipus does not review the well-known story as given by Sophocles' "Oedipous Tyrannos", but ealier and later versions of the story too.

The fault lies less in the content than in the organisation. If you are looking up a historical or literary figure, then it is fine, but working out what heading a particular topic can be found is an extremely frustrating process. Trying to second-guess an editor seems a pointless exercise; when even a "Thomson Directory" provides a cross-referencing index, how can omitting one here be justified?

In conclusion, this is an excellent resource; but at this price, it feels a little too skimped on production values.

A strange omission, 25 Jun 2007
Pages x-xii of The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World contain a list of 56 "Major Authors, from Homer and Hesiod to Plutarch." What is extraordinary about this list is its omission of the name of Sappho, the more so because of the inclusion of her (less important) contemporaries Alcaeus and Alcman. There are no females in this list. Perhaps there are not many women in antiquity who could have been included, but Sappho could have been and should have been.

Excellent, 21 Oct 2005
Excellent, simply excellent. I'm an undergraduate, and I use it every single day. It is the best starting point for research into most topics in ancient history.
Oh, Dr. Mark Taylor: this is not the Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. That is a different book. And Alkaios is just as important as Sappho, albeit from from a political perspective rather than a social one.

Incredibly detailed and concise, 16 Jun 2008
This is an excellent book. It complements Mallory's book on the Indo-Europeans and takes a similar no-nonsense line. It is particularly good in its refutation of the woolly notions of certain archaeologists like Renfrew, Cunliffe and Pryor who would have us believe that the Indo-Europeans spread throughout Europe with farming. While it is quite technical in places, any intelligent general reader will be able to follow his arguments without difficulty. I can't recommend it highly enough.

The origins of proto-Indo-European in some detail., 21 Apr 2008
A very detailed and convincing book that almost certainly explains the origins of proto-Indo-European people and languages in the Pontic Ukraine. All links to surrounding cultures and languages and their links to PIE are discussed in minute detail. This is a very thick book which needs to be read twice to really understand fully. The only critisism is that Anthony does not summarise or give enough maps to help the quick reader, but there are enough maps and illustrations to provide detail to the dedicated reader with an interest in PIE.

Essentially the Northern Black Sea was the source of a steppe people who had first mastery of horses wagons and later chariots and copper smelting all of which gave them advantages over neighbouring peoples. PIE slowly spread over time through a combination of assimilation domination and conquests, using PIE as a type of networking language. The steppes initially provided a fast means to transmit that culture with the aid of the horse, and the Steppes had a unique advantage of having access to the 4 origins of civilisation in the Balkans the Middle East, Eurasia and China. More detail is given to the Eastern PIE peoples like the Tocharians and Indo-Iranians, than to the origins of European languages.


A FASCINATING JUMP INTO THE PAST, 22 Jan 2008
I just read few pages of this wonderful book. I've always been fascinated about the origins and the changes of our languages, and I, being neither an archeologist nor an historical linguist, find astonishing how those scientist can reconstruct phonological and lexical shifts during the eras, and so can reconstruct our history too. I am reading this book as a novel. It includes the top scientific research but it is also easy readable. Every concept and tool is explained in detail. I am an italian translator and think this book deserves quickly an italian translation.
Silvio Ferraresi

Good, but a little too long (and contains time travel science fiction), 08 May 2008
Steven Mithen tells the story about how agriculture was discovered on the different continents of the earth. He is a gifted writer and being a researcher he has a lot of stories to tell and a lot of information to give.

Sadly Mithen has chosen to dedicating a fairly equal number of chapters to each of the continents of the Earth. So when he gets to Australia and East Asia he ends up repeating himself telling the same story that he also told about some of the earlier continent. So frankly the end of the book is a little boring and I had to struggle to finish it up.

In an effort to keep the readers attention Mithen invents a time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologist named John Lubbock and allows him to visit some of the places described in the book. So he switches back and forth between facts and fiction. This doesn't really work because we never get to hear who Mithens version ofJohn Lubbock really is and frankly I did not buy a history book to read science fiction about time travelling Victorian paleoanthropologists. The least they could do is to mention Lubbock in the description on the back of the book.

