5 comments about Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt.

1. 
   
   Though I normally don't read nonfiction, Mirage immediately drew me in with its vivid descriptions of this strange, historic expedition. Aptly titled, the book chronicles Napoleon's disastrous foray into Egypt in pursuit of some exotic, orientalist fantasy that never existed in reality. Aping Alexander, Napoleon took with him some of the best and most adventurous French intellectuals of the time. These scientists and academics, or "savants," become the core of the narrative -- distinct and eccentric characters that I followed with interest. Some of the situations the savants found themselves in were truly surreal -- but despite the hardships and suffering they endured during the journey, they were able to expand their fields of study -- and even discover the Rosetta Stone!
   
   I knew very little about this expedition -- or this period in history -- but the book is enormously informative, with loads of facts as well as being entertaining, and in spite of myself I learned a lot! As I read I kept thinking of our current fiasco in Iraq, which seems to repeat in so many ways the arrogance and ignorance of Napoleon and his French soldiers. So the book is amazingly timely as well.
   
   A great read and a well-written, fascinating book! I recommend it highly.



2. Nina Burleigh paints a vivid picture of the curious minds of the scientists who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, a land beyond their imagination.
   
   The scientists' desire to understand what they were seeing and to map, catalogue, paint--and in some ways, dominate--this exotic place feels real. Though the cast of characters is large, and occasionally unwieldy, the book draws fine portraits of individuals, many of whom are worthy of their own biographies. And Mirage projects a sense of excitement about learning that is contagious.



3. Many people have read about Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and of the many scientists and engineers who accompanied him. However, many history books usually allot but a few pages perhaps to this important event, which led, among other things, to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. The author of this book has done an excellent job of focusing entirely on Napoleon's Egyptian campaign with particular emphasis on the many "savants" who were charged with studying and documenting this ancient land. The many hardships that they endured are vividly described, as are their relationships with the French military and the local inhabitants. The author's writing style is accessible, friendly, authoritative and most engaging, making this a work that is difficult to put down. This account indeed forms an excellent link between the decaying ruins of an ancient civilization and the birth of modern Egyptology. This is a book that can be enjoyed by everyone, but history buffs, particularly those with a fascination for Egypt, will likely relish it the most.



4. This is a terrific book. I highly recommend it to almost anyone. All you need is an interest in history or science or adventure or foreign affairs or botany or ancient Egypt. On many levels, this book is fun and informative. And it's all true. For flavor, it's like Indiana Jones meets Albert Einstein meets James Audubon. It's hard to put down.
   
   The story concerns Napoleon's foray into Egypt in 1799. Ostensibly it was to expand scientific knowledge of this ancient and mysterious land. In reality, it was the start of the anticipated conquest and annexation of Egypt. As the British did with India (i.e., creating a far-east outpost), the French were hoping to do with Egypt. But things did not go exactly as planned.
   
   In other books on the subject, the focus is on the military aspect of the expedition. About 50,000 soldiers and sailors accompanied Napoleon. In Mirage, the author (Nina Burleigh) focuses on the 151 scientists (or savants) who also accompanied him. Here, the savants are the "heroes." We learn of their trials, tribulations, and successes.
   
   Each chapter concerns a different savant and their respective expertise: botany, math, medicine, engineering, art, etc. Through the eyes of learned gents, we learn about Egypt, the parochial views of 19th century Europe, and the folly of imperialism. It's a terrific perspective that is told in an easily accessible style.
   
   Burleigh keeps up the suspense. She covers many academic fields but does not overwhelm a reader. It's a fun read and you can't help but learn. For example, she describes the savants' discoveries while stuck in desert sands. She puts discoveries in the context of the time and shows how some still apply, like Fourier's math work.
   
   The only knock on the book, and it is minor, is that it lacks a map of the region. Readers should print one before starting the book.



5. Ms. Burleigh's Mirage is an excellent account of the invasion of Egypt by Napoleon's army, and the French intellectual Savants that accompanied the military on this ill-conceived and failed military expedition. The accounts of the physical trials, successes, and failures of the Savants is profoundly interesting.
   
