Stonehenge: Neolithic Man and the Cosmos (Paperback)

'Immensely readable... In this beautifully crafted and meticulously researched book, historian John North has produced the clearest and most detailed account of Stonehenge for a generation.' Michael White, Mail on Sunday 'If anyone's judgement can be trusted on this topic, it is North's. It is fortunate that the millennium will be marked by this important book... a major contribution to understanding the origins of mathematical astronomy. Ann Geneva, Financial Times 'Brilliant... The mass and quality of his new evidence point inevitably to the conclusion he reaches, that the builders of Stonehenge and their Stone Age ancestors were adepts at astronomy and ritual magic.' John Michell, Spectator 'Masterful... It must surely become the standard, both for scholars and general readers.' Patrick Moore

Mysterious Stonehenge has been a magnet for theorists of every stripe for centuries. This new interpretation, by a historian of science (Groningen Univ., the Netherlands), argues that it was both an astronomical observatory and a map of the heavens. Actually, North's net is spread much wider than the title suggests. He begins with a discussion of the structure and orientation of long barrows (or mounds) and ends up examining almost every class of prehistoric megalithic monument on the British Isles as well as some in Western Europe. North has little patience with the idea that the megalith-builders were crude workmen, citing some of the better-preserved monuments that have precise alignments of various points with certain fixed stars. He finds a historical progression from the early long barrows to the later stone avenues and rows, with henges (circular enclosures first made of wood, then stone) the culmination of the tradition. Stonehenge itself evolved over some 2,000 years, and North provides a complete inventory of its components and reconstructs the various stages of its growth. The sight lines through the stone rings are carefully diagrammed, and various astronomical relationships spelled out. Finally, the author brings together his various themes in a discussion of the astronomically based rituals and beliefs he feels we can deduce from the evidence he has compiled. The wealth of detail here, combined with copious diagrams and calculations, is likely to overwhelm the reader who is not familiar (at least through other books) with the monuments under consideration. And while North pays due homage to folklore and other colorful accretions to the subject, his highly technical approach makes this a book many casual antiquarians are more likely to skim than read. An important contribution to the literature of this fascinating subject, then, but more for the specialist than for the common reader. (Kirkus Reviews)

There have been many attempts to explain the purpose of Stonehenge. Using archaelogical detail and a knowledge of the heavens as they were many millennia ago, North establishes the function of the stones themselves and what can be known of the religion that caused them to be erected.