But then again the first half is really exiting, so if you buy the book and read the first half then you still get a lot of knowledge and a really good experience for only 10£.


A genuinely enthralling study., 05 Jul 2007
Most people have at least a passing interest in prehistory, and the origin of modern human civilisation, and they generally do not want to wade through, as Mithen aptly puts it 'jargon-laden prose' which only academics of archeology and the like will be able to comprehend. And now, the 'casual' reader has been catered for by Mithen in this hefty tome; 'After the Ice'. And indeed, it works very well, being a reletively simple read, and yet being stimulating and informative - it does not patronise the reader.
We are given a detailed glimpse of the past through a device that works rather well; Mithen uses a fellow named John Lubbock (who shares a common name with a Victorian archeologist) who wonderes the globe, stopping by at various hunter-gather campsites in order to learn of their day to day life. Sensibly, Mithen doesn't give this Lubbock chap a personality as such, nor does he engage with conversation with the ancient peoples, he is merely a by-stander, Mithen simply describes what he sees. As I said, the device works well, however whilst these sections are mostly a joy to read, they tend to grow somewhat repetetive, even rambling in some cases. Occasionally one suspects that the everyday behaviour these tripespeople were supposed exhibit isn't based on archeological evidence, and rather he is making an 'educated guess' on how these people went about their daily affairs; however it is nice to see the author inject some imagination into the book, rather relying completely on strict scientific fact.
The rest of the book is made up of descriptions of the excavation of various hunter-gatherer sites, and the evidence found therein. These sections are again, thrilling and endlessly fascinating, however as the book wares on, the endless discussions of old animal bones, so-called 'stone nodules' and scrpas of charcoal and other human waste can become very repetative, and even boring in some cases.
So prehaps the book is a tad too long, the main 'book' itself is 511 pages of rather small print. The rest of the book is extensively endnoted - one doesn't have to read these, but if you want a deeper and more complex read, the endnotes will provide more detail on various points, so one certainly can't complain about a lack of detail - but prehaps it's length and repetition of various similar points will render it tiresome for some less comitted readers.
The book generally fills the reader with a sense of wonder and awe, and leaves you in high spirits. Unfortunatelly, Mithen saw the need to blight the end of the book with a chapter looking to the fururte of the human race, and he makes several bleak and grim predictions about global-warming. Ending the book on this deeply pessemistic note was completely inappropriate, and other blighted an otherwise uplifting book.

All in all, this is a generally fascinating book, and will enlighten the interested casual reader to no end. Recommended - provided you are a commited reader, and are prepared to wade through some repetition.


Wonderful Wonderful Book, 09 Apr 2007
If you have even the remotest interest in history, archaeology, anthropology or sociology you NEED to have this book. Its brilliantly written, engaging and well researched (although the field is moving so fast some of the ideas a little outdated especailly in respect to the populating of the americas/clovis debate). It takes you on a journey in time around the world to look at our earliest ancestors from a unique first person perspective- and allows you to feel like you are actually THERE watching these distant peoples. I really cant praise this book enough.


