Archaeology Books

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary exploration of the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites. By using new advances in genetics and taking us through important archaeological discoveries, Professor Alice Roberts helps us better understand life today.‘This is a terrific, timely and transporting book - taking us heart, body and mind beyond history, to the fascinating truth of the prehistoric past and the present’ Bettany Hughes We often think of Britain springing from nowhere with the arrival of the Romans. But in Ancestors, pre-eminent archaeologist, broadcaster and academic Professor Alice Roberts explores what we can learn about the very earliest Britons, from burial sites and by using new technology to analyse ancient DNA. Told through seven fascinating burial sites, this groundbreaking prehistory of Britain teaches us more about ourselves and our history: how people came and went and how we came to be on this island. It expTrade Review'This is a book everyone should read. Roberts is the new Da Vinci, able to shift between science and humanities, the objective and subjective, the global and the individual. There is such a scope of knowledge between the covers of this book that you feel like a better and more knowledgeable person having read it. A mind-altering, life-altering book.' -- Dr Janina Ramirez‘While the rest of us read words, Alice reads bones - and what stories they have to tell. In her hands they seem slick with life, bearing messages from ancient worlds. I was captivated.' -- Neil Oliver'Another classic from Alice Roberts. She writes as a scholar with the intensity and flair of a novelist.' -- Dan Snow‘Roberts is a prolific TV presenter, and Ancestors skilfully deploys the arts of screen storytelling: narrative pace, a sense of mysteries being unfolded. […] [It] is above all a tribute to the archaeological profession.’ -- Dan Hitchens * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe stunning new book from Professor Alice Roberts, acclaimed and bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisWhat are stone circles? When were they built, and why? How come so many of them egg-shaped, or geometrically flattened? What do they have to do with the landscape, Sun, Moon and stars? In this beautifully illustrated book, megalithomaniac Hugh Newman takes us on a fascinating journey around the world, examining these mysterious monuments of the megalithic culture from Wessex to Scotland, France to Poland, North America to Africa and India to Japan. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisIn this book acclaimed author and presenter James Crawford introduces many forgotten places all over the country, from the ruins of prehistoric forts and ancient, arcane burial sites, to abandoned bothies and boathouses, and the derelict traces of old, faded industry.

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Book SynopsisSince 1945 the world has changed at breakneck speed. In thisunique social history, acclaimed bestselling historian Alistair Moffat tells the story of these changes many of which have been dizzying and disorientating and how they have affected each and every one of us in all parts of the country.

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'My favourite current crime series' Val McDermidDr Ruth Galloway is flattered when she receives a letter from Italian archaeologist Dr Angelo Morelli, asking for her help. He's discovered a group of bones in a tiny hilltop village near Rome but doesn't know what to make of them. It's years since Ruth has had a holiday, and even a working holiday to Italy is very welcome!So Ruth travels to Castello degli Angeli, accompanied by her daughter Kate and friend Shona. In the town she finds a baffling Roman mystery and a dark secret involving the war years and the Resistance. To her amazement she also soon finds Harry Nelson, with Cathbad in tow. But there is no time to overcome their mutual shock - the ancient bones spark a modern murder, and Ruth must discover what secrets there are in Castello degli Angeli that someone would kill to protectTrade ReviewDelightful . . . combines professional expertise with a wry sense of humour * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisWhat is the earliest temple complex on Earth? Who built it? Is it really 7000 years older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids How did such a sophisticated civilisation evade detection for so long? In this groundbreaking little book, packed with original reseach and illustrations, megalithomaniac Hugh Newman tells the story of Göbekli Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Nevali Çori and other temples in Turkey, which are so old that their very existence challenges history as we know it.Trade ReviewWooden Books are: "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘Tender, fascinating … Lucid and illuminating’ Robert Macfarlane Funerary rituals show us what people thought about mortality; how they felt about loss; what they believed came next. From Roman cremations and graveside feasts, to deviant burials with heads rearranged, from richly furnished Anglo Saxon graves to the first Christian burial grounds in Wales, Buried provides an alternative history of the first millennium in Britain. As she did with her pre-history of Britain in Ancestors, Professor Alice Roberts combines archaeological finds with cutting-edge DNA research and written history to shed fresh light on how people lived: by examining the stories of the dead.  

