Rating: 
Summary: Excitingly political
Review: Highly recommended as a short, accessible, and not too technical introduction to Maya political history during the Classic Period (first millenium A.D.). Simon Martin is a brilliant young English art scholar and Nikolai Grube an outstanding epigrapher from Bonn. They collaborated to propose a new theory of grand shifting alliances among ancient Maya city states that roiled the Yucatan Peninsula 1500 years ago. This Chronicle (one in a Thames & Hudson series) includes that and more: it is an event-based chronicle of all the best known rulers of the ancient Maya world as currently inferred from their own pictorial hieroglyphics. It is a wonderful supplement for people interested in the Maya, with an exciting new history to outline. There IS a chronological narrative running through it, but really this is a book to be studied. Only the 11 most powerful (or well-documented) Maya city states are presented in full. After a brief introduction to Maya history, five chapters trace the glyph-based histories of the most important cities (including Tikal and Calakmul). Then six chapters cover as many peripheral cities with full records (like Palenque and Copan), concluding with the fall of the kings. The text is festooned with innumerable photographs, line drawings of hieroglyphs and royalty, explanatory captions, kings' names, biographical tables, sidebars on archaeological topics, views of buildings, and shaded city plans. Helping you keep track of the impossible (and often similar) names are king headers and timeline footers. A useful bibliography and name (not topic) index complete the book This book is not intended as a guide to famous ruins nor does it deal with the popular subject of Maya religion and cosmos. It deals with the political outcomes of the scheming and murder that underpinned all that. It does not provide glyph by glyph readings (as Schele and Mathews do for many of the same cities in the very different CODE OF KINGS). The book is printed on fine paper in Slovenia. (Hopefully we shall soon see some good novels fleshing out the bloody tales implied here.)
Rating:
Summary: A great additional to a wonderful series
Review: The "Chronicle" series are excellent introductions to the leaders of a variety of past, and some present civilizations. The Mayan history is an excellent pictorial and narative of the Central American civilization. I am amazed at the information that can be presented in a fresh and non-dry, textbook fashion. It makes history even more interesting. It also is a great stepping off point for other readings on the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Kings of the Yucatan
Review: The 'Chronicle of the Mayan Kings' is a beautifully illustrated chronicle of the Mayan kings of the poorly known Mayan kingdoms of the Yucatan like Tikal and Copan. The names of the Mayan kings are shown in Mayan hieroglyphs. There are accounts of what we know of the accomplishments of men such as Yik'in Chan Kawil of Tikal and Yukmook Cheen 2 of Calukmal. We see the relations among the Mayan states. There are timelines to make the time periods more clear. Special features describe the complex Mayan calendar and the Mayan number system, which is based on twenty instead of ten.
This book is an excellent account of what little is known about the Mayan states.
Rating:
Summary: Authoritative Eyeful
Review: The amount of information that has accumulated about the Maya in the last ten years is extraordinary. I find it amazing to go to public libraries, even good ones like the state library here in Tallahassee, Florida, only to find that most of the books on the Maya date from the 1970's or earlier, and virtually everything they have to say about the historical context of Maya civilization is woefully out of date. If you're out of date about the latest developments in Maya historiography, or if you're just developing an interest in the subject, you'll find this book to be of value. It gives the history of the major classic era cities (the book is completely about the classic period, and only digresses outside of that era to add supporting information), and does it in a format that is attractive and interesting. Indeed, many of the illustrations are of pieces that have only recently been unearthed, and this increases the interest of the book. The one drawback is that the book is a little too advanced for the beginner - it can be difficult to work out the historical signposts - and a little too basic for the student already familiar with most recent work. A little more data about the overall context of the period and culture would be of some value. Aside from this one objection, it is an admirable work, well-written enough to capture the interest of the intelligent general reader while not giving the feeling that the authors are talking down to a non-specialist level. Definitely worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Authoritative Eyeful
Review: The amount of information that has accumulated about the Maya in the last ten years is extraordinary. I find it amazing to go to public libraries, even good ones like the state library here in Tallahassee, Florida, only to find that most of the books on the Maya date from the 1970's or earlier, and virtually everything they have to say about the historical context of Maya civilization is woefully out of date. If you're out of date about the latest developments in Maya historiography, or if you're just developing an interest in the subject, you'll find this book to be of value. It gives the history of the major classic era cities (the book is completely about the classic period, and only digresses outside of that era to add supporting information), and does it in a format that is attractive and interesting. Indeed, many of the illustrations are of pieces that have only recently been unearthed, and this increases the interest of the book. The one drawback is that the book is a little too advanced for the beginner - it can be difficult to work out the historical signposts - and a little too basic for the student already familiar with most recent work. A little more data about the overall context of the period and culture would be of some value. Aside from this one objection, it is an admirable work, well-written enough to capture the interest of the intelligent general reader while not giving the feeling that the authors are talking down to a non-specialist level. Definitely worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Too academic for a generalist audience
Review: The authors may be stars in the Maya world, but I didn't like this book much - especially after paying almost US$50 for the hardback version. It may have great illustrations and very informed analysis of certain city lineages, but it doesn't give you a good flavour of the history of Mayan civilisation. It's very academic in its approach and covers less than a dozen cities in the region. Its conclusions on the rise and fall of one of Mesoamoerica's foremost civilisations were a bit perfunctory for my liking. Stylish but dry. Two stars.
Rating:
Summary: Too academic for a generalist audience
Review: The authors may be stars in the Maya world, but I didn't like this book much - especially after paying almost US$50 for the hardback version. It may have great illustrations and very informed analysis of certain city lineages, but it doesn't give you a good flavour of the history of Mayan civilisation. It's very academic in its approach and covers less than a dozen cities in the region. Its conclusions on the rise and fall of one of Mesoamoerica's foremost civilisations were a bit perfunctory for my liking. Stylish but dry. Two stars.
Rating:
Summary: Kings of the Yucatan
Review: The `Chronicle of the Mayan Kings' is a beautifully illustrated chronicle of the Mayan kings of the poorly known Mayan kingdoms of the Yucatan like Tikal and Copan. The names of the Mayan kings are shown in Mayan hieroglyphs. There are accounts of what we know of the accomplishments of men such as Yik'in Chan Kawil of Tikal and Yukmook Cheen 2 of Calukmal. We see the relations among the Mayan states. There are timelines to make the time periods more clear. Special features describe the complex Mayan calendar and the Mayan number system, which is based on twenty instead of ten.
This book is an excellent account of what little is known about the Mayan states.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent, Lavishly Illustrated, and Well Written
Review: This book gives you some context of the history of the "discovery" of the Mayan culture and of the present state of archaeological understanding. The REAL strength of this book is in the surveys of eleven important Mayan cities. It discusses their rise, sources of political powers, the ruling lineages and how all of these cities intertwined in history and power. After reading this book I have a better four-dimensional sense of these city-states. This book is a treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent, Lavishly Illustrated, and Well Written
Review: This book gives you some context of the history of the "discovery" of the Mayan culture and of the present state of archaeological understanding. The REAL strength of this book is in the surveys of eleven important Mayan cities. It discusses their rise, sources of political powers, the ruling lineages and how all of these cities intertwined in history and power. After reading this book I have a better four-dimensional sense of these city-states. This book is a treasure.
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