   Ms. Burleigh's depth of research on the subject was very good. She provides many detailed accounts and examples, taken from first hand journals, that provide the reader with first-hand accounts of a very trying period in French and Egyptian history.
   
   For those interested in this period of colonial French history; interested in the Egyptian art, architecture and culture; and the practical application of 18th century science to the infancy of archaeology, this is a must read for you.

5 comments about Breaking the Maya Code.

1. Mayan civilization flourished in Central America for more than a thousand years and at least four million Mayas still live in Guatemala and Mexico and speak Mayan languages. The ruins the Mayas left behind are spectacular -- Tikal in Guatemala, featured in the movie "Star Wars," is perhaps the greatest of them all. However, our knowledge of the Mayas has always been limited because scholars were unable to decipher Mayan writing. In fact, many scholars have denied that the Mayan symbols -- glyphs -- were more than doodlings, calendars, and compilatation of dates.
   
   "Breaking the Maya Code" is not a history of the Maya civilization but rather a history of the scholars who have attempted to unravel the meaning of the enigmatic Mayan glyphs. Coe's premise is that racial discrimination and scholarly politics retarded the decipherment of the glyphs. Amazingly, many scholars of the Maya didn't bother to learn the Mayan language.
   
   The chief villain of the book is Sir Eric Thompson who had a strangle-hold on Mayan studies for many years. It was only with his death in 1975 that a motley group of linguists and amateurs learned to read the glyphs -- and thus demonstrate conclusively that the Mayas possessed a written language. The remarkable individuals who achieved this breakthrough included a Soviet scholar who had never visited Central America, a 12 year old boy, a self-described redneck woman from Tennessee, and a mathematician who began life as a Wisconsin farmboy. The dirt archeologists, "wielders of trowels" in the author's words, were unenthusiastic about the accomplishments of the linguists.
   
   The author paints a picture of the dead hand of academia inhibiting rather than promoting the study of Mayan writing. An archaelogist himself, he personally knows the principal characters in his story and he was a participant in many of the key events that led to a comprehension of Mayan writing. His writing is lively, mostly warm and generous about his colleagues but sometimes critical, and the whole story is told in a connected narrative that reads like a novel, albeit one in which the reader is led through the complex process of how linguists learned to decipher Mayan glyphs.
   
   Smallchief



2. I have read the book like a thriller. The author has been able to create a permanent interest for following the war between the various " gourous " of Maya language. My interest was not only for the Maya code, but for the description of the basic mechanisms and broad knowledges necessary in order to break a code.



3. Note: I made some immature Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books that attempted to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as fast as they are posted. They don't want you to read Coe's book, and for good reason.
   
   So your "helpful" votes are appreciated.
   
   It is astonishing how little known one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century is! If asked to list the ten most important achievements of the 20th century, most people would not know that one of them was the decipherment of Maya writing.
   
   The decipherment of Maya writing was help up by religious and political prejudice. A Russian man in the height of the cold war held the key. "Dr. Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov, the man who, against all odds, has made possible the modern decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing."
   
   The great Maya scholar Dr. J. Eric S. Thompson simply could not see the forest for the trees. He was so fixated on the peaceful-kingdom illusion of ancient Maya society that he dismissed the "Marxist-Leninist" approach.
   
   Thompson should not have worried about communists so much and concentrated on what they were saying. Tatiana Proskouriakoff was another Russian who played a crucial role in the decipherment of Maya writing.
   
   Coe's book should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the Maya.
   
   Oddly, Mormon writers who have so many pictures of Maya ruins in their books seldom mention the decipherment of Maya writing. Can it be that it says nothing about the themes and subject matter of the Book of Mormon? This is a very curious omission.
   
   See my one-star reviews of Mormon books. Click on the following links, the scroll down to my reviews. Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon
   
   See my five-star review of "The Ancient Maya," by Robert Sharer. The Ancient Maya, 6th Edition. Read the following:
   
   Sharer writes: "After more than a century of gathering and analyzing archaeological evidence, we have discovered nothing to support the idea of intervention by people from the Old World." "This is not to say that accidental contacts between the Old and New World peoples could not have occurred before the age of European exploration" (p. 6).
   