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The memorable thing about Cline's book is the strangely recognizable picture he paints of this very faraway time. . . . It was as globalized and cosmopolitan a time as any on record, albeit within a much smaller cosmos. The degree of interpenetration and of cultural sharing is astonishing."---Adam Gopnik, New Yorker"A fascinating look at the Late Bronze Age, proving that whether for culture, war, economic fluctuations or grappling with technological advancement, the conundrums we face are never new, but merely renewed for a modern age."---Larry Getlen, New York Post"Cline has created an excellent, concise survey of the major players of the time, the latest archaeological developments, and the major arguments, including his own theories, regarding the nature of the collapse that fundamentally altered the area around the Mediterranean and the Near East."---Evan M. Anderson, Library Journal"A remarkable book that brings forth not just a piece of history, but also lessons from the past."---Mihai Andrei, ZME Science"Fresh and engaging."---Andrew Robinson, Current World Archaeology"The 12th century BCE is one of the watershed eras of world history. Empires and kingdoms that had dominated late Bronze Age western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean collapsed." * Choice *"Cline explores a vast array of variables that could have led to the disruption of the society of this era, including earthquakes, famines, droughts, warfare, and, most notably, invasions by the 'Sea Peoples.'" * Publishers Weekly *"A detailed but accessible synthesis. . . . [O]ffers students and the interested lay antiquarian a sense of the rich picture that is emerging from debates among the ruins."---Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed"In this enjoyable new book, Eric H. Cline has set himself an ambitious task: Not only must he educate a popular audience about the wealth and power of the eastern Mediterranean civilizations of the Bronze Age, he must then make his readers care that, some time around the year 1200 B.C., these empires, kingdoms, and cities suffered a series of cataclysms from which they never recovered."---Susan Kristol, Weekly Standard"[An] engaging book. . . . Cline builds a convincing case for his theory over a long and absorbing tour of the Late Bronze Age.”"---Josephine Quinn, London Review of Books"A wonderful example of scholarship written for the non-expert. Cline clearly pulls together the engaging story of the interactions among the major empires of the Late Bronze Age and puts forth a reasonable theory explaining why they seem to have evaporated as quickly as moisture on a hot afternoon."---Fred Reiss, San Diego Jewish World"Cline's work reveals eerie parallels between the geopolitics of the first years of 12th century B.C. and today's 21st century. 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed is history, but reads like a good mystery novel. Cline draws readers into his tale, revealing surprises throughout. It is all the more fascinating for being true, and for its relevance to today's world."---Mark Lardas, Daily News"Cline has written one of this year's most interesting books."---Jona Lendering, NRC Handelsblad"Extremely valuable for scholars, yet . . . easily understandable by general readers."---Richard A. Gabriel, Military History Quarterly"Cline is clearly in command of the textual record and his reading of it is the book's real strength."---A. Bernard Knapp, History Today"Written in a lively, engaging style."---Michael McGaha, Middle East Media and Book Reviews"1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed is a thoughtful analysis of one of the great mysteries of human history. . . . Highly recommended."---James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review"[T]his work masterfully incorporates the present state of research into a welcome reevaluation of a period less known to the general public, the crisis of Late Bronze Age civilization. . . . [E}ven more brilliant is the spin on the similarities between the predicament of this area three millennia ago and now."---Barbara Cifola, American Historical Review"There are few published titles which focus on the tumultuous events that took place in the Eastern Mediterranean at approximately 1200 BCE. . . . Cline's 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed stands out among the rest as one of the best and most thoroughly researched. . . . This book is presented as a mystery novel. . . . One thing is for certain, once started, you will not want to put it down." * Ancient Origins *"A gripping mystery story with clues to follow and evidence to analyze."---SG, Ancient Egypt Magazine"Essential."---Thomas F. Bertonneau, Brussels Journal"Well-written, very fairly argued, and excellent value, it will set the agenda for Late Bronze Age studies for some time to come."---Peter Jones, Classics for All"Fascinating. . . . [A]voids the tedium of so many academic writers."---Bruce Beresford, filmmaker"Eric H. Cline has written a work of great scholarship, but has written in a manner so that the non-expert . . . can not only understand, but also appreciate it."---Don Vincent, Open History"I don't know when I've appreciated a book as much as 1177 B.C. If you enjoy learning, you will enjoy this book! Highly recommended."---Thomas A. Timmes, UNRV History"Cline expertly and briskly takes the reader through the power politics of the fifteenth, fourteenth, and thirteenth centuries BC with excursuses on important archaeological discoveries and introductions for each of the major players. No reader with a pulse could fail to be captivated by the details."---Dimitri Nakassis, Mouseion"Cline's book is something special in ancient history writing. . . . The book is up to date in its research, covers a lot of ground, is careful in its conclusions, and will be referred to and cited by students of Aegean and eastern Mediterranean prehistory, discussed by the scholarly community, as well as read by the interested public. Cline has done a good job of bringing the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean to a very wide audience."---Guy D. Middleton, American Journal of Archaeology"Remarkably prescient. . . . [A] convincing case for the relevance of ancient history to the modern world." * Canadian Journal of History *"The end of the Late Bronze Age, around the turn of the twelfth century BCE, was a civilizational collapse similar to the much better known fall of the Roman Empire seventeen centuries later. . . . The causes of this collapse have been among the enduring mysteries of ancient history and archaeology, a complicated detective story for which Eric Cline deftly serves as guide. Cline . . . presents for educated general readers a survey of the evidence and scholarship concerning the end of the Late Bronze Age. He also engagingly establishes the historical and geographical context of the collapse, complete with a motley and compelling cast of characters."---Matthew A. Sears, Canadian Journal of History"This collapse has been a popular subject for scholars, not least our author, for a very long time. Here he usefully assembles the evidence and deduces that it was the very complexity of powers, their interrelationships through trade or war, that brought about the collapse, and he is probably right."---John Boardman, Common Knowledge"The most analytically satisfying, accessible, and of course up-to-date treatment of one of the great enigmas of the ancient world."---Christoph Bachhuber, Historian"Cline admirably acknowledges areas of existing scholarly controversy, while understandably emphasizing the consensus view in order to maintain the flow of his narrative. . . . He has a firm command of the textual, archaeological, and environmental evidence, and brings together a wealth of recent scholarship in an accessible form, a treatment which has been sorely lacking for this pivotal period. . . . [A] fine book."---Erin Warford, European Legacy"1177 BC still offers the best treatment of the subject that is currently available. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend that you do."---Josho Brouwers, Ancient World Magazine

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment Mary, Queen of Scots set foot on English soil in May 1568, she was the prisoner of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England.Exiletells the story of Mary's English years almost half her life with reference to the latest research and the many locations where she was held captive.

