The Complete Idiot's Guide to Lost Civilizations

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Summary: Truly informative and enjoyable!
Review: As one who has taught ancient history for many years, I'm always interested in finding books that will nicely supplement the usual texts and lectures. This book really fills a gap. It provides wonderful information on how archaeology works and I found that the summaries of the various world areas were quite competent...A lot of ancient history and archaeology is debatable and one can't expect the ins and outs of all the various arguments to be thoroughly discussed in detail in such a broad, general introduction as is typically found in the Idiot's Guides series. Ryan seems to have prudently taken the mainstream opinions in most cases and I found his special chapters on the controversial subjects to be very well-written...I'll just say that this is a really nice book which I can highly recommend and I hope it does well! - E.L.

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Summary: A reference tool I will reach for time and time again.
Review: Dr. Donald P. Ryan serves up a plethora of fascinating and interesting tidbits of information encompassing all aspects of archaeology, clear explanations of technical jargon and the cultures of ancient civilizations in this concise and well written volume. While the format and presentation of material lends itself well to small infusions of highly educational, interesting and entertaining moments at one sitting, the author's writing style is so engaging that you anxiously await your next opportunity to dive into the next segment or chapter. Due to the enormity of the topic, space prevents a highly detailed presentation of any given ancient culture so the author kindly assists by providing a recommended reading list at the conclusion of the book for those yearning to learn even more. However, it is quite incredible just how much information Dr. Ryan has succeeding in presenting us with, given the confining space restrictions of this one volume.

Dr. Ryan has the knack of making ancient cultures "come alive" and provides an awareness that ancient cultures were significantly more advanced than they have been given credit for and points out the technical, social and political "advances" made. My special area of interest happens to be the culture of Ancient Egypt however, after devouring Dr. Ryan's book, I am now most anxious to learn more about Ancient Egypt's neighboring civilizations and to learn more about "lost civilizations" in a broader sense. I also now feel that I have a better understanding of archaeological methods, techniques and "jargon" which will make delving through all those technical journals a much more pleasant experience!

I was particularly impressed with the author's ability to cover the rather touchy topics of fringe archaeology, diffusion and isolation viewpoints and ethical dilemmas in a frank, candid and non-biased manner. He manages to pull all this off in a non-judgmental manner and encourages the reader to think for themselves based on the archaeological evidence at hand as well as keeping in mind that out of "fringe" archaeology may come a valuable piece of information.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with even a mild interest in archaeology and ancient civilizations.

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Summary: Archeology of Everything for Everybody
Review: Dr. Ryan covers an immense archeological territory, both temporally and geographically, in this relatively small book. As an all-encompassing overview of worldwide archeology, it can scarcely be improved. This breadth necessarily leads to some superficiality, at least in the few areas of which I have personal knowledge, but this is inevitable allowing the size constraints. The b/w illustrations are a bit scanty but helpful and well-selected, and, yes, there is thank God an index.

This book will be useful and enjoyable for a wide spectrum of people ranging from those whose knowledge of archeology is limited to Indiana Jones, to those who are familiar with one limited aspect of archeology and who wish to know more about other aspects. Readers in the latter category should recall that Dr. Ryan is an egyptologist, which accounts for the slight weighting in the direction of the Nile, but this is easily forgiven.

An enjoyable aspect of the book is that Dr. Ryan cheerfully, and seemingly fairly, addresses many controversial subjects that other authors of such a book might have avoided; one comes to see archeology as distinctly not a dead field. He is also fair in discussing areas that are close to, and even well within, the broad lunatic fringe of archeology: Atlantis, ancient astronauts, Dr. Fell, etc. And he emphasizes an observation that is dear to my heart: that ancient peoples were every bit as intelligent, creative, and industrious as we are today. Generally he presents his own field fairly, warts and all, with humor and zero pomposity.

Admittedly, the book is done in the vaguely college-frat and sometimes too cute style originated by the "Dummies" series of computer texts, which may be off-putting to some, although the title offers fair warning. Thus, for example, the pages are littered with little icon-embellished boxes containing miscellaneous factoids. Sometimes these add substantially to the text; sometimes they don't, as when explaining the difference between the Ph.D. and M.D. degrees, perhaps in homage to the "complete idiot" of the title. [I am considering a book provisionally entitled "Neurosurgery for Cretins:" "Okay, you retract the meninges (careful of that pesky middle meningeal artery!), and there it is: THE BRAIN! Head Honcho of the human body...."]

