5 comments about The Incas (Peoples of America).

1. Professor D'Altroy, a UCLA graduate in 1981, is director of the Columbia Center for Archaeology and professor of anthropology at Columbia University. His specialty is the Inca, and this volume is a cumulative description of current research on that topic.
   
   The Incas is a thorough description of the land and people of the region, including groups and empires that preceded the Inca. Written sources for the information are analyzed for their contemporaneity, reliability, and bias, while archaeological data are used to clarify these accounts where possible. The author discusses not only the rise and fall of the empire but the social order and political and religious ideology as well.
   
   The notes to the chapters are interesting in themselves, as they provide additional information that addresses questions that seem to arise from natural curiosity about the details of events. My favorites had to do with the claimed ages of witnesses to events and those claimed for various emperors. The bibliography is truly amazing and contains entries of almost every copyright date, many annotated, recently printed volumes of early explorers' accounts. A casual perusal of the entries suggests that most of these date to 1558 and later. Some of the secondary entries and most of the primary sources are in Spanish, although there are more than enough in English to answer to the needs of the interested. Periodicals are a significant portion of the bibliography, however, and some of these may be difficult to find unless one has access to a large university library. Most of the modern book entries date to the late 1970's, although some of historical interest or significance date to the earlier years of the 20th Century.
   
   The book is easily accessible to the average reader with an interest in Native Americans, the Incas, anthropology, archaeology, political history, social history, Spain in the New World, and cultures in conflict.



2. This book provides all the information needed to understand many aspects of the Inca empire. Comparing recent archaeological findings with Spanish cronicles and with many Inca narratives about their lifestyle, Terence D'altroy offers a scientific point of view about this magnificent realm. The Incas constitute a major guide that must be readed before traveling to Peru.



3. I'm preparing to travel to Peru in a month so i bought this book to get myself aquainted with the Incas and the book didnt dissapoint me.The authors do a very good job in presenting the Incas in a very interesting manner using terms that were easy to follow and understand.The part of the book that deals with their cult of the dead was very interesting and informative.Also it is very well explained how the Incas governed themselves and how do they managed to form a very impressive empire despite the fact that it was formed by a lot of different tribes and peoples from the Andean Plateau.This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand and, very important,to enjoy reading about such an amazing culture.



4. I have a great interest in the Inca tribes and wished to find out more about them. It was very good study material for my studies.



5. Eager to learn more about the Incas, I found out the hard way that this book is not for the casual enthusiast. If you are working on graduate studies on the Incas, yes, this might be a useful book. If you are traveling to Peru and/or simply interested in learning about the Incas, I'd avoid this book.

5 comments about Digging for the Truth: One Man's Epic Adventure Exploring the World's Greatest Archaeological Mysteries.

1. I really enjoyed this as a TV show when it was on the history channel and was pleased to see a 'behind the scenes' book. For those not familiar with the show, it is different from the usual talking heads feed you facts cable show, because the host really seems to get out and enjoy the work. Scrambling through ruins and up mountains to try and bring the viewer to the site really ads to the Indianna Jones sense of adventure brought by the cowboy hat, don't call it a fedora, wearing host.
   
   This book ads to the serries by looking behind the scenes. Explaining the discomfort of lugging gear litterally over a glacer or dealing with grumpy officials in order to bring the show to the screen. If you've ever done filming or outdoor work, you know how this can go and Bernstien confirms with an almost gleeful sense of fun, that there were almost as many adventures behind the camera as were depicted on film.
   
   If there's a down side to this book it is the nagging feeling that Bernstein isn't being entirely honest with us. Not about the big things but the small ones in his own life. He says he comes from the middle class of New York, but if you know the area and realize he is talking about family homes in the Hamptons and Bedford Hills, Westchester, vacation camps in Aruba and years of study in Israel, you realize he comes from money and either doesn't want to admit that or doesn't realize it. By the time the book has him worrying about ice storms in the alps while the producer is trying to get 'the shot' and everyone else is trying to survive, you're captivated by his style but that early misstep is an ugly distraction early on that stop this from being a 5 star for me. I kept reading and asking myself "Doesn't he know how lucky he is? does he take this for granted?" Anthony Bourdaine in his autobiography admitted early he came from money, got it out of the way and you never gave it another look. Bernstien will hopefully learn from the older tv presenter/turned writers for his next book. There will be another one, right?



2. Maybe I was looking for information about archaeology, but what I received was a non-stop self-aggrandizement of the author. To be honest, I have not been able to get through the whole thing yet, but it's only because I was so disappointed in the part I have read.
   
   Marcia Davis



3. this is a great book, for people that are fans of the show while josh bernstein was the host. to me the show is nothing without him! he is not only very informative, but you also get a sense of who he is, and all the stuff he went through to film such a great show! i would love to read more by him!



