I bought this after a holiday in Santorini (Thera). A visit to Akrotiri was enough to enthuse me with the idea that Atlantis and Thera were one and the same. So I bought Mr Menzies book as an introduction to the topic, having previously only seen wonderfully trashy films and read a bit of Plato on the subject.
Now i will admit that Mr Menzies is no stuffy Oxbridge historian. He has a light, breezy style that tells you as much about his eating habits as it does Atlantis. Not that that distracts from the theme, but just makes it less "heavy" than some books you might pick up. It is his enthusiasm that comes across as much as his research and evidence. The book is not perfect. The paperback omits the colour plates much referred to (annoyingly) and the last time I looked Silbury Hill is not a mile from Stonehenge but it is from Avebury. Minor niggles aside the book is enjoyable and readable.
Mr Menzies makes a strong case for the extent and depth of a Minoan empire. Maybe not conclusive and maybe sometimes based on a "gut feel" rather than a strong piece of evidence but it is persuasive. I was left wanting to know more about the commonality of Bronze Age tools and jewelry not only in the areas the Minoans were said to visit but also the areas they did not. Is a bronze axe going to be similar the world over if it is used for the same purpose or will there by stylistic and material differences? I also felt that the whole issue of stone circles was a bit overplayed as astronomy will have certain similiarities (the sun always rises and falls in the same way irrespective of culture) that manmade constructs may not.
But overall it was a good introduction to the topic and it has fired my enthusiasm for more. The antiquity of the Minoans was brought home when I was visiting some Roman ruins recently. It struck me that the age of the Roman ruins to me was about the same as the Akrotiri ruins would have been to Caesar. This alone means I need to know more!
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