Gods and Heroes of the European Bronze Age

Rating:
Summary: Academically valuable, artistically indifferent
Review: This is a work of premier academic value, most particularly as a great deal of the information available in it has been generally unavailable in English. Further, it brings the collective knowledge of many splendidly talented archaelogical specialists into a single volume, and deals with a number of subjects not generally handled in a readlily available format. While the text is informative and concise, it must be acknowledged that the quality of the photographs represents perhaps more of a bias toward the analytical rather than the aesthetic. Also,the exhibit catalog at the back of the volume, consisting of short descriptions and rather small, grainy, black and white images of truly spectacular artifacts is something of a disappointment. This situation is occasionally mitigated by particularly apt photographic layout. The subject matter cerainly deserves a bit more attention to quality imaging; despite this, it is an indispensable and long overdue work, and is essential for any student of Bronze Age archaeology, or art history. The exhibit organizers and their sponsors certainly deserve congratulations for a task which could not have been easy, and must have required a great deal of cooperation and international organization.