The Time travelling paleontologist, 17 Mar 2006
For someone who has been waiting for a compendium of everything paleontologists know to date about prehistoric Man, this book is a must-have. For the passing enthusiast, 511 pages on everything there is to be known about pre-Neolithic hunter gatherers can be a bit much.
The format chosen, however, makes the treatment of the subject matter less dry than it might have been. Perusing the evocative chapter titles gives a hint as to what is in store- Village Life in the Oak Woodland, In the Valley of Ravens, Islands of the Dead, Baked Fish by the Nile. Each features captured moments in time and place, vignettes of hunter-gatherer life as a paleontologist, John Lubbock, floats ghost-like across the millenia to happen upon prehistoric scenes just at the moment they leave their archaeological remains -- the infant in Southeast Europe just as his tribe buries him along with a jawbone under the hearth, hunters of arctic hare in 10,000 B.C. Australia as they cook, a cave painter as he paints. Each scene is followed by a scientific discussion of everything paleontologists have said about those remains.
There are revelations concerning some big questions in paleontology: the Earth did indeed suffer great flooding at the end of the last Ice Age; the transition to farming from hunter gathering was a traumatic one, forced upon humans by severe climatic change; Homo sapiens did indeed arise out of Africa; the Clovis hunters did indeed contribute to the extinction of megafauna; Just how long ago was early Man in the Americans? These are gems tucked into endless info on types of microlith (stone chippings used to make tools) and shapes of pottery bowls.
Being an archaeology nut, this is the sort of book where I would usually devour each and every footnote – it has a luscious 61 pages of ‘em -- underlining things in the book and making notes for future research. However, the book was just so long (did I mention? -- 511 pages), I was proud of myself just for getting through the text.
As the ghost Lubbock doesn't speak or understand Mesolithic languages (otherwise, he could just go up and ask the cave painter ‘Why did you put a red handprint next to your painting of that mammoth?’) we don't get treated to much dialogue or characterization. This can get a bit boring.
More problematically, the analysis can be a bit undialectical at points, following hypotheses suggesting that human societies did things for purely ideological reasons. At these points, the author’s anti-Marxist bias leads him to some silliness. Contenders for a woman ‘offer their head’ in some ritual fashion to be bashed in, for example. Most of the analysis is, however, sober.
An underlying sub-theme of the book is the dangers the earth and its creatures face from global warming. When you read about the disastrous consequences of that 7 degree warming 10,000 years ago, how much more afraid do we need to be about what we are doing in the 21st century? As the book is about paleontology, it naturally doesn’t suggest any political solutions- which makes the anti-Marxist bias even sillier.
A bit hard to get through, but worth it.

The Way We Were, 15 Jun 2005
Various forms are being applied to popularise what science has discovered about Nature, particularly our nature. Paleontologist Steven Mithen utilises a favourite technique of SciFi - time travel - to explain how our ancestors once lived. Although this might be a risky method in the hands of someone less talented, Mithen carries it well as he takes us on a global journey. From Western, Southern and Eastern Asia, through Africa, Europe and the Americas and Australia, he introduces us to the daily activities of those people who moved across the planet as the glaciers retreated. While that sounds highly speculative, Mithen's method is a way of introducing us to the numerous dig sites prehistoric scholars have found and analysed. The evidence for his depictions is laid out and the interpretations arising from the data is carefully presented.

Mithen isn't our guide in this tour. He assigns that task to a figure named for a contemporary of Charles Darwin. "Victorian John Lubbock", as Mithen dubs him, wrote one of the earliest paleoanthropological works, "Prehistoric Times" - an attempt to describe what our ancestors were like. Lubbock coined the terms "Palaeolithic" and "Neolithic" to give order to a chaotic scene. In this account, the Time Traveller refers to his namesake's publication for comparison of what has been revealed today by Mithen's digging colleagues. What did your ancestors do during the day? What challenges did they face and how did they overcome them? Time Traveller Lubbock tries to impart these questions and their answers with distant observation and active participation alike. The method, when the releaved evidence is explained, proves an excellent balance. You are there at the time of events and alongside the archaeologists as they sift through artefacts thousands of years old.

Human prehistory is probably science's most contentious field. For years, the story of how and when the Western Hemisphere was populated has been a simmering issue. Mithen, although giving passing attention to the "Clovis debate" and other questions relating to the human invasion of the America's, gently disentangles himself from the specifics. Instead, he focusses on how the environment affected the way in which societies formed here. This isn't just an evasion tactic. Mithen is more concerned with how humanity solved various problems facing them as they settled in uncontested lands. What adds to our interest is the comparison of such elements as the domesticating grains and animals here with that of Western Asian populations. Mithen meticulously describes how the genetic patterns of grains and animals alike were changed by human intervention.