In summary, if you have any interest in archeology whatever, this book is definitely worthwhile as a superbly broad-based and easily read survey.

Rating:
Summary: Truly informative and enjoyable!
Review: Great introduction to Archaeology. This book tells the "nuts and bolts" of the quest for our past.

Yes, it give information on "Lost Civilizations," covering everything from the ancient Egyptians, to the Incas and Aztecs, and many in between. But it also discusses some of the basics of archaeology--which you will discover is much different from the "Indiana Jones" portrayal. You'll learn how artifacts are discovered and dated, and how they are used to construct a picture of what a civilization was like.

Full of entertaining facts and trivia, and even pointers on how you as an amateur can get involved in archaeology, I'd recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the mysteries of our past.

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Summary: Archaeology 101
Review: Great introduction to Archaeology. This book tells the "nuts and bolts" of the quest for our past.

Yes, it give information on "Lost Civilizations," covering everything from the ancient Egyptians, to the Incas and Aztecs, and many in between. But it also discusses some of the basics of archaeology--which you will discover is much different from the "Indiana Jones" portrayal. You'll learn how artifacts are discovered and dated, and how they are used to construct a picture of what a civilization was like.

Full of entertaining facts and trivia, and even pointers on how you as an amateur can get involved in archaeology, I'd recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in the mysteries of our past.

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Summary: Got me interested in areas I didn't think very interesting
Review: If you want a good entertaining view of Archaeology, check this book out. Dr Ryan's sense of humor and immense knowledge that I experienced while taking a couple classes by him at a local college, really comes out in his book. He gives the same amount of attention to all the major civilizations and also delves into what some of us may consider "kooky" areas of archaeology without being critical. For someone that may be interested in becoming an Archaeologist he tells you what to expect and where to go for information.

Like I said in my title, I didn't really think Central and South American archaeology was very interesting but after reading this book, I'm rethinking that opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Split Personality
Review: The publisher and author of this book did not know what kind of book they wanted this to be. It has a split personality - part archaeology and part classical history. With a name like Lost Civilizations I thought it would tell me about the Aztez and Incan cultures as well as possibly Greek and Roman classical history. It doesn't know if it wants to be a primer about archaeology or a text on classical history. If they wanted to teach the former (which they do for about half the book) then they should have called it the Complete Idiot's Guide to Archaeology. Either book would have been good but this is a mish mash of both and is not a good thematic teaching of either field.

Rating:
Summary: concise overview with insurmountable errors
Review: There were a lot of holes in my knowledge of ancient civilizations. I could have told you when Gilgamesh probably lived (2600 BCE) but I did not know when the Egyptians built the Pyramids or that the Incas did not have a system of writing. This book was perfect for filling some of the gaps in my knowledge. It is written at a high school level, which is good. I just wanted to learn some ancient history at a relaxed pace, and Dr. Ryan provided this opportunity.

I suspect that a few parts of the book may be in error or an oversimplification. For instance, I have always thought that Homo sapiens...were the first anatomically modern humans, and that they (we) first appeared about forty thousand years ago. Dr. Ryan says that anatomically modern humans appeared 100,000 years ago, but does not explain why he says this. I have read of "archaic [Homo sapiens]" dating from 100,000 years ago but I was not aware that they were like us.

He also distinguishes between the Sumerians and the Akkadians in terms of the latter invading the former. But some scholars such as Jean Bottero believe that the Sumerians and Akkadians, while speaking different languages, were in fact the same nation and the same culture. Bottero's view seems plausible to me. Some Irish speak Gaelic and some English, but they are the same nation.

So perhaps this book has some oversimplifications or mistakes, but it is well worth reading for those, like me, who need a general and gentle introduction to areas of archaeology that they missed out on learning about in the past.

Rating:
Summary: excellent overview
Review: This book is an excellent introduction and overview to the subjects of archaeology and ancient civilizations. Dr. Ryan, an expert in many areas of archaeology and ancient history, and an accomplished explorer, introduces the basics without condescension, and discusses more difficult or technical areas without losing his readers. He also deals fairly with those on the archaeological "fringe." A valuable part of the book is his advice to those who wish to pursue a career in archaeology. Very well-written and a pleasure to read, and downright hilarious in places. Highly recommended!