Pryor's passion comes through in his writing and is quite infectious! He has the courage and tenacity to question what has been stated and written by well known historians of prehistory with pretty much solid evidence to back up his theories.A must read for those that want to have an understanding of Britain's prehistoric heritage. ( )

Well researched and very readable account of the archaeology of pre-Roman Britain. I found the early chapters especially interesting, e.g. the Boxgrove site showing the earliest evidence of human habitation in Britain 500,000 years ago, and the remarkable inventiveness of early hunter-gatherers. It did get a bit dry and technical at times in discussing the details of Neolithic and later monuments. The author also sometimes gets a little carried away in describing his or others' theories which seem to me perhaps a bit simplistic, e.g. the wood=life and stone=death theory of late Neolithic/early Bronze age monuments, verging on interpreting facts to fit the theory; the design of Iron age roundhouses mirroring the rising and setting sun also sounded too rigid to me. The author is quite convincing in dismissing the idea of a mass invasion of Neolithic farmers and prefers the theory that it was the idea of farming that swept across Europe to Britain. He cites as evidence DNA from Palaeolithic bones in Cheddar Gorge natching DNA from some modern inhabitants of the same area; on the other hand, there is also DNA evidence from the descendants of "Jasmine, the younger daughter of Eve" from Syria making up a sizeable slice of the British farming population in Neolithic and later society. All in all, a wonderful read that could get almost anyone interested in archaeology and pre-history. ( )

Good read, enjoyed it. Looking forward to visiting some of the sites he recommends. ( )

http://resolutereader.blogspot.com/20... ( )

I kept thinking as I read this chatty tour of the old days "Wow, I can't wait 'till they discover the wheel!" I got all the way through and they never did! Well... they did but, of course, no one was aware of what a radical and influential thing it was. How could they? This book allowed me to cast off another time worn cliché! There's lots of other iconoclasting going on in here too. ( )