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Review
This is the second edition of what was an excellent book in its first edition, and is now stronger and even more useful ... If you did not add the first edition to your school or college library, I recommend that you do so. If you did, the second edition should still beckon you to include it. (The Journal of Classics Teaching )
When Deborah James reviewed the first edition of this book for JACT in 1997 she said "it beats with the pulse of modern scholarship on the ancient Mediterranean" and drew attention among other merits to the way in which the presentation of the great civilizations in this book enabled the reader to view events in context. This remains one of the great strengths of the book, and with this strength there goes the author's ability to write with skill, precision and vividness for a wide audience. (The Journal of Classics Teaching )
When Deborah James reviewed the first edition of this book for JACT in 1997 she said "it beats with the pulse of modern scholarship on the ancient Mediterranean" and drew attention among other merits to the way in which the presentation of the great civilizations in this book enabled the reader to view events in context. This remains one of the great strengths of the book, and with this strength there goes the author's ability to write with skill, precision and vividness for a wide audience. (The Journal of Classics Teaching )
Product Description
Egypt, Greece and Rome is regarded as one of the best general histories of the ancient world. It is written for the general reader and the student coming to the subject for the first time and provides a reliable and highly accessible point of entry to the period. The volume begins with the early civilizations of Sumer (modern Iraq) and continues through to the Islamic invasions and the birth of modern Europe after the collapse of the western Roman empire. The book ranges beyond political history to cover philosophy, art and literature. A wide range of maps, illustrations and photographs complements the text. The second edition incorporates new chapters on the ancient Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East, as well as extended coverage of Egypt.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can't praise this book (well, it's more of a textbook really) highly enough. This was one of the first books I read when I was taking my initial steps into ancient history many moons ago, and thank goodness it was. Here is the prep book to end all prep books when it comes to the civilisations of the ancient Mediterranean. Anyone - student or merely amateur enthusiast - should emphatically begin with this book if they are starting their study of the subject.
This book mixes pace, informativeness and breadth in a way which I have seldom seen done so well in respect of almost any subject. The reader is never patronised but never overwhelmed, and the book ranges impressively over the political, military, social and intellectual histories of the periods in question. But you're never left baffled by the density of the material and nor is it reduced to dry-as-dust prose. It is all accompanied by maps, timelines, and an extensive bibliography for further reading. The only criticisms I have is that some of the secondary civilisations - The Etruscans, Assyrians, etc - are dealt with in a tantalisingly perfunctory manner which does grate a tad even if it spurs on further research into them.
No, the book won't get into the detailed intricacies of every subject, but of course, that is not its purpose. Its purpose is to give the novice reader a starting point from which to expand their study. It certainly did this with me, and I'm sure it will do exactly that with the majority of other readers too.
This book mixes pace, informativeness and breadth in a way which I have seldom seen done so well in respect of almost any subject. The reader is never patronised but never overwhelmed, and the book ranges impressively over the political, military, social and intellectual histories of the periods in question. But you're never left baffled by the density of the material and nor is it reduced to dry-as-dust prose. It is all accompanied by maps, timelines, and an extensive bibliography for further reading. The only criticisms I have is that some of the secondary civilisations - The Etruscans, Assyrians, etc - are dealt with in a tantalisingly perfunctory manner which does grate a tad even if it spurs on further research into them.
No, the book won't get into the detailed intricacies of every subject, but of course, that is not its purpose. Its purpose is to give the novice reader a starting point from which to expand their study. It certainly did this with me, and I'm sure it will do exactly that with the majority of other readers too.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read many books on Classical history, indept studies, handbooks and ofcourse primary sources, I could only hoped I had read this book much earlier. I really wished my professors would have used this book as a handbook during my courses in Classical History in the university. It really is a perfect introduction to this era of history. The book is very we'll written, supported with enough maps and pictures to support the main body, it really brings you fully into the classical past. Although I read sustantially on several detailed aspects in within the classical past, this book gave made me able to place everything in a much wider view and timespan.
Especially for the ones that loved Braudel's masterpiece, The Mediterranean or John Julius Norwich's The Middle Sea, this one will focus on only the civilisations around the Mediterranean Sea in the Antiquities. So, although the book's title refers to Egypt, Greece & Rome, it also deals with Carthage, Byzantium, Persia and the Hellenistic Kingdoms.
