Frances Lincoln ISBN 9781847808257 £8.99
This is a delightfully illustrated introduction to life in Ancient Egypt, from pharaohs to farmers, from gods to warriors. Attractively written in an engaging manner, it had my 11 year old reading it from cover to cover. The examples used are of central importance to the topic as, for example, the description of Ramesses II as the most powerful pharaoh ever. There is much that is familiar, as well as some that is new. The pull out map at the back is excellent – simple, clear and informative. Unfortunately that cannot be said of the timeline which is not to scale – how are pupils to begin to comprehend the long sweep of Egyptian history when the gap from 332BC to 30BC is bigger than the gap from 2580BC to 2055BC? The images and text are fine, but the timeline is totally misleading in suggesting the scope of the period. There is also a major error. Both on the timeline and in the text the New Kingdom is said to begin in 1150BC whereas in truth this date should be 1550BC or perhaps 1650BC depending on whether you include the Second Intermediate Period or not. Errors such as this detract from what would otherwise be a useful small, accessible reference work for Ancient Egypt. It might be nice if the text also reflected some of the controversies and debates historians have about Ancient Egypt – history is, after all, a contested subject! I hope the publishers will correct both errors.
Alf Wilkinson, The Historical Association