Boats of the World: From the Stone Age to Medieval Times

Rating:
Summary: Why shouldn't I buy that book?
Review: c'era una volta una gatta che aveva una macchia nera sul muso ed una barca vecchia come il cucco. Allora che revisione e' mai questa?
Compratelo.
Non ve ne pentirete

Rating:
Summary: Great reference on maritime antiquity
Review: The book is essentially an encyclopedia rather than a narrative history of the evolution of seafaring. So there is a modular format, meaning synoptical outline where ship types have sub-paragraphs on all the variations in a certain regional grouping. The advantage is that there is a heck of a lot of detail, especially the tecnhiques of nautical architecture, plus one can easily compare each type across a variety of ethnic groups. The downside is that the book is kind of choppy, and there is inevitable repetition. All in all, I value this book as a very comprehensive compendium of the latest archaelogical research into ancient maritime technology. Not exactly fireside reading, it is best used as a reference, keying on topics in the index or detailed table of contents.
The illustrations are excellent...detailed, clear drawings, instead of the usual overused photos of debris strewn on seabeds or indecipherable collections of driftwood.
I find something new each time I pick this heavy book up.