   "On the basis of the available evidence, then, the courses of cultural development in the New and Old Worlds seem clearly independent of each other and devoid of significant contact until 1492" (intro., p. 7).
   
   The ancient Maya civilization, Sharer continues, "are to be `explained' not as a product of transplanted Old World civilization, but as the result of the processes that underlie the growth of any culture, including those that develop the kind of complexity we call civilization."
   
   "The idea, which either explicitly or implicitly asserts that the peoples of the New World were incapable of shaping their own destiny or developing sophisticated cultures independently of Old World influence, is still popular in quarters." "But this is but one more popular myth devoid of fact, for the evidence points unmistakably toward the evolution of civilization in the New World independently of developments in the Old World."
   
   The Ancient Maya, 6th Edition
   
   Other essential books on ancient America are:
   
   "The Mound Builders: The Archaeology of a Myth," by Robert Silverberg.
   Mound Builders
   
   And here is a short masterpiece: "Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents: Myth and Method in the Study of the American Indians," by Robert Wauchope.
   LOST TRIBES & SUNKEN CONTINENTS
   
   Again, your comments--positive or negative--are appreciated. Thanks.



4. I saw this book at the bookstore and bought it without reading the online reviews. It had a good inviting title but it never delivered.
   With a title of "Breaking Maya the code" you will think you will learn about the "Maya code".
   The author however goes over the history and steps (mainly misteps as mentions it over and over) taken on "breaking the code".
   I particulary dislike the way the calls out names & ridicules many anthropologyst and other Mayan researchers without a particular explanation to the reader on why. Most of them dead of course so they can not complain right.
   The author mostly complains about the mistakes and biases of the researchers and never really gets to the code itself. In summary he is very critical of everyone that had to do with the Maya.
   
   I will rate this book just as he rates a book by B.M. Norman (page 96); "The book is on the whole worthless,..." except for the pictures and photos in the middle.
   
   You will not learn any Maya code with this book.



5. A good story needs a villain. The villain of the book in question is Sir Eric Thompson, who must have been a fascinating figure (in fact I've been looking for some biography of him after reading the present work). Skip the first chapter, which concerns writing systems in general, and you get a hilarious work (perhaps the author had James Watson's "Double Helix" in mind when writing), abounding with anecdotes and gossips of the nasty academic world. Thompson is the arch-villain, but the author's censure on the "field anthropologists" is also severe.
   
   The first chapter seems to mar the whole work, which is a bit too long, and is not very accurate. For example, the Chinese writing system doesn't have "214 determinatives" as the author claims (p. 32) -- there're 214 "section headers" in a traditional Chinese dictionary, which were devised by lexicographers, and are not supposed to tell "one the general class of phenomena to which the thing named belongs" (p. 31), although the two concepts have overlapping. Of course these're only minor mistakes, and to them we should not pay too much attention, as the author warns us, unwittingly: "It will be recalled that Thompson dealt posthumously with Whorf by paying no attention whatsoever to Whorf's larger points, and devoting much ink to the latter's minor mistakes (and mistakes they were), like a terrier worrying a rat." (p. 152). All the same, one star has been deducted!

5 comments about Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Treasure, Archeology, and Greed off the Coast of Vietnam.

1. I thank Frank Pope for writing such a powerful book on the tragic fate of the Hoi An Hoard. Judging from the dearth of book on this important archaeological discovery and the fascinating aspects of Vietnamese ceramics, the book is indeed very timely and does some justice those treasures.
   
   I picked up this book by accident and was riveted for the whole afternoon, until the very last sentence. Pope had a unique perspective on the whole project, and the book has a great balance between more action-based narrative and probing thoughts on the dilemma of money vs. knowledge, as the reader is drawn into the tumultuous months in the sea during the excavations.
   
   I just hope that everyone reading this will appreciate such discovery, and also the importance of preserving the treasures of humankind varied past.



2. It is a rare writer that can document without dryness, dramatize without histrionics. Frank Pope has managed to span the gap. Dragon Sea provides both an intellectual discussion of marine archeology and artifact without getting bogged down in academic quicksand. He also provides enough on-scene sweat and nerves to keep the reader wondering what's around the next corner from beginning to end. It is a thoroughly enjoyable book and a wealth of information for diving and archeological punters like myself. I had always wondered about the DB29 disaster. Mr. Pope opened a window on it for me without veering off topic.



