First, it has to be said that this is a 'popular', very readable book on archaeology. It is written almost in the form of a detective story and, like the best of those, it keeps the reader gripped until the very end. Who was Heinrich Schliemann? Who was Agamemnon? Who was Helen of Troy? Did the Greeks really sail to and besiege Troy for her sake? Did the war really last for ten years? Was the story told by Homer in the Iliad true? All these questions are answered here but only as a preliminary to the even more exciting disclosure of the civilization existing on the island of Crete and the strange cult of the bull - the Bull of King Minos. As an introduction to the world of Homer and pre-Homer, this book could hardly be bettered. But make sure that any domestic tasks you have to perform are done before you open it because you won't be able to put it down.