4. This is not only a book for DFT's fans, but for everyone who's passionate about traveling. This is kind of Josh's field diary and it's amazing how he describes the shooting routine and shares with the readers his discoveries. It's interesting and fun!



5. This was such a fun read...hard to put down! I liked that Josh gave a list of what he takes with him on these 'excursions'...very helpful. The only problem I have with the book is that it ended :( I wanted to keep reading about all these cool places and all the advertures he had! History is fun!

3 comments about Roman Military Equipment: From The Punic Wars To The Fall Of Rome.

1. I have both the first and the current editions of this utterly invaluable book. It is undoubtedly the best and most detailed discussion of Roman military equipment available and it is a "must read" for anyone interested in the subject, be he or she an historian, re-enactor, artist or whatever. I would give this book six stars, but there are only five available.



2. My brother is a big history and punic wars buff, and he really enjoyed it. From what I looked at the illustrations were amazing and the book seemed well written.



3. I am a Roman era re-enactor and I absolutely loved this book! Not only did in inform me with details I didn't know, but also informed me with what was wrong with my impression.
   
   This is a must have for any Roman era enthusiast!!

3 comments about Art of the Cherokee: Prehistory to the Present.

1. This book does a wonderful job of capturing the breadth and depth of Cherokee art and craft, neatly presenting it within a broader, cultural context. I highly recommend this book to Indian art historians, art collectors, and anyone with a passion for Cherokee culture.



2. From both a pictorial view and a written view, this is one of the best books available on the subject.
   Money well spent!



3. I got this for my brother, but was able to see what it looked like when he opened it, and we were both impressed with it! Nice photos and explanations.

5 comments about America's Lost Treasure.

1. Tommy Thompson is one of those unusual individuals with the fantastic mind of an inventor/engineer, yet with the ability to work with people to bring out their best. Our government should take note of this man, or hopefully they have, and give him the freedom to let his mind find solutions to many of our problems, as he has shown he can do in this book. It was an adventure, filled with suspense and I would recommend the picture book to go along with the text so you can see the magnificent photos of his find.



2. Tommy Thompson is one of those unusual individuals with the fantastic mind of an inventor/engineer, yet with the ability to work with people to bring out their best. Our government should take note of this man, or hopefully they have, and give him the freedom to let his mind find solutions to many of our problems, as he has shown he can do in this book. It was an adventure, filled with suspense and I would recommend the picture book to go along with the text so you can see the magnificent photos of his find.



3. Tommy Thompson is one methodical scientist. He found a ship that sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1857 that had eluded searchers for 130 years. He has taken the same methodical approach in creating this book "America's Lost Treasure".

   Gary Kinder wrote a 1998 bestseller on Thompson's search entitled "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea". It is one of the best pageturners I have ever read! More amazing is that it actually happened! The ship was the United States Mail Steamship "Central America" which was making rounds between the Atlantic coast of Panama and New York City during the California Gold Rush era. She was a side paddlewheeler steamship and was hauling a huge cargo of gold ingots, freshly minted gold coins, gold nuggets, and gold dust along with 38,000 pieces of mail and 578 passengers. Much of the gold was being brought to New York to shore up the bullion holdings of banks that had been putting out too much paper money without the available gold reserves to back it. Most of the passengers were returning from the Gold Rush; many were women and children. The ship sank after a heroic battle with a hurricane in 1857 off the Carolinas taking about 425 lives with her and all the gold. Both books chronicle Thompson's epic adventure finding the ship and recovering the gold down 8000 feet underwater where even the US Navy couldn't effectively recover items. Kinder's book clocks in at over 500 riveting pages but, is largely without pictures of all the incredible finds. "America's Lost Treasure" fills in that photographic void quite admirably in it's 186 pages.

   "America's Lost Treasure" is broken down into a background history of America at the time leading up to the Central America's sinking, a detailed account of the CA's fateful last voyage, a background of the equipment and people involved in the search and rediscovery of the CA, the discovery of the ship and the 'Garden of Gold', a review of the personal items found at the bottom other than the gold, and a section on the other scientific discoveries made at the site such as decay processes and new species of life found. There are hordes of very appropriate photographs that perfectly illustrate the topic discussed in the very readable and concise narration. The page layout is very well done and makes full use of the book's ten inches by ten inches size. Particularly interesting is the discovery and opening of several intact passenger's trunks revealing intact clothing and still visible photographs! The gold, however, is the expected showstopper.

   Overall, I can't recommend this book enough when read in companion with "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea". Some people will bristle with disfavor on the efforts in general to recover items from this wreck feeling it is a desecration of history and wrong. I couldn't help but be astounded by the disciplined and rigorous scientific and engineering skills put on display in the efforts. This is an absolutely fascinating pictorial account of a remarkable period in the history of America. It will rivet your attention from beginning to end and have you looking back at sections again and again. It is one of the best coffee table books in existence. The lost treasure found is truly breathtaking and this book is an absolutely worthy account of it! VERY highly recommended!