3. I loved this book! Frank Pope opens a window to the complex aquatic battleground of treasure hunters and marine arachaeologist, where ambition, gold fever and extreme pressures test men to the limit - physically, mentally and ethically. An excellent true life adventure, bravely told.



4. Reading a great adventure that is also a true story really adds another dimension to my enjoyment of a book - Dragon Sea by Frank Pope really drew me in like few books have, where I felt I was living Frank's adventure on the South China Sea with him. Brilliant accessable writing allows the escape but it also has fascinating history seamlessly slipped into the tale. I had a similar experience with Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, another book I couldn't put down once I started reading it. After reading Shantaram, the thought of living a life in organised crime in India was strangely appealing. Similarly, after reading Dragon Sea, the temptation to throw myself into the madness of deep sea wreck recovery and archaeology is bouncing around my head.
   
   You don't need to have an interest in ancient porcelin to enjoy this book - an interest in adventure, suspense and intrigue is enough. Enjoy!



5. I first heard this book on a CD from the library. It's full of SCUBA diving details in treacherous seas and covers an extended time span of raising pottery and antiquity treasures from sunken ships over several hundred years. Loved it because it's a TRUE adventure.
   Fiction is good, but details of a true story are complex and amazing. Read or Buy for divers, sea story addicts, collectors of rare antiques and adventure junkies. I've given this book to 6 people and never heard a ho-hum.

2 comments about The HarperCollins Visual Guide to the New Testament: What Archaeology Reveals about the First Christians.

1. Reed's book makes for both entertaining and educational reading. Going in, I had some general knowledge of critical biblical scholarship, but practically no knowledge of what archeology in the holy lands can actually tell us. I came away with a great appreciation of both the importance and limitations of biblical archeology.
   
   This book is at its absolute best when it describes the context for the creation of particular New Testament texts. Its treatment of the origin of Revelation is extremely enlightening for example. I did, however, occasionally want him to be a little more critical of the historicity of the accounts in the biblical texts themselves. Instead he maintains caution, which is certainly understandable even if a little frustrating.
   
   Overall an excellent read.



2. This book has the best collection of photos that is available for the study of the New Testament. The author explains everything from how archaeology works to what the new discoveries mean for Christians and interested readers of the Bible. It is great that every page has illustrations, maps, and photos. You can really see what the authors of the New Testament were talking about. Reed includes lots of stories from his own experience as an archaeologist in the Holy Land. Great study guide for people interested in knowing more about Jesus and St. Paul.

3 comments about Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, Second Edition (Chronicles).

1. The First Edition Chronicle has become the standard reference text for students, professionals and enthusiasts of Maya history and epigraphy. Of course I immediately ordered the revised edition since the authors are eteemed contributors to the rapidly evolving field of Maya studies. In reading the revised edition I am re-discovering the exceptional readibility of what could be a dry, historical account.



2. A very good updated version for the maya enthusiast,you'll enjoy it page after page,Martin and Grobe has done it again!!!



3. Excellent book for anyone interested in the Mayans. It
   includes the most recent archaeolical findings.

5 comments about The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art.

1. This book disappointed me. It was written by the world famous rock art expert Dr. David Lewis-Williams, therefore I had great expectations for it as I myself am an inspiring rock art expert and hope to study at Lewis-Williams' former university in Johannesburg.
   
   The main problem that I had with this book is Lewis-Williams' "search" for the beginnings of the mind. He wonders where the mind, consensus, and the ability to experience altered-states came from. He tries to figure out, how the brain evolved to give "modern man" the ability to experience these phenomenon. He says, that Neanderthals lacked this and this may have been one of the reasons why they did not survive. He says that only "modern people" are able to do this. But, how does he know? Why couldn't have Neanderthals have joined the Cro-Magnon man in painting the pictures on the cave walls.
   
