The author is an archaeologist who can spin technical straw into narrative gold. Her previous book, River Kings, was on the Vikings - and it was riveting.
Beard on the faces of power through history. She asks why - for over two millennia - the striking, stony realism of Roman portraiture has been a touchstone for subsequent depictions of power... read more
We haven't quite understood yet how to use this magnificent book as an atlas, but the pictures are breath-taking: ancient wonders hiding in plain sight. Abram's takes full advantage of aeria... read more
Ostensibly about the life of the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, this beautifully illustrated volume examines the idea that harmony and beauty are not only inherent in the wo... read more
A compelling account of the world's first empire, drawing extensively on recent discoveries in the field with the use of new archaeological techniques.
9000BC years ago there were pastoral economies; by 3000BC the desert reasserted itself. A fascinating study of human adaptability in the face of early climate change and geophysical influenc... read more
800 years of cave paintings, from the C2nd BC to the C6th CE: a revised edition with digitally restored images, and a new introduction by Dalrymple who has been researching the history of Bu... read more
The labours of Hercules are as nothing to those of archeo-botanists... tamarisk, red bryony, poplar etc and their role in traditional medicine - based on cuneiform inscriptions and intimate ... read more
The stone circles of Britain and Ireland: their location in a landscapes, construction, composition, chronology. An excellent illustrated guide, by region, with maps.
A huge work of scholarship that brings the late C5th/early C6th world to life. Theoderic stabilised Italy and extended his kingdom to include parts of France, the Iberian peninsula and the w... read more
The great historian of late antiquity mixes the personal with the scholarly in telling the story of his life and work. Engagement with the non-European world has been intrinsic to his work.