4. Category: treasure hunting
   
   Boats: SS Central America and a big, capable ROV
   
   Heroes: Tommy Thompson
   
   Location: USA, Midwest and East Coast
   
   Synopsis: Coffee table companion book to Gary Kinder's excellent Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea. Thompson has put together a very good set of photos and descriptive text that doesn't overlap the Ship of Gold story. It's great to see the systems and treasure recovered that you read about in detail in the earlier book.



5. The loss of the U.S. Mail Steamship CENTRAL AMERICA in a hurricane off the Carolina coast in 1857 still ranks as the nation's greatest peacetime disaster at sea -- 425 lives were lost (most of them passengers from the California gold fields) as well as an unbelievable amount of gold in the form of newly minted coins from the San Francisco Mint, assay ingots of many types, raw nuggets, and dust. Thompson, a multi-disciplinary "research engineer," spent years searching methodically for the deep-water wreck and finally located it and began recovering materials from it in 1989. Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea told that story in technical detail; this is the pictorial version, and a gorgeous volume it is. In addition to all that gold in all its many forms, the researchers used a robot to bring up passengers' trunks, discovering books and newspapers that were still readable and clothing that had faded but still maintained its structural integrity. A fascinating work in marine archaeology.

5 comments about The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities-- From Italy's Tomb Raiders to the World's Greatest Museums.

1. Have been waiting for some time to read this book, and I really enjoyed it. Of course I like art-related mysteries and other stories anyway. I'll be looking for other titles by this author.



2. I give this book a definite four stars because it is a worthy representation of the story and gives the account of what happened with great zeal. The topic itself is fascinating. In my opinion, various Federal Art/Cultural Property Crime units would be well served by making this book mandatory reading for their agents. It stands as a clear insight into the dark realm of unlawful antiquities excavation, illicit smuggling and clandestine sale- an increasingly important issue in our "global economy" world where buyers and sellers can come together across oceans with little effort, and without regard to laws that may govern certain antiquities transactions.
   
   At times, it reads a bit choppy. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the authors were careful to include all pertinent data, instead of sacrificing the volume of fact for the sake of the story. I almost feel bad detracting a star for this, but if you're going to sell a book as a story rather than an academic study, I do believe certain concessions should be made for ease of reading.
   
   Nevertheless, still a great book, well worth purchasing. This book will probably become one of the classics on the topic of art smuggling and the attendant markets.



3. This book is a well written, well researched book about looted antiquities. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject, or anyone interested in looted art in general. If I have any complaint, it is that the book at times gives too much information, which slows down the pace of the narrative as the author reveals how the investigation of Medici, Robert Hecht, Robin Symes, Marion True, and others came to pass.



4. This book is fascinating and important reading for anyone interested in the intersections of the art world, commerce and crime. The Medici Conspiracy is not the most deftly written, and at times seems more like a very, very, very long newspaper story than a book. Yet in the end the sheer force of the information it compiles, with detail and comprehension of the larger picture, leads to confidence in its conclusion: It is impossible to build, in modern times, a great collection of quality antiquities without relying chiefly on, and feeding and sustaining, unlawful traffic in looted items. The archeological countries also are at fault: If you leave hugely valuable items in the ground, and don't invest in excavating them under secure, academically and legally sound conditions, it is inevitable that illicit looters will do it for you.



5. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about stolen antiquities. It reads like a thriller - it does have a lot of details, as others have mentioned, and the authors do become very indignant at times, but I believe this is because the book was published a few years ago, when museums still dragged their feet to send looted art back to Italy, and it was not yet clear in the media whether the Italians had a case or were just being annoying.
   
   I first heard about the controversy in ARTNews, which takes pride in unbiased reporting, and even then, it was difficult not to feel at the beginning that the Italians were asking for too much because they were targeting so many American museums. Watson and Todeschini set out to present the Italians' case to the readers and needed an extensive description of the paper trail to avoid the appearance of bias. This might be unnecessary now that so many museums have caved in and returned art to Italy, but it was definitely important to include all these details in 2006 when the hardcover edition of the book was published in the States.
   
   I was impressed by the flowing, accessible style, and the authors' ability to make protagonists come to life. The book has left me with a better understanding of the current art scene, especially regarding dealers and curators, and of the issues surrounding looted antiquities. A tour-de-force.

No comments about Seeking Our Past: An Introduction to North American Archaeology Includes CD-ROM.

5 comments about Sandstone Spine: Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge.

