Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Civilizations: Ten Thousand Years of Ancient History by Jane McIntosh, Clint Twist, British Broadcasting Corporation ISBN: 0-7894-7830-7 Publisher: DK Publishing Inc Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (3 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Smooth!
Comment: The Indological spinning machine just never stops. The book perpetuates the same old Eurocentric cliche by presenting these people as invaders even though no hard evidence exists. Ashoka is fashioned as at least part Greek!
A couple of quotes for illustration purposes (page numbers pertain to the hardcover edition):
"As the Indus citites disappeared around 1800 BC horse riding
Indo-Aryan nomads, keeping cattle and worshipping warlike gods,
infiltrated the northwest and swelled the ranks of the rice farmers who were beginning to penetrate the forest of the Ganges (sic!) valley and that of its great tributary, the Yamuna (p.133)."
"The Indus script will probably never be deciphered-the texts that
survive are too short, giving little to work on. In addition we do not know what language the Indus people spoke-although most scholars think it was an early form of Dravidian languages now spoken in southern India (p. 66)."
The Nordic super race of Aryans are now called the Indo-Aryans.
However, they are still riding horses and worshipping "warlike" gods. Referring to Vedic Gods as "warlike" is mischievous and motivated. Indra, Agni, Soma, Varuna, Marut were invoked to ensure peace and prosperity. Only some hymns to Indra and Agni mention conflict situations; many times with a mythicaldemon Vrata, and some real enemies, the Dasa/Dasyus. Putting the two quoted paragraphs together, the reader is compelled to deduce a scenerio of violent invasion.
Very smooth indeed! Read this book if you are a British high school kid at the bottom of your class.
Rating: 4
Summary: A well illustrated introductory overview
Comment: This large-format book, co-published by the BBC, provides an attractive basic introduction to the world's major civilizations from prehistory to the era of medieval Europe. The text, while clearly written, is somewhat patchy in its coverage. For example, the authors devote significant attention to New World civilizations including those of coastal Peru and the Mississippi valley, but leave out comparable societies in sub-Saharan Africa. Interspersed among the historical accounts are special sections that briefly discuss stone tools, pottery, water and intensive agriculture, copper and bronze working, the beginning of writing, settlements, tombs and burial practices, warfare, iron technology, alphabets and developed writing, coinage and media of exchange, slavery, recreation, mathematics and measurement, ships and navigation, civil engineering, temples, astronomy and calendars, textiles, and medicine. The numerous illustrations, generally well presented, include many striking images that will be new to most readers. The simple maps often lack sufficient detail.
Rating: 4
Summary: Beautifully written overview, some omissions, etc.
Comment: The first clue that this is not a reliable reference was that it has no publication date. The printing technology indicates it was published within the past 20 years, and the cover refers to a book that has not yet been published in 2001, but I found nothing else.
Omission is also the most common defect inside. Regarding the sudden appearance of agriculture in Japan (500 BCE), there is no mention of the modern Japanese from Korea displacing the older civilization that was probably related to the Ainu. The fine chronology in front mentions independent early development of agriculture in New Guinea, but it does not appear in the text. The idea that evidence of the caste system has been found by Indus archeology is important enough to warrant a little information about the evidence, but none is provided; it should appear in "A Peaceful Realm", whenever that is published. I think they are trying to avoid any possible controversy, but of course that endeavour always fails. I could have used a map showing the land with the sea level at 10000 BCE level, when Japan was connected to Asia, England and Ireland to Europe, and the Black Sea wasn't.
I was looking for something about India from 1500 to 600 BCE, since Jane McIntosh seems to have expertise in the Indus civilization, but found nothing. That, however, may simply indicate there is no archeological evidence. (Hindu nationalist "archeology" notwithstanding.)
Some details seem at odds with other recent mainstream sources. I would not really trust any single item in this book without checking another source. Perhaps that is an inevitable result of squeezing world history into a short book, probably on a tight schedule, but it is why I gave it four stars instead of five. The larger matters, meriting two or more sentences, are probably accurate within the limit of current knowledge.
The Eurocentric viewpoint is evident, but somewhat muted compared to other world histories. That too is probably inevitable because history is determined by the available evidence even when it is not dictated by the winners. This is an excellent and beautiful short overview, contains superb maps, and includes many fascinating insightful sidebars. Just remember to write in the year of publication.
 |
Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Lost Civilizations by Donald P. Ryan ISBN: 002862954X Publisher: Alpha Books Pub. Date: 27 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
 |
Title: A History of the Ancient World by Chester G. Starr ISBN: 0195066286 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1991 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
 |
Title: After by Francine Prose ISBN: 0060080817 Publisher: Joanna Cotler Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
 |
Title: Food, Inc. : Mendel to Monsanto--The Promises and Perils of the Biotech Harvest by Peter Pringle ISBN: 0743226119 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 10 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
 |
Title: Earth by James F. Luhr, Smithsonian Institution ISBN: 0789496437 Publisher: DK Publishing Inc Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