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Life-filled and life-affirming history, steeped in romance and written with verve' GUARDIAN'Richly entertaining and impeccably researched' Peter FrankopanIstanbul has always been a place where stories and histories collide and crackle, where the idea is as potent as the historical fact. From the Qu'ran to Shakespeare, this city with three names - Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul - resonates as an idea and a place, and overspills its boundaries - real and imagined. Standing as the gateway between the East and West, it has served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires. For much of its history it was known simply as The City, but, as Bettany Hughes reveals, Istanbul is not just a city, but a story. In this epic new biography, Hughes takes us on a dazzling historical journey through the many incarnations of one of the world's greatest cities. As the longest-lived political entity in Europe, over the last 6,000 years Istanbul has absorbed a mosaic of micro-cities and cultures all gathering around the core. At the latest count archaeologists have measured forty-two human habitation layers. Phoenicians, Genoese, Venetians, Jews, Vikings, Azeris all called a patch of this earth their home. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, this captivating portrait of the momentous life of Istanbul is visceral, immediate and scholarly narrative history at its finest.Trade ReviewThis is historical narrative brimming with brio and incident. Hughes's portraits are written with a zesty flourish ... Istanbul is a visceral, pulsating city. In Bettany Hughes's life-filled and life-affirming history, steeped in romance and written with verve, it has found a sympathetic and engaging champion' -- Justin Marozzi * GUARDIAN *Bettany Hughes' Istanbul is built deliberately on what is passing as well as past. It is a story of numerous overlapping names, changes that often happened more slowly than the guidebooks tell us. Her subject is the city that was Byzantium for some 900 years, Christian Constantinopole for another 1,000, Islamic Islam-bol, then Istanbul - while also being New Rome, a Diamond Between Two Sapphires and The World's Desire...assiduous...passionate...there have beeen swirling tidal shifts around Istanbul since she began this book 10 years or so ago. She is celebrating citizenry of the world at a time when that idea is in retreat, damnming the "otherness" that the west has bestowed upon the east when throughout the world there are more and more "others"...She is a wistul and impassioned cosmopolitan who has produced a challenging story for 2017. -- Peter Stothard * FINANCIAL TIMES *Her latest book, Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities, is a particular stroke of genius...Over the years the city has had three names - Byzantium, Contantinople and Istanbul so in a vivid rattle she hurls Xerxes, Alcibiades, Constantine, Justinian, Theodora, Suleyman the Magnificent and a sometimes overwhelming cast of thousands before us...It is a story well worth telling as the region continues to implode, the final or at least latest lashings out of the Ottoman Empire's collapse...The book is littered with historical echoes that...are impossible to ignore...there are wonderful anecdotes...She concludes with an encomium to Istanbul as a world city - literally, a cosmo-polis - where faiths and ethnicities are brought together by learning or trade...not an original thought but one that in this particularly troubled moment, for bomb-hit Istanbul and the rest of us, bears repeating. -- Richard Spencer * THE TIMES *With a broadcaster's delight, Bettany Hughes...throws herself into the gargantuan task of capturing the history of a city that spans 3,000 years, and whose story has been woefully neglected compared with other great urban centres...Hughes reconstructs Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul as living, breathing landscapes...her scholarship is impressive...her enthusiasm radiates...Her subject...is irresistibly rich. The place known simply as "The City", Hughes notes, has long lived a "double life - as a real place and as a story"...The tale she tells of the metropolis at the crossroads of the Earth is textured, readable and often compelling. -- Louise Callaghan * SUNDAY TIMES *A magisterial new biography...Bettany Hughes transports the reader on a magic-carpet-like journey through 8,000 years of history...in a vivid narrative dotted with colourful characters and fascinating tangents...the quintessential historical overview of a city racing up the modern political agenda. -- Richard Turner * THE LADY *Fiery and magnificent new biography of Istanbul...Hughes does a fantastic job of cramming all this history into a fluid and engaging narrative. She also possesses a great turn of phrase, such as when she describes Haghia Sophia as seeming "to be suspended by a golden chain from heaven"...A gripping and erudite book. -- Stav Sherez * CATHOLIC HERALD *Award-winning historian Bettany Hughes pieces together the history of Istanbul in a riveting biography of a brilliant, bloodied city. -- Madeleine Keane * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT (IRELAND) *Ten years in the researching and writing, it's a glittering mosaic of a history, packing the stories of three cities - Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul - into one volume, from their earliest settlement in 6000BC, to the 20th Century. -- Caroline Sanderson * THE BOOKSELLER *Over its 6,000 year history, Istanbul has been home to Phoenicians, Genoese, Venetians, Jews, Vikings and Azeris, and been the cornerstone of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires...Hughes traces the history of one of the world's greatest cities. * GUARDIAN *Sweeping across eight millennia in its 800 pages, this glinting mosaic of a book is divided into short, vivid, episodic chapters...With 2017 marking the 500th anniversary of the Ottoman caliphate in Istanbul, this sumptuously produced history book is as timely as it is enthralling. -- Caroline Sanderson * SUNDAY EXPRESS *A scholarly narrative, but Hughes isn't averse to heating it up with the salacious stories that dot the city's past -- Sameer Rahim * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *For all its colourful drama, the city's history can be hard to narrate in a way that is coherent and gripping...Bettany Hughes [takes] up that challenge and...the result is impressive. In 'Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities' Ms Hughes plays intriguing, sophisticated games with time and space...by making unlikely connections between well-described locations and events separated by aeons, she gives voice to those witchy, diachronic feelings in a spectacular fashion. * ECONOMIST *One of the pleasures of wandering the city today - whatever you call it - is in recognising that its layers of history are so enfolded with one another that they are impossible to separate. This is also the pleasure of Bettany Hughes' highly readable jaunt through its past 2,500 years..Istanbul is still living history. Perhaps the most moving moment in the book comes when Hughes goes looking for the song of hte Janissaries...Hughes tracked down one of their descendants...Could he remember one of the Janissaries' famous old songs? "Yes he could - and out came a fluid, mellifluous prayer, a song from the religion of the road, a song of hope and revolution, of piety and of cosmopolitan human heartedness. It could be the city's anthem. -- Sameer Rahim * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Bettany Hughes' history of Istanbul through the ages is richly entertaining and impeccably researched. Hughes' ebullient book is an ode to three incarnations of the city...[she] guides us round a city that is magestic, magical and mystical, leaving few stones unturned. It is a loving biography of a city that never stands still, never mind never sleeps...Hughes has written an important book that brings the past of this glorious city to life. It is filled with charming vignettes...snappily written...plenty here to entertain those who know something about the ciy and to enthrall those who don't. -- Peter Frankopan * THE OBSERVER *The research is immaculate, as is the telling of it. * CHOICE *Bettany Hughes transports the reader on a magic-carpet-like journey through 8,000 years of history...[this is] the quintessential historical overview of a city racing up the modern politcal agenda. -- Richard Tarrant * THE LADY *Istanbul's newly revived status as perhaps the major centre of Sunni Islam in the non-Arab world, and a pivot to the current Middle East imbroglio, is underlined by Bettany Hughes in the introduction to her sumptuous urban biography. -- Robert Fox * EVENING STANDARD *Hughes...wishes to show how the city's topography shaped the civilisations that grew from it - and how the many peoples that have passed through its walls went on to shape the lands and seas and trade routes of their known world...The thrill the author takes in her discoveries is infectious...Keen as she is to identify a past that is still omnipresent, she does not just like the city to a "historic millefeuille": time and again she proves it...this heroic work...is the perfect read if - having noticed that Istanbul is increasingly in the news these days - you wish to know its place in the scheme of things, and what light it may case on the uncertain future we shall most certainly share. -- Maureen Freely * NEW STATESMAN *Hughes suceeds triumphantly...and produces a cogent, passionate survey...bolstered by staggeringly wide-ranging research...[a] captivating book...Istanbul, a place where the past is impossible to miss...and few have told its enchanting story with Hughes's blend of precision and panache. -- Jon Wright * GEOGRAPHICAL, The Royal Geographical Society magazine *It is a delightful book for those who know Istanbul, but what a treat for those who do not, and are considering a visit. [Hughes] is an excellent, informed and good natured guide...she gets under the skin of the great city. -- Adrian Spooner * CLASSICS FOR ALL *Undoubtedly timely, because, as Hughes argues, Istanbul is once again central to the European narrative, as a postreligious secularism confront a resurgent religious movement. -- Michael McLouglin * IRISH TIMES *The complexity of the city's story is revealed in mesmerising detail in Bettany Hughes's new book. At times her writing feels like a love letter, or a eulogy to what has been lost. Her compassion for the city and its millions of inhabitants, past and present, comes across from the very first pages. It is quite rare to read a historical book that weaves research and insight with understanding and love: here is a book written as much with the heart as the mind...Here is an important book that must be translated into many languages - and especially into Turkish. -- Elif Shafak * THE SPECTATOR *Ground-breaking...There has been no recent large-scale history of the city with many names (Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul), which makes this colossal undertaking a notable achievement, coming at yet another turbulent moment in its long existence. -- Roger Crowley * LITERARY REVIEW *Istanbul has many inhabitants yearning to nurture their grand but asphyxiated city. In this tome - which begs a Turkish translation - Hughes gives them the time that Istanbul's pace, developers and officials do not. Her quiet confidence in the city's hard-earned cosmopolitanism soothes this concerned Istanbullu -- Sarah Jilani * ART REVIEW ASIA *A witty and lavish account of a shimmering city caught between heaven and hell -- Noonie Minogue * THE TABLET *Bettany Hughes's sprawling, 600-page love letter to one of the most inspiring cities on earth was a decadein the making, as befits a book covering millennia's worth of history in impressive detail. -- Alev Scott * PROSPECT *Historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes has pulled off the feat of wrting about three empires in one book: the Roman empire of Constantine, the Byzantine empire which ended with the fall of Constantinople in 1453, and the Ottoman empire which lasted into the 1920s * THE OLDIE *Istanbul has endured an awful run of terrorist attacks and political disorder over the past few years so Bettany Hughes' ebullient homage to the city is a welcome reminder of its long and fascinating history. * i NEWSPAPER *Majestic and immensely enriching...It's a journey through conquest and greatness from Roman to Ottoman times and it reminded me of why I love the city. -- Roula Khalaf * FINANCIAL TIMES *This scholarly work by television historian Bettany Hughes tells the city's story in rich and compelling detail * SUNDAY BUSINESS POST *I can't think of a city with a more extraordinary history than Istanbul, and in Bettany Hughes it has its ideal biographer. -- Simon Shaw * MAIL ON SUNDAY *She deserves enormous credit for managing to traverse swathes of time (right down to the present day) with such aplomb. Rarely have I read a book in which I learnt more things that I really should have already known. -- Jonathan Wright * CATHOLIC HERALD *She populates her three cities of Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul with a rich cast, in a book that brims with brio and incident. -- Justin Marozzi * THE GUARDIAN *Hughes guides us round a city that is majestic, magical and mystical, leaving few stones unturned. It is a loving biography of a city that never stands still, never mind sleeps. Hughes has written an important book that brings the past of this glorious city to life. It is filled with charming vignettes and is snappily written. -- Peter Frankopan * THE OBSERVER Paperback of the Week *With a broadcaster's delight, the historian Bettany Hughes throws herself into the gargantuan task of capturing the history of a city that spans 3,000 years, and whose story has been woefully neglected compared with other great urban centres...Impressive -- Louise Callaghan * SUNDAY TIMES *The English historian's spawling study of one of the world's great capitals covers 3,000 years. It has witnessed enormous flux in that time - not all of it for the better - but Hughes' biography will likely make those who've never visited want to book a plane ticket. * IRISH INDEPENDENT *