1. From the moment I saw this book on the shelf, I couldn't wait to get to a computer and order it from Amazon. I neglected to write down the name, but was able to find it with a search. This book is one I had a very hard time putting down. Roberts is a fine writer, however, some terminology will most likely have you pining for a dictionary! Roberts has you feeling the burn of the climb and the heat of the desert, along with the blisters on ones' feet! I am just about done with it, and already ordered "In Search of the Ancient Ones" for my next read.



2. I enjoyed reading "The Secret Knowledge of Water" and "House of Rain;" both books written by Craig Childs. So,I bought and read this book because Greg Childs acted as photographer in this traverse of Comb Ridge. And, Indeed, the photos are good. Unfortunatly, David Roberts, the author and traverse participant, comes off as needing total control of his hike companions. The writing seems choppy and more a personal journal than an adventure.



3. After reading David Roberts other book "In Search Of The Ancient Ones", I had to pick this one up as well. As a native Southwesterner and interested in ancient southwestern Indian history, I was eager to read about his trek across the "The Comb" with two friends. There was some interesting tidbits on how they went about placing their water caches and meetings with some of the locals before and during their trip. It was a fairly interesting read if you are an outdoors person but I as far as the Anasazi ruins, while several are mentioned, it would have been more interesting if more photos were included. Like a few previous reviewers I did find it annoying to read about David's arguments with his fellow companions as they all seemed to be instigated by David himself. I got the impression that he thought he was the "leader" of the group and the others were supposed to listen to him and follow "his" rules. It wouldn't have been too bad except he brings it up about 4 or 5 times throughout the book which I thought was a little excessive. Also, he makes a few remarks about others he has met or traveled with in the back country of the Southwest which, to me anyways, he thinks that we are not worthy of visiting these ancient ruins. Because others have vandalized ruins (which has been going on for about a hundred years now)does not mean that there some of us who are just as interested in the Anasazi and want to experience the thrill and wonder of finding an undiscovered site on our own or visit some of the ruins that are accessible, without looting them or damaging them. He gave me the impression that he is one of the "elite" who is one of the few who is knowledgable and because he's done some extensive backcountry travelling, "qualified" to visit these sites. Overall I thought the book was a good read. Not as good as his earlier one, "In Search Of The Ancient Ones." (Which I highly recommend). You should consider "House Of Rain" by Craig Childs.



4. The photography draws me into 'Living With Wolves' with a yearning to be there. Jim Dutcher and Helen Cherullo uniquely reinforce my beliefs towards the reintroduction efforts of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Sensitive Species Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.



5. I particularly enjoyed this book because I've canoed the San Juan River many times. It took me back to strenuous climbs up San Juan Hill, where the layers of rock are turned up, as one geologist states, "like layers of bedding." "Baseball Man" was also an often seen and photographed site. I hope all of the sites that he explored will remain protected from the collectors of artifacts, so that many generations will be able to see them and think on what life might have been like there, more than a thousand years ago.

1 comments about Osteology of Infants And Children.

1. This is an excellent book for anybody doing archaeological osteology work in the lab or field. The illustrations are detailed and offer a good overview of bone change and growth from perinate to adolescent. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Jamestown, the Buried Truth.

1. Take this book with you when you visit Jamestown this year. 2007 is the 400th anniversary of its founding. This is an excellent account of the (still active) archaeological dig at Jamestown. The author is the primary investigator at the Jamestown site. Mr. Kelso and his team have done a wonderful job uncovering and reconstructing life in the first successful English colony in America. Not only will you learn about life in 17th century Jamestown, but you'll learn about the art and science of archaeology as well.



2. Lots of details about Jamestown I never knew. The book really gives you a feel of what these people had to go through.



3. fascinating especially if you love archaeological puzzles. To find the wealth of information on what was thought to be lost reveals a great and colorful adventure. However, with the profusion of compass designations used in the descriptions, I caught myselft looking for a comprehensive site map with those features identified along with compass orientation. Photos or diagrams of various aspects of the dig give only piecemeal disjointed views. Often captions use directions ("junction of east palsiade wall trench with the north bulwark) but does not orient the photograph or identify those features in the photo. A drawing of the fort superimposed on a photograph is too small, does not indicate a compass orientation, and does not identify the features shown just as one example. A nice double page fold out site map would have added a lot.



4. This is a good book. However, I felt a little disappointed at the end. The ending did not provide the details I was searching for.



5. For many years, archeologists believed that Jamestown, the site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World, had been washed away by the James River. In the 1990s, William Kelso and his team got permission to dig, and almost immediately began to uncover the remains of the old fort. This book, illustrated with dozens of color pictures, is Kelso's account of what they found and what it means to our understanding of who the people of Jamestown were and how they lived.
   
   Kelso includes interesting science but still manages to write at the layman's level. This is a very neat book for those interested in the topic, and will be especially enjoyed after a visit to the Jamestowne historic site.
   
   Reviewer: Elizabeth Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"