 Trade In this Item for up to £5.75
Trade in The Complete Pompeii for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £5.75, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Daily Mail
'Supersedes nearly everything written about the world's most fascinating archaeology site... lavishly illustrated...all Roman life in a nutshell'
The Sunday Telegraph
'A triumph... Beautifully written and magnificently illustrated, packed with fascinating information... Berry talks... with a unique vividness, depth and breadth'
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is by no means the largest nor the most lavish book on Pompeii to appear recently. One of my bookshelves almosts sags and groans under the weight of the mega-tomes edited by Filippo Coarelli and by Marisa Ranieri Panetta (both highly recommended and containing breathtaking illustrations.) But if you're looking for one single handy volume that doesn't require you to pump iron before opening it up then this work has much to commend it. It's admirably wide-ranging in subject matter as is promised by the title, the articles are presented in digestible bite-sized chunks and it's profusely illustrated (although the photos are smaller and lack the impact and detail of those in the two works cited above.) Unlike some of her Italian counterparts, the author adopts a rather cautious approach when sifting the evidence and drawing conclusions on a number of subjects, for example: Was the rebuilding activity underway at the time of the eruption the result of the AD63 earthquake or more recent seismic shocks? Had the city post-earthquake gone "downmarket"? And what exactly was the date of the eruption of Vesuvius (the author suggests this is by no means as certain as the received date we encounter in most books on the subject.) Which all goes to show that after more than two centuries of excavation there is still much about Pompeii that we do not know for sure. Personally, I would like to have seen a few more pages devoted to Heculaneum and Oplontis, but in so far as the book promises the "Complete Pompeii" it does a pretty good job of delivering the goods.
Postscript. The date of the eruption of Vesuvius was recently the subject of an article in the Times. It looks like the usually accepted date of 24 August derived from Pliny is probably correct based on analysis of some garum - Pompeii's famous fish sauce - and the type of fish used in its manufacture.
Postscript. The date of the eruption of Vesuvius was recently the subject of an article in the Times. It looks like the usually accepted date of 24 August derived from Pliny is probably correct based on analysis of some garum - Pompeii's famous fish sauce - and the type of fish used in its manufacture.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you require information about anything the internet has probably become an unbeatable source of knowledge but for me maybe I am old fashioned there is still nothing to beat a good book and this is a good book. It is full of facts and photographs laid out in such a way that they are interesting to the reader.
The main reason that I personally bought the book was that I had visited the site a dozen years ago and my memories of the place were starting to fade in my mind. As soon as I opened the book and the photographs of various parts of the site shone back at me from the pages, all the old memories flooded back and it was as though I had been there only yesterday. The book covers virtually everything that anyone is likely to want to know about Pompeii nd the surrounding area. Also about how one of the largest archaeological sites in the world is still developing with new things being discovered all the time.
The destruction of Pompeii is well documented, but little is known of the lives of the people who lived in Pompeii before the disaster. This book goes a long way towards telling the story of the unfortunate people who were caught up in one of the worst natural disasters in history. How they lived their lives, the work they did and how they spent their leisure time.
The main reason that I personally bought the book was that I had visited the site a dozen years ago and my memories of the place were starting to fade in my mind. As soon as I opened the book and the photographs of various parts of the site shone back at me from the pages, all the old memories flooded back and it was as though I had been there only yesterday. The book covers virtually everything that anyone is likely to want to know about Pompeii nd the surrounding area. Also about how one of the largest archaeological sites in the world is still developing with new things being discovered all the time.
The destruction of Pompeii is well documented, but little is known of the lives of the people who lived in Pompeii before the disaster. This book goes a long way towards telling the story of the unfortunate people who were caught up in one of the worst natural disasters in history. How they lived their lives, the work they did and how they spent their leisure time.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I ordered my copy of The Complete Pompeii from Amazon as it was a recommended textbook on an online course I am taking later this year on Pompeii and the Archeology of Roman cities. True to its title the book gives a complete overview of Pompeii- starting with its destruction, to its discovery and excavation over various centuries and insights into the various aspects of life if the city.
The book is lavishly illustrated and well laid-out both aesthetically and thematically. In fact the feel of the book and the way it is structured may deceive one into thinking there is not much in terms of information but nothing could be farther from the truth. The lay out of the book does not intimidate a reader who is new to the subject of Ancient Roman civilisation and Pompeii at the same time providing the kind of detailed information that would also be of interest to a scholar.
The book starts with some context setting for the region and then chronologically charts its way through the eruption of Vesuvius and then the modern discovery of the city and the excavations. It then goes back to the historical development of the city and the life of the people in the town focusing on what we can learn from discoveries in the area. It is indeed quite tragic that the early excavations of the region in the 18th and 19th centuries were quite chaotic leading to valuable loss of details that could go a long way in furthering our knowledge of life in an ancient Roman town. Yet it is heartening to know that much can be learnt from what remains and that the situation is not hopeless.
What was fascinating for me was how life as we imagine it in Pompeii was not quite so different from life in small villages and towns a few decades ago (at least in the Asian subcontinent) and even today (especially with things like election propaganda material).
The book provides a robust bibliography for further reading and even tips for the visitor to the site.
In all a great book- not just as a source of information for the scholar or historian, a guidebook to the visitor of Pompeii and also as a coffee table book.
The book is lavishly illustrated and well laid-out both aesthetically and thematically. In fact the feel of the book and the way it is structured may deceive one into thinking there is not much in terms of information but nothing could be farther from the truth. The lay out of the book does not intimidate a reader who is new to the subject of Ancient Roman civilisation and Pompeii at the same time providing the kind of detailed information that would also be of interest to a scholar.
The book starts with some context setting for the region and then chronologically charts its way through the eruption of Vesuvius and then the modern discovery of the city and the excavations. It then goes back to the historical development of the city and the life of the people in the town focusing on what we can learn from discoveries in the area. It is indeed quite tragic that the early excavations of the region in the 18th and 19th centuries were quite chaotic leading to valuable loss of details that could go a long way in furthering our knowledge of life in an ancient Roman town. Yet it is heartening to know that much can be learnt from what remains and that the situation is not hopeless.
What was fascinating for me was how life as we imagine it in Pompeii was not quite so different from life in small villages and towns a few decades ago (at least in the Asian subcontinent) and even today (especially with things like election propaganda material).
The book provides a robust bibliography for further reading and even tips for the visitor to the site.
In all a great book- not just as a source of information for the scholar or historian, a guidebook to the visitor of Pompeii and also as a coffee table book.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant book
Visiting Pompeii recently, I looked everywhere for a comprehensive but readable book about the site and couldn't find one at all in Italy. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Book addict
brilliant
having visited pompeii and wanting to learn more about this fasinating place i purchased the complete pompeii.it is an invaluable source of information. Read more
Published 17 months ago by rosemary
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Ancient History & Civilisation > Greece
- Books > History > Ancient History & Civilisation > Rome
- Books > History > Europe > Pre-500
- Books > History > World History
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
