Ancient Greece

The cover of this book has a dynamic picture of the famous ancient Greek temple, the Parthenon, in Athens. The contents of this book are divided into two parts. Part one of the book focuses mostly on the history of ancient Greece from around 1600 B.C. in the late Bronze Age to about 100 B.C. when the Romans conquered the Greek civilization. Part two concentrates on Greek culture and society. Some of ancient Greece's most famous sites are reviewed as well as other aspects of Greek culture such as art, architecture, myths, everyday life, entertainment, and housing. A nice aspect of the book is the inclusion of two pages solely devoted to the world of Greek women, discussing their daily life, their roles in society, and influential Greek women. There are many beautiful photographs and illustrations (all with informative captions), a few diagrams, a table of dates, and numerous maps. And because Greece was divided into many small, independently ruled communities or city-states, the abundant use of maps is very important and helpful to readers. The atlas contains a lot of excellent information, but as a whole, the information did not flow from one topic to the next. It is best suited as a resource for studying special topics of interest rather than a book to read from cover to cover. It is also more appropriate for more advanced readers.