However like other's also have stated, the book does lack in depth, but that is not the intention of the book. I think (or that is how it reads) it's mainly ment as a introduction or a handbook, that is studying the Mediterranean as a whole in stead of focussing on only one subject, like Freeman has done in many other books. But for the ones that will use this book as an intro, every chapter is having enough references for further reading at the end, and will tell you exactly what are regarded as the standard works, where to start for further reading and what books you should read in order to get more deeper into the specific subjects. These also contains the primary sources and which translations are regarded as reliable. Pay attention to the main texts too, cos also in the text itself Freeman is refering to alot of (possible) important books for further study and reference. It would have been better to mention this books once again too, in the further reading list at the end of each chapter.
I already began to read the book for a second time, and not to write down all the books he's refering too, and books I should read for further detailed study. I already have ordered several books on Amazon, that he recomanded me to read.
All in all, greatly recomanded, but do not use it as the only intoduction/reference book, but double check and cross reference with other handbooks as we'll. Unfortunatly historians do not have the luxery of going blind on only one interpretation of the past.
Especially for the ones that loved Braudel's masterpiece, The Mediterranean or John Julius Norwich's The Middle Sea, this one will focus on only the civilisations around the Mediterranean Sea in the Antiquities. So, although the book's title refers to Egypt, Greece & Rome, it also deals with Carthage, Byzantium, Persia and the Hellenistic Kingdoms.
However like other's also have stated, the book does lack in depth, but that is not the intention of the book. I think (or that is how it reads) it's mainly ment as a introduction or a handbook, that is studying the Mediterranean as a whole in stead of focussing on only one subject, like Freeman has done in many other books. But for the ones that will use this book as an intro, every chapter is having enough references for further reading at the end, and will tell you exactly what are regarded as the standard works, where to start for further reading and what books you should read in order to get more deeper into the specific subjects. These also contains the primary sources and which translations are regarded as reliable. Pay attention to the main texts too, cos also in the text itself Freeman is refering to alot of (possible) important books for further study and reference. It would have been better to mention this books once again too, in the further reading list at the end of each chapter.
I already began to read the book for a second time, and not to write down all the books he's refering too, and books I should read for further detailed study. I already have ordered several books on Amazon, that he recomanded me to read.
All in all, greatly recomanded, but do not use it as the only intoduction/reference book, but double check and cross reference with other handbooks as we'll. Unfortunatly historians do not have the luxery of going blind on only one interpretation of the past.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Egypt, Greece, Rome
23 Feb 2006
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was one of the required texts for a course I took on ancient history. Egypt, Greece and Rome was the perfect text, because the book reads as a narrative; nothing in Charles Freeman's book is boring or dry. It covers Mesopotamia from 5000 BC up through the emergence of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth century AD. This book is the key to understanding ancient history, and I highly reccomend it.
Plus, there are a number of black and white and full-color plates, plus some in-text drawings and maps.
Plus, there are a number of black and white and full-color plates, plus some in-text drawings and maps.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
A Gateway to the Ancient World
12 Sep 2005
Format:Paperback
Charles Freeman's work, Egypt, Greece and Rome, is a long and ambitious work, intended as an undergraduate introductory text as well as a text for the layman. Works of this size and scope (over 600 pages of text and illustrations covering the Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman civilizations as well as some others) tend to leave the reader breathless as they jump from one important topic and time period to another. This is not the case with Freeman's work. He wisely juxtaposes the overviews of civilizations with interludes that highlight a small part of the civilization in greater detail.
For example, between Chapter 14 ("Religion in the Greek World") and Chapter 15 ("Athens: Democracy and Empire") is an interlude titled "The Classical Age in Art." This short section discusses the golden age of art in ancient Greece, and brings us to the modern age briefly as the art historian Johann Winckelmann is discussed in relation to his views on the age. ("Winckelmann claimed that the `sublimity' of Classical art was the result of the atmosphere of liberty and exuberance which followed the Persian Wars" 244.)
The text is very accessible, and has a generous bibliography at the end of each chapter in case one wants more. Recommended highly as an introduction to the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean.
For example, between Chapter 14 ("Religion in the Greek World") and Chapter 15 ("Athens: Democracy and Empire") is an interlude titled "The Classical Age in Art." This short section discusses the golden age of art in ancient Greece, and brings us to the modern age briefly as the art historian Johann Winckelmann is discussed in relation to his views on the age. ("Winckelmann claimed that the `sublimity' of Classical art was the result of the atmosphere of liberty and exuberance which followed the Persian Wars" 244.)
The text is very accessible, and has a generous bibliography at the end of each chapter in case one wants more. Recommended highly as an introduction to the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
excellent read in ancient history
8 Oct 2007
Format:Paperback
This is a great intro book on ancient civilizations around the mediterranean. While the subtitle is Egypt, Greece & Rome, the author goes into other, older and more distant cultures as well. The chapters are short and leisurely - you get a good feel for each section without being buried in details.
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