Product description
About the Author
John Haywood is the author of a number of books, including The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings and The Historial Atlas of the Celtic World (Thames & Hudson). He lives in Lancaster.
£11.09
Dimensions | 24.36 × 17.88 × 0.71 cm |
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Publisher | Penguin; Illustrated edition (28 April 2005) |
Language | English |
Paperback | 144 pages |
ISBN-10 | 0141014482 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0141014487 |
Dimensions | 24.36 x 17.88 x 0.71 cm |
Zeus and the other gods of shining Olympus were in reality divine only by popular consent. Over the course of time Olympian luster diminished in favor of religious experiences more immediate to the concerns of people living in an increasingly cosmopolitan ancient world. These experiences were provided by the mysteries, religions that flourished particularly during the Hellenistic period and were secretly practiced by groups of adherents who decided, through personal choice, to be initiated into the profound realities of one deity or another. Unlike the official state religions, in which people were expected to make an outward show of allegiance to the local gods, the mysteries emphasized an inwardness and privacy of worship within a closed band of initiates.
In this book, Marvin W. Meyer explores the sacrifices and prayers, the public celebrations and secret ceremonies, the theatrical performances and literary works, the gods and goddesses that were a part of the mystery religions of Greece in the seventh century B.C. to the Judaism and Christianity of the Roman world of the seventh century A.D.
‘With icy remorselessness, it puts paid to any notion that the horrors of modern history might be an aberration – for it tells of universal war, of terrorism, revolution and genocide’ Tom Holland
The long life-and-death struggle between Athens and Sparta plunged the ancient Greek world into decades of war. Thucydides was an Athenian and achieved the rank of general in the earlier stages of the war, and in this detailed, first-hand contemporary account he writes as both a soldier and a historian. He applies a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling a factual record of a ruinous conflict that would eventually destroy the Athenian empire.
Translated by Rex Warner with an introduction and notes by M. I. Finley
H. A. Weedon –
This comprehensive and informative work by John Haywood presents a helpful introduction to a wide variety of civilisations from all over the world. There’s a preface plus an introduction entitled: ‘What is Civilisation?. After that these are two pages of very helpful timelines. The rest of he work is divided into five sections followed by ‘Further Reading’, index and acknowledgements. The five sections are:1: The Ancient Near East. 2. The African Civilisations. 3. The First Civilisations of Africa. 4. The First European Civilisations. 5. The Ancient Americas. The information about the civilisations is accompanied by a whole host of helpful maps. and there are some very good illustrations.Besides being helpful in itself, this work forms an excellent companion and guide to further, more extensive research concerning any one of the civilisations the reader might be especially interested in. It’s a valuable ‘getting to know’ work. ‘Oh, look what those people did there so very long ago! This is wonderful! I must find out more about them.’ Then the reader can search for more information on the internet and so on. We have here a valuable gate opening work, stimulating us to find out more about what built the world into what it has become. It’s a gem.
PenBear –
This book is a fast, easy to read introduction to Ancient Civilizations from around the world, including regional maps, diagrams and pictures. It should server as a good place to start if you’re thinking about learning about the ancient world. The material from this book can be a reference guide to then seek out more specialised books.The only criticism I would make of this book is the title, because it is not a true atlas as one would normally recognise.
Lorand Rojneac –
Exactly what I was looking for. Offers a brief entry into Ancient History and how civilizations moved across the globe. Gives you a better picture of which civilization started where and which direction they migrated to. Very beautiful colored maps and pictures of ancient buildings and items. Recommend!
Ross –
If you want a quick version of the rise and fall of Ancient civilizations with detailed text and wonderful maps then this is the book for you. It is a good reference of the various states and empires that a rose and explaining why and where and wets the appetite for further interest on each subject.
CJL –
Bought this for my husband. He says it’s a good read, physically smaller than he was expecting.
Alan Fleming –
Worth it and will buy similar. Thank you.
hetty –
I bought this for a junior schoolboy and it’s far too advanced. Also the print is very small and light and difficult to read
Best Review –
I struggled to get into this, as I planned on reading cover-to-cover rather than using it for reference.But I’m really enjoying it now, the maps and pictures compliment the text well and it reads like a narrative as it’s in order. Very good for someone wanting an overview, and as a trainee primary school teacher this is a good read to prepare for this aspect of the history syllabus.
Amazon Customer –
Expensive
A very small book for the price paid
gt surber –
Brief electic summary of the ancient civilizations with lots of maps illustrating them
Review – Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient CivilizationsThe Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations is another of the delightful series from The Penguin Group. While definitely not a definitive work on the ancient civilizations, this book is an excellent over of the ancient civilizations. This book is a joy to just leaf through casually for a taste of the ancient civilizations.Like all it’s Penguin siblings, this book is well written, well formatted, well illustrated and full of outstanding hard to find maps illustrating and expanding on the points in the essays. The essays are brief and eclectic, but informative. They point the way to more expansion of knowledge. No pretense is made of being a complete history book.I recommend these, and this one especially, to individuals with a quest for quick, overview type knowledge of ancient civilizations.