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Title: In Search of the Trojan War, edition
ISBN: 0520215990
Author:
Michael Wood
Publicate Date: 1998-05-13
Publish: 1998-05-13
List Price: $22.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.74
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.14
Amazon Merchant Price: $15.61
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Great book but get the DVD too!
This is the up-dated edition of Michael Wood's classic work on the Trojan War. The new material is important in light of recent excavations at Troy. As always, Wood's books are exceptionally interesting to anyone keen on history, archaeology and travel. But, as good as the book is, the DVD of the original television series that the book accompanied is even better. I wouldn't be without either.
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2: A sublime tour de force !
It results less than impossible avoid to offer resistance this legendary story , which has become in the spark which has illuminated the radiant imagination of the mankind . Michael Wood literally engages and transports us to the insights of this powerful (legend?) and sets us in the own spirit of his personal adventure that sifts through the myths and speculations to provide a eloquent view of the riches , the reality and portentous spirit of the ancient Troy .
I simply can not imagine that one only human being around the world may remain indifferent with that fantastic story .
Please prepare to make a journey in the time and install in the middle of the facts the effects and consequences of this glorious combat where the rivalities , ancestral hates and pacts will be the essential clues to rediscover the marvelous grandiosity of this timeless and unequal battle .
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3: Interesting cover
If you have an interest in learning more about the Trojan War and the archeology involved in proving it wasn't a myth, then this isn't the book for you. I'm not sure who this book was written for. I've a feeling there was a good mind behind a pen that couldn't write in this case.
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4: All about Michael...
Michael Wood's account of the "search for the Trojan war" is distinguished by one central feature. He has an astounding gift for saying in 250 words what could be better said in 10. To say that this book is verbose is like saying that Mt. Everest is pretty darn high. This book is the model of hyperventilated verbosity...droning on and on about granular details that are at least unimportant if not downright irrelevant. In the end, it seems that Michael is more interested in hearing himself make noise than in telling the story of Troy. That is very sad, since the story is one worth telling. Moreover, the many interesting photos in the book tantalize the reader with the promise of information which Mr. Wood cannot deliver...or at least carefully hides in one truly huge mound of trivia. This story deserves an author who can tell it. But Michael Wood is not the one. If you are a reader who enjoys flipping through the pictures without really understanding what they mean, then this book may suit you well. But if you seek actual knowledge of the subject, look elsewhere. Look, in particular, for an author who can distinguish the essential from the inconsequential while telling a story that moves straightforwardly from its beginning to its end. Michael Wood is not that author.
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5: Excellent View Into the Dawn of Western Culture
In this excellent book, Michael Wood covers the history of the modern search for the Troy of Homer's Iliad, and makes a strong case for the Trojan War being a historical occurrence, with most of the details in the Iliad being likewise historical.About half the book is devoted to the major archeological digs at Hisarlik, a site in northwest Turkey, that is the likely site of Troy. Wood puts the discoveries at these digs in a broad context, both geographically and economically, for example in terms of archeological discoveries about contemporaneous sites in Greece and Crete and their implications about trade and warfare, and historically, in terms of the development of the archeologists' own theories over the last century and a half. He also pinpoints which archeological layer is most likely the city that was sacked by the Greeks - specifically, a layer called Troy VI, with n grand, imposing city wall surrounding a stately central city of broad avenues. What I found most interesting, though, was the discussion of historical accounts from the various major powers of the day - the linear B tablets from the Greek city states, the diplomatic archives of the Hittite empire in what is now Turkey, and accounts from the Egypt of Rameses II and III. To me, these really brought to life the late bronze age civilization of the Eastern Mediterranean - arguably a higher civilization than the early iron age civilization that followed. Overall, this book does a terrific job of not only showing when and how the Trojan War actually occurred, but also why, in terms of the dynamics between the 'great powers' of the day.
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