It's easy to admit to a sense of wonder at reading this book. The scope is vast, fifteen thousand years of time and the entire globe. That one author could accomplish this feat is at least admirable, if not astonishing. Yet, Mithen's own sense of awe is clearly evident, if not infectious. He's not a classroom-bound academic and some of his own site visits are incorporated into the narrative. His passion for the science is clear and present - something that should prompt younger readers to emulate. The recent dates given for dig sites plainly indicate that real work remains to be done. And speed is critical - the number of sites discovered and worked under the threat of dam, highway and shopping mall building is too depressing to recount here. If you, or anyone you know is looking for a career in science, buy this book, read it and encourage a career in human prehistory. Mithen shows how rewarding it can be. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A Must for Anyone Interested in Prehistory, 01 Sep 2008
If you have an interest on the origins of man and the early civilisations of Europe, then this book should already have a space on your shelf. Brilliantly edited by Barry Cunliffe, the one time professor of European Archaeology at Oxford; this book gives you an insight into the development of human society in Europe from 700,000 Years ago, up until the age of the Vikings.
In short, it is an amazing guide to several millennia of prehistory and early history. The book's chapters cover subjects such as:

1. The Peopling of Europe, 700,000-40,000 Years before the Present.
2. The Upper Palaeolithic Revolution.
3. The Mesolithic Age.
4. The First Farmers.
5. The Transformation of Early Agrarian Europe: The later Neolithic and Copper Ages, 4500-2500 BC.
6. The Palace Civilisations of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, 2000-1200 BC.
7. The Emergence of Elites: Earlier Bronze Age Europe, 2500-1300 BC.
8. The Collapse of Aegean Civilisation at the end of the Late Bronze Age.
9. Reformation in Barbarian Europe, 1300-600 BC.
10. Iron Age Societies in Western Europe and Beyond, 800-140 BC.
11. Thracians, Scythians, and Dacians, 800 BC-AD 300.
12. The Impact of Rome on Barbarian Society, 140 BC-AD 300.
13. Barbarian Europe, AD 300-700.

Each chapter is written by an expert on the subject, so we have Barry Cunliffe on Celtic culture, Andrew Sherratt on the Neolithic, and so on.
Because the chapters are often written by different authors, the book often varies in quality, as some sections are slightly better written than others. For instance I found the first chapter by Clive Gamble an interesting read, but I found a few others slightly dry and plodding. That said, the book makes up for this in the sheer wealth of information and facts it provides. The book has many maps, diagrams, charts and graphs, which helps explain the development of such things as tools, or the changes in European vegetation and enviroment.

The book's text is also accompanied by excellent photographs, both black and white and colour. These display photographs of archaeological sites or finds. They compliment the book very well.

Overall, this is a brilliant book, but it certainly isn't for absolute beginners, unless they are brave. The book does have it's downsides in that it can be difficult for the layperson at times. That said, a worthy read for those who'd like to know how civilisation first emerged in Western Europe.

Review of "Prehistoric Europe" by Cunliffe, 31 Jul 2003
I am currently studying Archaeology at University and this book was very helpful when researching information regarding prehistoic Europe. It is very detailed and informative and has many examples and case studies. It is an all round textbook but irrespective of this it would appeal to those who are simply interested in the history of Archaoelogy such as the Stone Age and studying the development of humans from homo erectus to modern day man. Its emphasis is on history rather than scientific methods and principle although there are naturally aspects of this as this is an inherent vital part in Archaeology.

Interesting though academic, 19 Dec 2007
I bought this to inform other reading about the genetic pre-history of the UK. Once I opened it I discovered that it is really an academic text designed to support undergraduates - this means the style is somewhat dry (though well written) compared to the rather more coffee table book I was expecting.

On that basis I have rated 3* - quite possibly a more academic reader would rate it higher.

This book truly gets you thinking or I love that oak tree am I wierd?, 03 Mar 2007
Into Mega/Meso/Neolithic stuff? Prehistory and Ancient monuments? and dare I say SACRED SITES? Then this is definitly for you. I struggled to put it down and probably man