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erin_huthwaite's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
confusedmagpie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
duchessofreadin's review against another edition
4.0
While this was a very interesting read, I have a few reservations with some of the thoughts of the author.
First, we cannot place modern strictures on the past. While we see something as racist today, it was not then - and she refers to things often in one of her chapters - but as a historian, we cannot and should not place our modern rules on the past. We have to look at the way things were then. Second, she goes off on a rant on women's rights, different genders, etc. I passed over some of her rant, as - it really didn't have a bearing on this book at all.
Overall, taking out the things above, this was an interesting read. I enjoyed the details of the grave sites, and the items that were found within. There is much that we can learn from the past by looking in the graves (again, not placing modern strictures), and learning more about the peoples that were in our past. I really liked the descriptions of the goods that were found, and the condition of some of the bones that were described throughout. Brings some interesting theories on some of the pieces that were found.
First, we cannot place modern strictures on the past. While we see something as racist today, it was not then - and she refers to things often in one of her chapters - but as a historian, we cannot and should not place our modern rules on the past. We have to look at the way things were then. Second, she goes off on a rant on women's rights, different genders, etc. I passed over some of her rant, as - it really didn't have a bearing on this book at all.
Overall, taking out the things above, this was an interesting read. I enjoyed the details of the grave sites, and the items that were found within. There is much that we can learn from the past by looking in the graves (again, not placing modern strictures), and learning more about the peoples that were in our past. I really liked the descriptions of the goods that were found, and the condition of some of the bones that were described throughout. Brings some interesting theories on some of the pieces that were found.
alexrafinski's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
4.25
This books looks at archeological evidence from the Neolithic, bronze and iron ages to try to draw conclusions about whether the neolithic populations was replaced by people from the continent, or whether it was instead ideas that spread to Britain. The sections about historical excavations were particularly interesting and I also like the way that Alice Roberts made it clear that we shouldn't apply today's cultural views to what happened more than 2000 years ago. The main disappointment was that (due to Covid), the project regarding ancient DNA that I think the book was initially hoping to cover, had to be put on hold. But still an interesting read!
dbevvers63's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5