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Book SynopsisFor over three centuries, the inhabitants of North Britain faced the might of Rome, resulting in some of the most extraordinary archaeology of the ancient world. This richly illustrated new history of Roman Scotland explores the complex, often tumultuous and frequently brutal interaction between the world's first superpower and the peoples who lived north of Hadrian's Wall. With reference to the latest research and featuring all the key sites, it offers though-provoking re-assessments of many aspects of the story of the Romans in Scotland, from the loss of the IXth Legion and the reasons for building and maintaining Hadrian's Wall, to considering what spurred at least four Roman emperors to personally visit the edge of the empire.Trade Review'Superbly researched, accessibly written and thoughtfully and convincingly argued, this book presents a chronological history of the Romans in Scotland' -- Ken Lussey * Undiscovered Scotland *'A new detailed history of Roman Scotland, offer[ing] an opportunity to re-examine the legend' * West Highland Free Press *'[a] comprehensive, accessible, and thought-provoking study' * Scotland on Sunday *'offers thought-provoking re-assessments of the loss of the IXth Legion, the reasons for building Hadrian's Wall, and why at least four Roman emperors personally visited the edge of the empire' * Southern Reporter *'sifts through the evidence for the impact of the Romans on the country that would become Scotland... sheds new life on brutal conflict' * Sunday Post *'[A] comprehensive, accessible and thought-provoking study' -- David Robinson * The Scotsman *'a new and thought-provoking history of Roman Scotland by an acclaimed expert' * Edinburgh Life *'Reid has an enjoyable writing style... he also tackles areas of scholarly dispute head-on, outlining rather than glossing over key controversies' * Current Archaology Magazine *

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Book SynopsisWhen the last 36 inhabitants of St Kilda, 40 miles west of the Scottish Hebrides, were evacuated in 1930, the archipelago at the edge of the world' lost its permanent population after five millennia.It has long been accepted that the islanders' failure to adapt to the modern world was its demise. Andrew Fleming overturns the traditional view. Unafraid of highlighting dark times, he shows how they sacrificed their reputation as an uncorrupted, ideal society to embrace and exploit the tourist trade. Creating a prestigious tweed, exporting the ancestors of today's Hebridean sheep, the islanders gained access to consumer goods and learned how to play politics to their advantage.This book tells the absorbing and eventful story of St Kilda from up to the evacuation and its aftermath. Previously untapped sources and fresh insights bring to life the personalities, feelings, attitudes and rich culture of the islanders themselves, as well as the numerous outsiders who engaged with the remote isl

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER 'Compulsive . . . A wonderful display of how modern archaeology can bring hidden histories to life' Daily Telegraph  'Gripping . . . I found it hard to put down' Evening Standard ‘Gripping… Fascinating… While bodily remains tell excellent tales, they require an equally vivid historical context if they are to come fully alive’ Guardian 'Another really good book from archaeologist Alice Roberts . . . Helps you understand the facts on a technical level, but also makes you feel them in your bones' New Scientist The new book by Sunday Times bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried - the final instalment in Professor Alice Roberts' acclaimed trilogy.We can un

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Book SynopsisSince the days of conquistador Hernán Cortés, rumours have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden deep in the Honduran interior. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and warn the legendary city is cursed: to enter it is a death sentence. They call it the Lost City of the Monkey God. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artefacts and an electrifying story of having found the City – but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a single-engine plane carrying a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but a lost civilization. To confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, plagues of insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. They emerged from the jungle with proof of the legend... and the curse. They had contracted a horrifying, incurable and sometimes lethal disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with history, adventure and dramatic twists of fortune, The Lost City of the Monkey God is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewWhat reader could resist a new book by Douglas Preston called The Lost City of the Monkey God? Not this reader. Preston's book offers rewards for both the mystery fan and the nonfiction aficionado. The Lost City is addictive-fast-paced and riveting, but it's also important. We mustn't repeat the cataclysmic mistakes of the past. Ironically – as The Lost City illustrates – that's exactly what our short-sighted civilization is doing right now -- James PattersonPreston, at great risk to his own life, has produced a thrilling and powerful adventure story -- David Grann, The Lost City of ZRevelatory, chilling, creepy, and alive with deadly snakes and insects bearing incurable disease, it's high adventure at its best and all true -- Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White CityDeftly balancing swashbuckling action with thoughtful reflections on conservation and the ethics of archaeology * Mail on Sunday, 5 star review *Leaves the reader both impressed and over-awed... An adventure well worth the telling and the 16 pages of colour illustrations add further veracity to the impact' * Country Life *A story that moves from thrilling to sobering, fascinating to downright scary - trademark Preston, in other words, and another winner * Kirkus Reviews *This gripping book follows every step of the journey... It's incredible enough that in this day and age there are still unexplored areas of the planet' * Geographical Magazine *A grippingly told and reassuringly grown-up account of the discovery of an ancient city in Honduras * TLS *Preston at his best. Entirely non-fiction, this reads every bit as excitingly as any of his fiction accounts. Fast paced, thrilling, insightful, with great descriptions of the excitement and dangers of finding a 'lost' city that had not been visited in 500 years. A great account * Buzzfeed. *

