The Ancient Mediterranean

Rating:
Summary: Shaping the World
Review: Grant is best known for his extensive authoring of books on ancient Greece and Rome. This volume is a cultural history of the entire Mediterranean region. It is broken up into three parts: Early Times, The Greeks, and The Romans. The most interesting part (and the reason why I read this book) is part one. Grant uses a variety of ways to sum-up the civilizations of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. He uses archeology, geography, anthropology, and economics to tell the tale of how these civilizations helped shape the later Mediterranean world of the Greeks and Romans. It is amazing that something as simple as the use of the horse can help shape a civilization. I enjoyed the chapters on the expansion of Israel and Carthage. Both societies were a force to be reckoned with. This is more proof of the power and reach of the Roman Empire which eliminated the Carthaginian world and subjugated the Israelites. The book loses a star because of the poor quality of the plates. I have the Meridian Edition from 1988 and the black and white plates look like photos of photos. I imagine the 1969 hardcover is much better if you can find it.

Rating:
Summary: Shaping the World
Review: Grant is best known for his extensive authoring of books on ancient Greece and Rome. This volume is a cultural history of the entire Mediterranean region. It is broken up into three parts: Early Times, The Greeks, and The Romans. The most interesting part (and the reason why I read this book) is part one. Grant uses a variety of ways to sum-up the civilizations of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. He uses archeology, geography, anthropology, and economics to tell the tale of how these civilizations helped shape the later Mediterranean world of the Greeks and Romans. It is amazing that something as simple as the use of the horse can help shape a civilization. I enjoyed the chapters on the expansion of Israel and Carthage. Both societies were a force to be reckoned with. This is more proof of the power and reach of the Roman Empire which eliminated the Carthaginian world and subjugated the Israelites. The book loses a star because of the poor quality of the plates. I have the Meridian Edition from 1988 and the black and white plates look like photos of photos. I imagine the 1969 hardcover is much better if you can find it.

Rating:
Summary: The Ancient Mediterranean
Review: I do not recommend this book unless you are more interested in a technical history rather than a layman's history. It may make a good textbook, but it is not exciting to read.

Rating:
Summary: The Ancient Mediterranean
Review: I do not recommend this book unless you are more interested in a technical history rather than a layman's history. It may make a good textbook, but it is not exciting to read.

Rating:
Summary: Overview of the ancient Mediterranean
Review: Michael Grant has shown over the years to be an authority on ancient times (in the Western World). He has especially dedicated a number of his books to Greece and Rome. In the Ancient Mediterranean, he broadens his field to the various civilizations around this body of water, particularly the ones on the eastern shores.

This book is only partly history. It is also anthropology, as Grant examines what made up the culture of these various groups. Since a lot of this is very ancient, there are not many individuals in much of this book; instead this is the story of various groups. Only late in the book, when the focus moves to Greece and then Rome do we see individual historic figures; even then, Grant only glosses over them as he examines the societies.

Because of Grant's style, this can be slow reading at times, but there is a lot of good information here. If you are interested in Greek and Roman history, this book is insufficient, but to get a context in which these great civilizations arouse, this book will work well.

Rating:
Summary: Overview of the ancient Mediterranean
Review: Michael Grant has shown over the years to be an authority on ancient times (in the Western World). He has especially dedicated a number of his books to Greece and Rome. In the Ancient Mediterranean, he broadens his field to the various civilizations around this body of water, particularly the ones on the eastern shores.

This book is only partly history. It is also anthropology, as Grant examines what made up the culture of these various groups. Since a lot of this is very ancient, there are not many individuals in much of this book; instead this is the story of various groups. Only late in the book, when the focus moves to Greece and then Rome do we see individual historic figures; even then, Grant only glosses over them as he examines the societies.

Because of Grant's style, this can be slow reading at times, but there is a lot of good information here. If you are interested in Greek and Roman history, this book is insufficient, but to get a context in which these great civilizations arouse, this book will work well.