   He spends too much of the book trying to figure out how the mind evolved he wastes time and space that could be used to discuss his interesting but controversial neuropsychological method. He does still have a good discussion on this topic nonetheless. Besides, who knows if his hypothesis of shamanism depicted in rock art is even correct? Perhaps, if Lewis-Williams would believe that man was created Man with a mind and the ability to experience altered states of consensus from the beginning, maybe he could develop more time to his study of the actual rock art.
   
   The pictures in the book, however, are very good.
   
   For a good introductory rock art book read David Whitley's "Introduction to Rock Art". For a discussion of creationism that doesn't limit the creation of the universe to a few thousand years (one of the reasons many scientists reject Creationism) see "The Age of the Universe: What are the Biblical Limits?" By Gorman Gray.



2. This book is too long for it's main thesis which is a seemingly reluctant conclusion that Upper Paleolithic cave art may have been caused by altered states of consciousness. The author spends the first third of the book agonizingly slowly talking about research persons and facts that have gone into this subject. Then, almost sheepishly, near the middle of the book the author says that some cave art may be hallucinogenically induced. When you read that section you will be surpised because you know the author has been trying to get there like a child looking over his shoulder to see when he can dash to the cookie jar. For this lack of courage alone the book is not worth your time. After the cat is out of the bag the author still leans upon banal scientific understanding which dillutes his credibility within the subject of Shamanism.
   
   From the beginning of the book he clings to the scientific view that consciousness is a byproduct of neurological function. He also makes a great many mistakes within the scientific method by claiming that Neanderthals could not possibly have had similar consciousness to us. Where is the cadaver, or better yet, living subject to test and have data to support such conclusions? The author believes that there is no credible evidence of intentional Neanderthal burials when this subject is absolutely in deep contention within the community. In much of the rest of the book there are associations made between common neurological visual phenomena taken to be, in most cases, the sources of Upper Paleolithic cave art.
   
   If you want any idea of what shaman-artists in the Upper Paleolithic were doing stay away from this book. If you have an open mind then check out Terence McKenna and The Archaic Revival. Terence made it clear that the physical brain is a transceiver for higher dimensions and that consciousness is a product of this complete body/spirit interaction. For a more up to date view of this books subject take a look at Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind by Graham Hancock.



3. I came to read this fascinating book through my interest in art history rather than anthropology or archaeology, as I wanted to know how such technically dextrous images came to be created 45,000 to 35,000 years ago. Lewis-Williams book is eminently readable for the layman - no specialist knowledge is needed to understand, enjoy and appreciate the history and research that the author meticulously unfolds in order to 'solve' the mysteries of these extraordinary cave paintings. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in art, psychology, anthropology, archaeology, history and even neurology - it is an eye-opener. Enjoy!



4. While I wouldn't describe this book as enthralling, it's definitely one of the most enlightening works I've read in awhile. Approaching the evolution of the human mind from the standpoint of consciousness (as opposed to intelligence) hadn't occurred to me, nor had the dependence of neolithic rock art on 'shamanism' or mind-altering states, nor the implication of a class distinction based on one's ability to make (or even understand) this art. Although this book can be quite cynical, it has definitely enlarged the way I think about both art and humanity.



5. This is a very good book, with a new view in the pre-historic mind. The art is studied based in the wiring of human mind and with emphasis in altered ststes of consciouness.

1 comments about The World Encyclopedia of Archaeology: The World's Most Significant Sites and Cultural Treasures.

1. This book is everything I expected. If you are interested at all in archaeology then you definitely should buy this book. It is full of interesting pictures and articles about almost every dig known to mankind. Amazon did a great job getting it to me and I am very pleased with this purchase.

5 comments about Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice.

1. Renfrew and Bahn have set up great book, almost a catalogue, about archaeological practice. Fairly every subject they mention is laid out with great precision, and the accompanying schemes and pictures couldn't have been chosen better. If you like to dive into the subject of archaeology, whether it concerns its history, their dating methods, excavation practices, the goals archaeology pursues or whatever else, you can't go wrong here.



2. It is well written, and lavishly illustrated. It is the kind of book that makes you want to get up and start an excavation. If you are interested in the past, and how to figure out the mysteries of the past, then this book is a gold mine. I loved the way that it took complex subjects and made them so easy to understand. Why it was enjoyable. What a wonderful and special book. I really recommend this book.