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Book Synopsis''The who, what, where, when and how of human evolution, from one of the world''s experts on the dating of prehistoric fossils'' Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs ''Fascinating and entertaining. If you read one book on human origins, this should be it'' Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules - For Now 50,000 years ago, we were not the only species of human in the world. There were at least four others, including the Neanderthals, Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonesis and the Denisovans. At the forefront of the latter''s ground-breaking discovery was Oxford Professor Tom Higham.In The World Before Us, he explains the scientific and technological advancements - in radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA, for example - that allowed each of these discoveries to be made, enabling us to be more accurate in our predictions about not just how long ago these other humans lived, but how Trade ReviewFascinating and deeply researched. Higham conveys the thrill of archaeological discovery eruditely and accessibly -- Alexander Larman * Guardian *A gripping account of Earth's other humans -- New ScientistThe remarkable new science of palaeoanthropology, from lab bench to trench -- Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of KindredThe application of new genetic science to pre-history is analogous to how the telescope transformed astronomy. Tom Higham, one of the world's leading scientists in the field, brings us to the frontier of recent discoveries with a book that is both gripping and fun. And the results are astonishing. It matters: understanding our evolutionary origins reveals our innate strengths as a species -- Paul Collier, author of The Bottom BillionA brilliant exposition of the way in which archaeology and science are completely changing our understanding of early humans. This is a fast-moving story written with verve and enthusiasm by one of the scientists deeply involved in tracking down the evidence. Essential reading for all interested in our early ancestors and the sheer excitement of their discovery -- Barry Cunliffe, author of The ScythiansA brilliant distillation of the ideas and discoveries revolutionising our understanding of human evolution. Tom Higham, one of the leaders of the revolution and the cutting-edge science on which it is based, introduces us to a complex world of many human species, whose genes and deeds live on in us today -- Chris Gosden, author of The History of MagicTom Higham has been at the pulsating centre of the close collaboration between archaeologists and geneticists that in the last few years discovered our previously unknown cousins - the Denisovans - and revealed the lost world in which they, Neanderthals and modern humans interacted and interbed. His thrilling book gives us a court-side view of this scientific revolution -- David Reich, author of Who We Are and How We Got HereA bang-up-to-date insider's review of a critical period in the emergence of modern humans. It also provides fascinating, intelligible and authoritative glimpses into a wide variety of new technologies -- Ian Tattersall, co-author of The Accidental Homo sapiens: Genetics, Behavior, and Free Will

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Book SynopsisThis book is a hands-on resource for the amateur, student or volunteer as well as a reference for those interested in the world?s greatest archaeological finds and the people who discovered them. Features how-to photographic sequences of field surveys and step-by-step excavations, plus guidance on handling and recording finds and dating artefacts

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Book SynopsisThe Essential Pocket Guide.

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Book Synopsis‘A companion for anyone navigating the hardships of loss and uncertainty’ - Octavia Bright, author of This Ragged GraceA unflinching memoir exploring the realities of marriage, care-giving, how we die and how we grieve. Told with humour and courage, its raw honesty offers profound consolation in difficult times.After thirteen years together, Sarah Tarlow’s husband Mark began to suffer from an undiagnosed illness, which rapidly left him incapable of caring for himself. Life – an intense juggling act of a demanding job, young children and looking after a depressed and frustrated parner – became hard.One day, Mark waited for Sarah and their children to leave their home before ending his own life. Although Sarah had devoted her professional life as an archaeologist to the study of death and how we grieve, she found that nothing had prepared her for the reality of illness and the devastation of loss.The

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Book SynopsisThe Seventy Wonders of the Ancient WorldThe Seventy Wonders of the Ancient WorldThe raising of the stones at Stonehenge, the laying out of the Nazca Lines on the face of the Peruvian desert are all described and explained by an international team of experts. Packed with fact files, this is a testament to the skill of the ancient architects and engineers who continue to impress successive generations down the ages. Recently updated and in a new accessible paperback format.

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Book Synopsis'Restless, poetic, strange ... and the territory it describes deserves nothing less' Observer'Glittering and energetic' Country LifeYorkshire is 'a continent unto itself', a region where mountain, plain, coast, downs, fen and heath lie close. By weaving history, family stories, travelogue and ecology, Richard Morris reveals how Yorkshire took shape as a landscape and in literature, legend and popular regard. The result is a fascinating and wide-ranging meditation on Yorkshire and Yorkshireness, told through the prism of the region's most extraordinary people and places.Trade Review[A] restless, poetic, strange book, and the territory it describes deserves nothing less -- Andrew Martin * Observer *[A] quirky, personal history of the Ridings ... Making an idiosyncratic selection of events from prehistory to the present day, and using some charming passages of personal memoir, Morris subtly draws out patterns and recurring themes that may explain the county's distinctive history ... Morris writes insightfully not just about one county, but about how places become what they are -- Richard Benson * Mail on Sunday *Reading the book is like watching the author sift through layers of time: whatever will he turn up next? ... There is a wealth of fascinating information - I'd not known, for example, that the fashion for naming houses 'Windyridge' (as both my father and grandfather called theirs) derived from the popularity of a 1912 novel of that title by Willie Riley -- Blake Morrison * Guardian *In this meticulously researched book, Richard Morris reveals Yorkshire and Yorkshireness through a series of extraordinary journeys and stories ... Particularly interesting is the juxtaposition of nature, culture, religion and politics and the way in which places are defined and shaped by geography and terrain ... Morris's description of the River Swale as glittering and energetic could be a metaphor for his own writing, which is itself relentlessly energetic ... Fascinating -- Adrian Dangar * Country Life *Although it is one of the most diverse counties geographically, Yorkshire has always inspired a fierce loyalty among those born there, and it is this sense of place that is the subject of the fascinating Yorkshire * Choice *Engrossing ... Aims to look beyond the Eee By Gum stereotypes to explore the intersections between Yorkshire's landscape, language and identity, and reflect too on how outsiders perceive the county * The Bookseller *County histories have been around considerably longer than many of our present counties, but in that heavily populated landscape this is no ordinary book, and its author no ordinary writer ... With footnotes to do an academic paper proud, Morris constantly comes across stories that he can't leave alone, that he burrows into, finding new connections and insights and behind which, you imagine, often lie sufficient materials for books of their own -- Mike Pitts * British Archaeology *One of the most unusual and thought-provoking guides to the county's distant and recent past * Craven Herald *[L]earned and gripping -- Alan Crosby * Who Do You Think You Are? magazine *

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Book SynopsisThrough runic inscriptions and behind the veil of myth, Jesch discovers the true story of viking women.Trade ReviewWell-illustrated, closely argued and fascinating. * THE GUARDIAN *A coherent, tangible and convincing picture of the age as a whole. * HISTORY *This excellent study gives a thorough and learned survey of the subject of the title, assembling evidence from a wide range of sources. * SCANDINAVICA *A fine example of the interdisciplinary nature of both viking and women's studies... the study demonstrates the author's mastery of an impressive array of linguistic and methodological tools. * JEGP (US) *A lively and compelling book...the author's particular strengths lie in her study of literature. Judith Jesch has captured the spirit of Viking women. Her book is a fitting tribute to them. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY *Table of ContentsPart 1 Life and death - the evidence of archaeology: the Westness woman; the archaeology of burials; woman in her home environment. Part 2 Women's lives in runic texts: runic inscriptions; objects with runes; memorial stones. Part 3 Female colonists: the evidence of names; the settlement of Iceland. Part 4 Foreign views: international contact in the Viking age; visitors to Scandinavia; Viking women outside Scandinavia. Part 5 Art, myth and poetry: female figures in the art of the Viking age; sexuality, wisdom and heroism - female figures in Norse myth and legend; women in Skaldic poetry; the audience of Viking poetry. Part 6 Warrior woman to nun - looking back at Viking women: warrior women; Old Norse literature; women in the sagas of Icelanders.

