Rosalie David

I brought this along with me for a little light reading on the plane to Scotland, and it really didn't disappoint. It's only 380 pages long in paperback (not including the appendices), and covers something like 5,000 years of Egyptian history, so it's obvious that David was never really going to go into depth with what she was covering. What she does touch on, though, she covers with clarity and insight.

The organisation of the book into chronological sections was also very helpful, allowing show more you to clearly see the separate stages in the evolution of Egyptian religious views and practices over the course of their history, rather than giving you a potted synthesis as is the case in so many books. David is also careful to provide some contextual analysis for the development of each stage of Egyptian religion - I thought her sections on the democratisation of Egyptian religion/society through the Osiris cult was particularly interesting and well thought out. The appendices were very good, providing the full text of some Egyptian spells and prayers, as well as some of the hymns to the Aten.

It's not perhaps a book to do more than dip into or use as a basic reference if you already have more than a basic knowledge of Egyptian history, but still an excellent primer and highly recommended show less

Mummies: Unwrapping the Past is short, but it manages to cover a lot of ground. Punctuated throughout with pictures and photographs, this book explains what mummies are, various mummification processes (and the reasons behind it) and the scientific techniques used to study mummies. Written in language simple enough for the layman to understand, this is the perfect introduction for teaching children about the world of mummies.

This was a fascinating book which discusses life in ancient Egypt from the early pharoahs through the Ptolemies. It's organized thematically, and is packed with information. I read most of this book while researching a novel I'm writing. A great resource about Egypt, and not difficult to read.

Very good - amid the plethora of.... um... well, yes, well ... stuff out there on the subject, David's work is based on research and well documented.