3. my 87 year old M-i-L is at SFSU this semester. Taking an Archaeology Methods course. The only thing I know about the book is it's damned expensive. Glad I could get it used from Amazon



4. We were assigned to tests for my Principle of Archaeology class this semester. This one and the one from Sharer-Ashmore. I bought both of them. The material in both is specific, it covers all the major topics of the discipline and they are great.
   
   What sets this one apart, is the format. It is easier for beginners to digest the information and is not filled with dense data that will end up confusing most who read. I would recommend it for both classes and for others who wish to know more about the discipline



5. I did a lot of research and finally got this one from the library, but I ordered it from Amazon.com about three chapters in because I loved it so much.
   
   It covers each topic with in archaeology in good depth, but not too much information. There are great inlays with information on particular sites that illustrate the points discussed in the chapter. I have a minor in Archaeology and I found this book to be an excellent refresher and very interesting.

5 comments about Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History.

1. Seton Lloyd is known to American public by his commentaries on Public Television documentaries about Turkey. He is a well informed scholar, and trustworthy. Therefore I was offended by the Amsterdam, Holland reviewer who, trying to push his own political agenda, tries to kick dirt on Seton Lloyd. Seton Lloyd writes what is Turkey most famous for: its Greco-Roman, ancient Hittite, and Mesopotanian heritage. Most Americans I know want to go Turkey to see the earliest churches of Christianity, likewise many Europeans enjoy discovering their Christian-Greco-Roman heritage as well. There are a lot of Armenian relics in Turkey, a country with the history of many peoples and cultures. Visitors to those regions know where they are and they go to visit them as well.



2. Apologies to genuine readers who think politics has no place in this column.But I could not help add a very simple fact. If only this Dutch fellow who has spent years as an archeologist visited Istanbul to find Armenian churches all over the place as the Armenian community who were left intact in Istanbul after the so-called genocide (!). Oh, if it was Asia Minor where he could not find anything left Armenian, he only needed to as far as Erzurum, Erzincan, Kars (eastern provinces of Turkey) to see mass graves of Turks still being uncovered today as the legacy of Armenian gangs.



3. The book gives a good introduction to the history of Anatolia up to the time of the early Christian Church. It can seem at times to be a little dry or shallow in its coverage. While it is on some sense a historical account, the author is an archeologist, and the narrative heavily leans on this direction. This is not necesarily bad since I read the book as a prelude to my trip to Turkey, but one should be aware of it before buying the book. All in all, I would recommend buying it.



4. I bought this book as background reading for an upcoming trip to Turkey. It is a comprehensive and well-written overview of ancient history, from the Hittites up through the beginnings of Christianity in what is now Turkey, with context relating to the influence of adjacent areas as needed. It puts things in context and provides maps to help locate cultures and events geographically. I would recommend it for anyone interested in the subject, or reading up for a visit.



5. I picked up this book in preparation for a class trip to Turkey to look at architecture and landscape. I have found it to be exhaustive in details pertaining to archeological discoveries and sequence. I wish that it would leave off some of these details, and spend a little more time painting the bigger picture. The book reads as if you are listening to a one-sided conversation with a very specialized and opinionated professor. It is almost casual in tone, and spends too much time and emotion on issues that don't really aid understanding of the history of Turkey. Having said that, if you can struggle through the dense parts, and keep refering back to the maps, you can get a pretty good idea of the progression and significance of events.

5 comments about In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth.

1. I truly appreciate well reasoned arguments and those few that can still write them. Some developments do not appear as clearly stated as I would find convincing. Nomadic pastoralists only happen after the aridity of a region deposes them from traditional agriculture and forces them to survive on herds navigated over ever greater and greater ranges. The Scythians are one such example. The transition is natural and climatic. While comparative linguistics and reconstructed linguistics are wonderful ideas, and I often follow them myself to see what they might imply *IF*, they have no factual value. This appears to be lost on some who accept the theoretical constructions of this science as if it were chemistry or physics with a certitude of knowledge. We can only say such and such a word existed if we have a written copy of that word, and insinuating a technology or concept to a culture because it is found in cultures of descent 500 or 1,000 years later is invalid science regardless of what we wish to believe. This does not keep the ideas from being worthy of note or interesting to explore, but always reduces my enjoyment in reading works of this type.