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Book SynopsisThe start of a new series from bestselling author Sarah Bennett.On paper, Hope Travers has an idyllic life.Living in a bustling farmhouse with her mum, aunt and uncles, cousin and too many dogs to count, surrounded by the breath-taking Cotswolds countryside, she knows she is privileged and protected.But all families have secrets, and the Travers family are no exception. Their farmhouse sits in the grounds of the Juniper Meadows estate, passed down through the generations and now being made to pay its own way with a myriad of businesses and projects. When a construction crew uncover what appear to be historical ruins, the history of the Travers family is put under ever closer scrutiny as a dig gets underway.Hope may have found a blossoming romance with local archaeologist Cameron Ferguson who is running the dig, but when things start to go wrong around the estate and family secrets begin to be revealed, Hope wonders if she’s made a big mistake in digging up the past.** **Praise for Sarah Bennett:'A gorgeous story packed with love, romance and heartfelt emotion. Will bring sunshine into your day!' Phillipa Ashley'An excellent read with a slow burning romance, family secrets, sabotage and some fascinating archeology details. Highly recommended.' Maddie Please**'**Sarah's ability to weave complex characters and idyllic settings you want to move to is astonishing! **A fantastic read combining complex family dynamics, friendship and of course romance! An unputdownable read!' Katie Ginger'Happy Endings at Mermaids Point has passion in spades, romance to make you blush and a community that cares. I hoped this story would just keep on going.' Celia Anderson'This is a real page turner, with a brisk plot and a really emotional core. The community we've grown to love at Mermaid's Point is alive with love, laughter and vibrancy!' Fay Keenan'I loved Nick and Aurora's story, and want the Morgan family to adopt me. Sarah Bennett has surpassed herself.' Jules Wake'This is the perfect escapist read and I can't wait to follow the characters in what promises to be a wonderful series. Five sparkling stars!' Rachel Griffiths'What a Mer-mazing book! I'm so glad this is a series and I'll get to meet the characters again because you won't want to leave them after the final page.' Catherine Miller‘I inhaled this book in two days. Absolutely gorgeous. Sarah Bennett is back, and better than ever!’ Rachel Burton'A perfect heartwarming read full of family, romance and intrigue, set in a stunning location - what’s not to love?' Bella Osborne

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Book SynopsisWhen the Romans came to Britain in AD 43, they brought a new style of domestic life, one that better-off Britons soon copied. This informative guide looks at how villas were built, and at the accommodation and daily life villa residents enjoyed - their living rooms and bedrooms, kitchens and baths, gardens and courtyards, furniture and food, and the servants and slaves who kept the villa running. Illustrated with site photos from Roman villas around Britain, archaeological treasures, and museum reconstructions of villa interiors, this is a fascinating look at life in Roman Britain before the Roman army left in AD 406 and the villa way of life faded into history. Includes a list of places to visit.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe new edition includes an introduction by the director of the EES and the curator of the Petrie Museum at UCL, clearly a labour of love for the two organizations ... [It] provides useful background information on Edwards's journey up the Nile. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisA thought-provoking exploration of the loss of civilizations and communities, offering compelling stories of abandoned places, the important events and fascinating characters that punctuate their history, and lessons we can learn from them today Trade Review“Timely, powerful and electrifying. This is a huge exploration of our diverse histories. The story of how we try to carve out societies in a world where they are all predisposed to collapse. This is history and archaeology for now.”—Dan Snow, historian and broadcaster​“John Darlington takes us on an exhilarating and erudite encounter with ancient and lost peoples and places.”—Loyd Grossman, author of An Elephant in Rome​“With an expert archaeological eye, John Darlington reveals the very human stories behind awe-inspiring ruins around the world. Ambitious in scope and profound in its conclusions, it charts the changing fortunes of past civilisations and confronts the reality of the future of our own.”—Bettany Hughes, author of Istanbul

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Book SynopsisIn response to the damage caused by centuries of colonial ravaging and the current ecological, political and social crises, the leading Indigenous thinker and activist Ailton Krenak warns against the power of corporate capitalism and its destructive impact. Capitalism encroaches on every corner of the planet and orients us toward a future of promised progress, achievement and growth, but this future doesn't exist we just imagine it. This orientation to the future also blinds us to what exists around us, to the plants and animals with which we share the Earth and to the rivers that flow through our lands. Rivers are not just resources to be exploited by us or channels to carry away our waste, they are beings that connect us with our past. If there is a future to imagine, it is ancestral, since it is already present in the here and now and in that which exists around us, in the rivers and mountains and trees that are our kin. In a spoken language that has the mark of ancestral oral

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Book SynopsisThis entertaining Very Short Introduction reflects the enduring popularity of archaeology - a subject which appeals as a pastime, career, and academic discipline, encompasses the whole globe, and surveys 2.5 million years. From deserts to jungles, from deep caves to mountain tops, from pebble tools to satellite photographs, from excavation to abstract theory, archaeology interacts with nearly every other discipline in its attempts to reconstruct the past.In this new edition, Paul Bahn brings the text up to date, including information about new discoveries and interpretations in the field, and highlighting the impact of developments such as the potential use of DNA and stable isotopes in teeth, as well the effect technology and science are having on archaeological exploration. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Very lively indeed and remarkably perceptive - a quite brilliant and level-headed look at the curious world of archaeology. * Barry Cunliffe, University of Oxford *It is often said that well-written books are rare in archaeology, but this is a model of good writing for a general audience. [The] chapters rattle along, packed with information by never getting bogged down in too much details. The book is full of jokes, but its serious message-that archaeology can be a rich and fascinating subject-it gets across with more panache than any other book I know. * Simon Denison, editor of British Archaeology *Table of ContentsFURTHER READING; INDEX

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Book SynopsisA scientific exploration of the advanced ancient civilization known as Doggerland or Fairland that disappeared 5,000 years ago. New marine archaeological evidence has revealed the remains of a large land mass to the north of Britain that hosted an advanced civilization 1,000 years before the recognized “first” civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, or India. Remembered in Celtic legends as Tu-lay, and referred to by geologists as Doggerland or Fairland, this civilization began at least as early as 4000 BC but was ultimately destroyed by rising sea levels, huge tsunamis, and a terrible viral epidemic released from melting permafrost during a cataclysmic period of global warming. Exploring the latest archaeological findings and recent scientific analysis of Doggerland’s underwater remains, Graham Phillips shows that this ancient culture had sophisticated technology and advanced medical knowledge. He looks at evidence detected with remote sensing and seismic profiling of many artificial structures, complex settlements, gigantic earthworks, epic monoliths, and huge stone circles dated to more than 5,500 years ago, preserved beneath the ground and on the ocean floor. He examines evidence of Doggerland’s high-temperature technology, showing how its people were able to melt solid rock to create vitrified structures far stronger than concrete, a technique that modern science cannot replicate. He looks at the small part of the Fairland land mass that still exists: Fair Isle, a tiny island some 45 miles north of the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Phillips shows how, when Fairland sank beneath the waves around 3100 BC, its last survivors traveled by boat to settle in the British Isles, where they established the megalithic culture that built Stonehenge. Revealing the vast archaeological evidence in support of the existence of Doggerland, as well as its threads of influence in early cultures around the world, Phillips also shows how the fate of this sophisticated ancient culture is a warning from history: the cataclysmic events that happened to the first civilizations could happen again as the world heats up.Trade Review“Graham Phillips has made a powerful case for advanced prediluvian “Phillips’s thorough investigations of this fascinating topic reveal not only a prehistoric lost world that is today rewriting history but also the genesis point of the stone circle culture whose greatest achievement was Stonehenge. An important addition to the bookshelf of anyone into the mysteries of the megaliths.” * Andrew Collins, author of The First Female Pharaoh and Göbekli Tepe and coauthor of Denisovan O *“Graham Phillips has made a powerful case for advanced prediluvian civilization in Europe. In fact, the sunken kingdom of Doggerland, only recently discovered at the bottom of the North Sea, resembles in many ways the lost world called Atlantis by Plato. Phillips does a great job of showing the connections between the mythic megalithic culture we have dreamed about for many centuries and one we had long forgotten but which may be the true homeland of the British people. A wonderful and intriguing read.” * J. Douglas Kenyon, author of Ghosts of Atlantis: How the Echoes of Lost Civilizations Influence Our *“Graham Phillips’s well-researched, well-written book neatly places a number of missing pieces in the puzzle of the Orkney megalithic tradition and the broader ancient region of Doggerland. He presents these in context with a range of informative viewpoints on prediluvian cultures including Atlantis, Mu, and Lemuria.” * Laird Scranton, author of The Mystery of Skara Brae, Sacred Symbols of the Dogon, and Point of Origi *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsGlobal Warning1 A Forgotten CivilizationPeople of the North Sea2 First Cities and the Legend of AtlantisPossible Locations and Catastrophes3 Lost ContinentsDebunking the Theories of Mu and Lemuria4 The Great FloodStories from Ancient Civilizations5 Melting Ice, Climate Change, and Pandemics Their Impacts on Urbian Populations around the World6 The Mysteries of the Megalithic Culture Postulating Its Origins7 Stone Circles, Earthworks, and Standing StonesCharacteristics of the Monuments of the British Isles8 Megalithic CivilizationOrcadian Innovation9 Geomancers and HealersPurpose of the Monuments10 FairlandEvidence of Civilization and MigrationNotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis Element provides an overview of pre-modern and ancient economies of the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It analyzes the regions densely occupied semisedentary villages and its domestic and institutional economies, specialization, distribution, economic development, and future directions are reviewed.Table of Contents1. Introduction and Historical Background; 2. Domestic Economy; 3. Institutional Economy; 4. Specialization; 5. Distribution; 6. Economic Development; 7. Future Directions.

