ANCIENT GREEKS(Spotlight Guides)
Charles Freeman
978-1-78121-228-8 | Paperback | 48 pages | 6.8″ x 9.1″
List Price: $7.99
DESCRIPTION
Featuring detailed, informative text, stunning imagery and colorful diagrams, as well as helpful timelines and glossaries, the Spotlight series offers an engaging and richly illustrated glimpse into a range of fascinating topics from the worlds of history and science. Experience one of the most inventive societies in history with this vibrantly illustrated guide to the traditions, ideas, and philosophers that made ancient Greece the birthplace of western civilization.
REVIEWS
“Cultures from antiquity spring to life in the Spotlights series of info- and picture-packed paper-over-board volumes. In The Ancient Greeks by Charles Freeman, detailed drawings of artifacts, architecture, weaponry, statuary and dozens of other traditional elements mix with succinct text on society, economy, government, women’s roles and even the early Olympics. Other titles in the series include The Romans by John Haywood; The Egyptians by Neil Grant; and going even further back in time, Prehistoric Life by Dougal Dixon.”
Publisher’s Weekly
“A quick survey of the highlights of ancient Greece, focusing mainly on the classical period. Each chapter is covered in a two- page spread of several paragraphs of summary, a main illustration with numerous captions pointing to important details, an inset picture and caption, and a row of captioned illustrations of related artifacts. This entry in the Spotlights series is heavily illustrated, well designed, and full of fascinating snippets of information. Though most of the information is readily available in other similar books, the cutaways of ships and buildings are especially good, and the battle maps are unusually clear. An economical look at an intriguing subject.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Gr 4-6. Three ancient civilizations are introduced in these titles. Double-page spreads focus on a particular topic such as cultural and social life, political organization, religion, and warfare. Numerous illustrations and examples of architecture and artifacts related to each topic help to provide further information. The brief, often stilted texts do not provide enough material for reports, but the colorful layout may attract browsers. ‘Spotlights’ alert readers to objects and artifacts that can often be found in museums. For greater eye appeal with similarly limited information, try George Hart’s Ancient Egypt (Harcourt, 1989), Simon James’s Ancient Rome (Viking, 1992), and Anne Pearson’s Ancient Greece (Knopf, 1992).”
Cynthia Sturgis, Ledding Library, Milwaukie, OR, School Library Journal
AUTHOR BIO
Charles P. Freeman is a scholar and freelance historian specializing in the history of ancient Greece and Rome. He is the author of numerous books on the ancient world. He has taught courses on ancient history in Cambridge’s Adult Education program and is Historical Consultant to the Blue Guides. He also leads cultural study tours to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He lives in Suffolk, England.