2. This book is a definate must read for anyone who is studying the Indo-Europeans or the Celts or any culture derived from the Indo- Europeans.
   
   It is a look at a language, history and culture of a great people. The author has spent time on the documentation of the sources and uses a great deal of resources which are in and of themselves interesting.



3. Great info but way too many pages searching for the exact
   geographic location of the original group of people, as if
   they need have had one location at some particular moment.
   But an important basic text for understanding the issues
   of PIE.



4. This book is very scholarly: it gets extremely detailed about comparative linguistics as correlated with the archaeological record. I was looking for exactly that, as I have been curious about this for many years.
   
   Unfortunately, the book errs more in the direction of academic rigor and far too little as a story-telling experience. As such, while the content is truly fascinating, it get mired in details from the names of obscure archaeological sites that are not on the lousy maps to the scholars who are advancing certain points of view about a certain common word. Bottom line: it isn't very fun.
   
   However, I learned an immense amount and am glad to I read it. The Indo-Europeans emerged in about 4000 BC, a pastoralist "people" in the Pontic Caspian area. Unlike sedentary agriculturalists, they migrated both to Europe (North and West) and South into India. They had a common vocabulary and language, a mythology with motifs that have survived to present in many cases (like divine twins), horses (a decisive advantage for warriors and nomads), and certain advanced technologies (chariots and agricultural). These attributes enabled the Indo-Europeans to absorb an astonishing array of peoples in the areas of their migrations. Then once more sedentary, their languages became the roots of all the modern I-E languages, clearly the most commonly spoken of all the world's languages. The great contribution of this book is the merging of linguistic and archaeological observations.
   
   For the curious, there are many many wonderful details. For example, the Persain language group generated quite a diaspora. In addition to the Iranians, you had the Alans (later the Ossetians), Medes, Parthains, and Scythians; they ranged from Aisa minor to Spain and N. Africa. The book follows their migrations and histories quite succinictly. It is very fun, as many of them are mentioned n classical histories but many are never differentiated other than being non-Greek. The book also traces how the Finno-Ubrian and Basque languages remained non-I-E.
   
   I would recommend this book, but it is more for students of linguistics and/or archaeology than interested laymen.



5. Linguists define "Indo-European" as a language entity or unity from which all Indo-european languages derived. By analyzing linguistic patterns of change, scholars can "reconstruct" the language and situate it in a time period when it was a unified language. The task is then to provide this abstract entity with a living group of people and a homeland.
   
   This scholarly book tries to approach the homeland problem of the Indo-Europeans mainly from the linguistic perspective, but also considering evidence from other areas (comparative philology, archeology, comparative mythology, etc.). By scholarly I do not mean difficult to understand since the author writes in a very comprehensible way; by scholarly I mean that the author does not get carried away by some hypothesis, but rather presents the many existing ones and explains why they could or couldn't fit the linguistic data.
   
   The first chapters and the last ones, where he presents the problem, geographically locates where Indo-Europeans are to be found and where he draws some conclusions, are extremely good. He lost me a bit in the middle, where he presented all the existent and often contradictory evidence and I felt that no matter how many pages I read, we were as far from the "promised homeland" as in the beginning. In his conclusion, the author himself kind of apologizes for having lead the reader through a lot of "cul de sacs", but he says that this is how this search looks like. At least he is aware of his style.
   
   I myself prefer when an author writes more like fiction telling a clear and unified story at the expense of maybe drawing conlusions a bit to far. Then you can still read his opponent's book to have a more complete picture and enjoy both.
   
   All in all, I learnt a lot from this book, for example, how do you analyze nomadic groups from an archeaological perspective if they left no "settlements"? Well, the answer is that they might have left some cemeteries or lonely graves and luckily some "gifts" for the deceased, as well as some ritual places or camps. The maps in the book are very useful.