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Book SynopsisAn accessible illustrated introduction to the history of sites located across the iconic location of Hadrian's Wall.

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Book SynopsisA fascinating new entry in this popular series, exploring Britain's LGBTQ+ history through objects recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

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Book SynopsisA whimsical and beautiful book celebrating these hidden gems of the National Trust – from specially made secret gardens to overlooked corners of famous gardens and re-discovered lost gardens. Stunning photography is accompanied by a wealth of fascinating historical and botanical details. A whimsical and beautiful book celebrating these hidden gems of the National Trust – from specially made secret gardens to overlooked corners of famous gardens and re-discovered lost gardens. Stunning photographs of the Trust’s idiosyncratic gardens are accompanied by a light text meditating on the magic of the secret garden, and bringing in fascinating historical and botanical details. The book will include secret mazes, hidden corners, walled gardens, lost gardens, gardens that are only open one day a year, follies, orchards, dens, memorials, strange statues, stumperies, huts, ice houses, wendy houses, fairy gates and pixie houses. The gardens featured include the palm-filled Overbeck’s in Devon, Peckover House in Cambridgeshire, which bursts with exotic specimens found on Victorian plant-hunting expeditions, and Monk’s House in East Sussex, where the garden proved a refuge for Virginia Woolf.

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Book SynopsisCollective Winner of the 2019 Highland Book Prize Under the ravishing light of an Alaskan sky, objects are spilling from the thawing tundra linking a Yup'ik village to its hunter-gatherer past. In the shifting sand dunes of a Scottish shoreline, impressively preserved hearths and homes of Neolithic farmers are uncovered. In a grandmother's disordered mind, memories surface of a long-ago mining accident and a 'mither who was kind'. For this luminous new essay collection, acclaimed author Kathleen Jamie visits archaeological sites and mines her own memories - of her grandparents, of youthful travels - to explore what surfaces and what reconnects us to our past. As always she looks to the natural world for her markers and guides. Most movingly, she considers, as her father dies, and her children leave home, the surfacing of an older, less tethered sense of herself. Surfacing offers a profound sense of time passing and an antidote to all that is instant, ephemeral, unrooted.Trade ReviewNature in Jamie's writing is immediate, domestic and, well, natural... a book whose impact is accretive and, eventually, astonishing. -- Alex Preston * Observer *Notes detailing chance encounters, fleeting relationships and a shared pull towards a specific world, (are) deepened with autobiographical anecdote, then shaken up with a vivid and urgent present-tense noticing that electrifies her connections and surroundings. It is as if Jamie, wherever she goes, functions as a lightning rod, drawing past, present and future together * New Statesman *Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie really stood out -- Sinéad Gleeson * Irish Times, Books of the Year 2019 *"A beautifully produced essay collection that spirals back through interests and themes traced over the past 40 years of Jamie's career, as well as forwards into an unknown future... To read a Jamie essay is to be given a fresh lens through which to view the world -- Amanda Bell * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘Tender, fascinating … Lucid and illuminating’ Robert MacfarlaneFunerary rituals show us what people thought about mortality; how they felt about loss; what they believed came next. From Roman cremations and graveside feasts, to deviant burials with heads rearranged, from richly furnished Anglo Saxon graves to the first Christian burial grounds in Wales, Buried provides an alternative history of the first millennium in Britain. As she did with her pre-history of Britain in Ancestors, Professor Alice Roberts combines archaeological finds with cutting-edge DNA research and written history to shed fresh light on how people lived: by examining the stories of the dead.Trade Review'Buried is a tender, fascinating act of listening –– of listening to the tales the dead have to tell us about the landscapes we share with them, the histories we have constructed around them, and the futures we imagine for ourselves. Lucid and illuminating, Alice Roberts here opens new perspectives on to first-millennium Britain, from the appearance of churchyards in the sixth century, to Romano-British 'decapitation' burial practices. I learned so much from this book, and hearing my description of Alice's excavations and investigations, my nine-year-old confirmed absolutely his ambition to become an aDNA (ancient DNA) scientist when he grows up.' -- Robert Macfarlane‘Roberts’s legions of fans will find themselves delighted by a book that is both accessible and expert, wears deep learning lightly, and provides a solid introduction to an often murky age in Britain’s early medieval past.’ * Daily Telegraph *‘Intriguing and informative [….] Fascinating’ * Country Life *

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Book SynopsisIn the Beginning describes the basic methods and theoretical approaches of archaeology. This is a book about fundamental principles written in a clear, flowing style, with minimal use of technical jargon, which approaches archaeology from a global perspective. Starting with a broad-based introduction to the field, this book surveys the highlights of archaeology's colorful history, then covers the basics of preservation, dating the past, and the context of archaeological finds. Descriptions of field surveys, including the latest remote-sensing methods, excavation, and artifact analysis lead into the study of ancient environments, landscapes and settlement patterns, and the people of the past. Two chapters cover cultural resource management, public archaeology, and the important role of archaeology in contemporary society. There is also a chapter on archaeology as a potential career. In the Beginning takes the reader on an evenly balanced journeTrade Review"In the Beginning offers an expansive yet accessible explanation of what archaeologists do. The experience of finding and excavating sites is revealed, and we learn the strategies and skills archaeologists employ to recover and interpret evidence. The book places archaeological thinking and practices in contemporary social contexts, and provides compelling guidance to readers intrigued by the subject." Peter Hiscock, University of Sydney, AustraliaTable of ContentsPART I BACKGROUND TO ARCHAEOLOGY; 1 Introducing Archaeology; 2 The Beginnings of Scientific Archaeology: Sixth Century B.C. to the 1950s; 3 The Many-Voiced Past: Archaeological Thought from the 1950s to Now; PART II THE BASICS; 4 Matrix and Preservation; 5 Doing Archaeological Research; 6 Culture, Data, and Context; 7 Dating the Past; PART III RECOVERING THE DATA; 8 They Sought It Here, They Sought It There: Finding the Past; 9 Excavation; PART IV ANALYZING THE PAST: ARTIFACTS AND TECHNOLOGY; 10 Classifying Artifacts; 11 Technologies of the Ancients; PART V STUDYING ENVIRONMENTS AND PEOPLE; 12 Ancient Environments; 13 Studying Subsistence; 14 The Living Past; 15 Landscape and Settlement; 16 Interactions: People of the Past; 17 Archaeology and the Intangible; PART VI MANAGING THE PAST; 18 Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and Public Archaeology; 19 Archaeology and Contemporary Society; PART VII CAREERS AND RESOURCES; 20 So You Want to Become an Archaeologist?; Useful Addresses; Glossary; Bibliography; Index

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Book SynopsisIs the future about to close in, or is it open to new horizons? For anthropologist Tim Ingold, the root of our difficulty in facing up to the future lies in the way we think about generations. We imagine them as layers, succeeding one another like sheets in a stack. This view figures as a largely unquestioned backdrop to discussions of evolution, life and death, longevity, extinction, sustainability, education, climate change and other matters of contemporary concern. What if we were to think of generations, instead, as wrapping around one another along their length, more like fibres in a rope than stacked sheets? In this compelling new book, Ingold argues that a return to the idea that life is forged in the collaboration of overlapping generations might not only assuage some of our anxieties, but also offer a lasting foundation for future coexistence. But it would mean having to abandon our faith both in the inevitability of progress, and in the ability of science and technology to cushion humanity from environmental impacts. A perfect world is not around the corner, nor will our troubles ever end. Nevertheless, for as long as life continues, there is hope for generations to come.Trade Review‘Ingold asserts the urgent need to reimagine and re-enact the relationship between past, present and future, arguing for the importance of collaboration and reciprocal learning across generations. He advances a proposal for a form of education that would unite the wisdom of elders with the curiosity of the young.’Stuart McLean, University of Minnesota‘Inspiring and beautifully written, Tim Ingold’s new book contemplates life and the relations that sustain it. Turning attention to the idea of generation, and with hope for the possibilities of collaboration, Ingold opens out and responds to crucial questions about time, growth, remembering, loss and continuity.’Elizabeth Hallam, University of OxfordTable of ContentsPrefaceList of FiguresChapter 1: Generations and the Regeneration of LifeChapter 2: Modelling the Human Life CourseChapter 3: Remembering the WayChapter 4: Uncertainty and PossibilityChapter 5: Loss and ExtinctionChapter 6: Recentring AnthroposChapter 7: The Way of EducationChapter 8: After Science and TechnologyNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book examines how the Covid-19 pandemic can be described as a biopolitical crisis, taking into account a fact often overlooked by commentators: Covid-19 is a zoonosis, i.e. a disease transmissible between animal species. The Sars-Cov2 virus causing this respiratory disease circulated in bats before passing to humans under as yet mysterious conditions, and it was transmitted from humans to other species, notably mink and deer. Building on Michel Foucault's revival of the term biopolitics' and related notions (disciplinary power, pastoral power, cynegetic power), this book traces a set of public health measures taken over the last two centuries to control epidemics. It underlines how the need to conserve virus strains in order to identify and anticipate their mutations has given rise to cryopolitics, i.e. a set of techniques aimed at suspending the living in order to defer death. The book then questions the emancipatory scope of this cryopolitics by examining interspecies solidarity built by the warning signals sent by animals to humans about coming threats, be they pandemics, natural disasters or climate change. By blurring the boundaries between the wild and the domestic resulting from the process of domestication, the politics of zoonoses relies on sentinels who preserve the memory of signs from the past to prepare living beings for future threats by involving them in a common ideal.

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Book SynopsisA brilliant new account of one of the world's most remote, mysterious and misunderstood places: Easter Island.More than 1200 miles from the nearest inhabited island and 2200 miles from mainland Chile, Easter Island is one of the most inaccessible places on the planet, made famous by its thousand huge statues. How people came to live there and what happened to them has been the cause of heated debate. Now, in this compelling and deeply researched new book, The Last Island on Earth, we find out the answers. For too long, people have imposed their own theories on this extraordinary place and its inhabitants. Thor Heyerdahl, after his famous Kon-Tiki expedition, claimed the island had been discovered by light-skinned people from South America, believing only they could have been capable of travelling there and building the statues. Erich von Däniken took it to greater extremes, saying the statues had been carved by aliens. More recently, Jared Diamond's theory of ecocide that Islanders destroyed their world by cutting down all the trees has become popular as a vital message about the need to conserve our planet's resources. None of this survives scrutiny, or captures the island's inspiring, and tragic, real story. With new research, local indigenous histories and rediscovered historical sources, archaeologist Mike Pitts creates a fascinating and comprehensive portrait of Easter Island and reveals how the truth is even more remarkable than the fiction.

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Book SynopsisRepresentative examples of swords from 8th-11th century, fully described and illustrated, with general overview. This beautifully illustrated work fills a gap in the literature in English on the swords made and used in northern Europe during the Viking age, between the mid eighth and the mid eleventh centuries. Ewart Oakeshott outlines the significance and diversity of these ancient heirlooms; co-author Ian Peirce, who handled hundreds of swords in his research for this book in museums across northern Europe, selects and describes sixty of the finest representative weapons. Where possible, full-length photographs are included, in addition to illustrations of detail; an illustrated overview of blade types and construction, pattern-welding, inscription and handle forms and their classificationprefaces the catalogue of examples which is the principal part of this work. IAN PEIRCE was a lecturer and museum consultant specialising in early swords; EWART OAKESHOTT was renowned for his pioneer studies on a wide range of medieval swords.Trade ReviewA valuable reference work for the sword enthusiast, and also of use to those with an interest in weaponry or Viking society and warfare. * HISTORYOFWAR.ORG *Fills a vacuum in English language studies. [...] Will appeal to anyone with an interest in early Northern European swords; to Viking scholars, re-enactors, blade smiths and metallurgists. * CLASSIC ARMS AND MILITARIA *An important and welcome book. I cannot imagine that there will be a better book published in English on this subject for a long time. -- PAUL MORTIMER, WITHOWINDEUndoubtedly destined to become a standard reference for blade fanciers and re-enactors. * MEDIEVAL HISTORY *A splendid book which gives a comprehensive overview of [these] swords. I find little to fault in Peirce's work other than that I wish it were three times the length. * RUNA *A book with a clear audience in mind: anyone who wants to study a magnificent set of Viking artefacts. * SPECULUM *An important reference work for scholars as well as for weapons enthusiasts. * SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES *

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Book SynopsisFlint Knapping is a journey of archaeological discovery through the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

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