Peter Chrisp

Essentially an Eyewitness DK book with the addition of a few transparent overlays. The overlays are a little clunky; the Tutankhamon one is the best.

Due to its themed structure and the standard Eyewitness design the book is a bit incoherent. Another problem with the DK format is that relative size is not made apparent. There is a fragment of a statue of Hatshepsut (or possibly Thutmosis III?) pictured on p. 10. Was it colossal, as so many of the Egyptian status of pharoahs were? If so, how show more big was it? Why is the statue of Akhenaten, shown so much larger on the facing page? Was it actually larger, or just more important to the editors of the book?

The captions can be quite ill chosen. The one about the Hatshepsut statue leads with the word "Experts", the go-to "weasel word" of today. On p.12, there is a painting taken from a chest found in the antechamber of the tomb of Tutankhamon, in which a large pharaoh, with bow drawn, rides over and defeats a bunch of Nubian warriors. A caption reads, "Scattered and fleeing Nubians, representing disorder". Any student of the history of ancient Egypt knows about the protracted history of Egyptian battles with the inhabitants of the upper reaches of the Nile, i.e., Nubians. I think these Nubians represent Nubians, myself. On p. 14 there is a painting that may be of Tutankhamon and his wife Ankhesenamon. The male figure, identified with Tutankhamon is using a crutch. The caption offers no hypothesis about the crutch, which is really a strange choice.

On p.28 there is a rare and rather heartwarming carving showing Horus and Set, generally adversaries, amicably binding together the lower and upper kingdoms of Egypt.

In sum, the fidelity of the images makes this book worthwhile, the overall design and the poor quality of the captions make it a bit frustrating and not really all that educational. show less

I really have to hand it to DK publications. They produce some outstanding illustrated books. And this is one of them. The amount of information packed between the covers in 512 pages is simply astonishing. And the quality of the photos is superb. However, It's one of those books that I always aspire to to read cover to cover, but never manage to do so. And in the rapidly contracting years left to me, it's unlikely that I will ever read this cover to cover. However, I've delved into it and show more checked out a few sections where I felt I had reasonable knowledge. The first was about Alexander the Great. Basically they see to have the story correct although it is greatly abbreviated and the is no mention of Alexander fancying himself as a god or the Oracle in Egypt confirming this fantasy. Elsewhere where I looked for similar detail (for example with the Olmecs in Mexico, the basic facts were there but it lacked detail and there was not even speculation about what caused the Olmec decline and resurrection followed by a decline). One thing which I liked about the book is the they have made a semi-serious attempt to cover world events. For example they mention what is happening in China at around 770 BCE but it really lacks detail and the history is decidedly lop-sidedly european biased. They have included extensive time lines on most of the pages where there is a chronological sequence of events in the text. And there are feature pages on special topics such as Metalworking, Agriculture, The rise of the Roman Empire, The American Civil War. I liked these. they are like visual summary cheat sheets. They don't replace reading multiple specialist books on a particular topic but are great for getting a fast overview.
One reservation that I have is that if you really want to know about some specific period or detail of history then the sweep of the DK book is at a too high-level. It doesn't get into the detail. For example, when I wanted to know exactly where the Sogdian Rock was located ....it's not even shown on the very small map of Alexanders travels.
Still really fascinating to dip into and one can earn a lot. An easy five stars from me. show less

Review of Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness) by Peter Chrisp

This past spring I assisted in a freshman English class. Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness Books) was one of the most successful non-fictions about Shakespeare introduced to the class. Successful meaning they got something out of it and most of the students liked the book. The students were assigned projects where they had to explain a facet of Elizabethan England and then present their project to the class, something I could see myself show more assigning. The topics ranged from school to clothing to architecture. Nearly everyone in the class could use something they found in the Shakespeare Eyewitness for their projects, which made all the students beaucoup happy with the book as they had a minimum amount of resources they had to use for the project.

The book is set up by topic. A section will focus on life in Stratford-upon-Avon or life in the country and then jump to a section on school in Elizabethan England. Each section consists of approximately one page spreads with an introduction (or brief summary), captioned photos, and reproductions of buildings, scenes, or people. The combination of quick text and the myriad photos gives the reader an immediate understanding of the time period, if somewhat shallow because of the brevity of the explanations. The book is also organized down to its eyeteeth, probably demanded or implanted by the series designers. The good thing about this is that students can quickly pinpoint where in the book they need to go by referring to the extensive index.

In Shakespeare (DK Eyewitness) I especially enjoyed the unexpected tidbits I found strewn throughout the spreads. For example, the fact that Elizabethans kicked around a ball made out of pig's bladder, a rather gory and gross Elizabethan football. Or the terminology they used like "nipping a bung" to equal purse snatching.

My only concern about this book is that it is not an in depth explanation of any of the topics that it covers. Students can pluck out the information they need without achieving any kind of in-depth comprehension of Elizabethan England. In this way, the book should only be used as a reference material to supplement a project without allowing the students to rely to heavily on the book. show less

The message of this book is to understand the life of those that lived in Pompeii before it was destroyed by a volcano.
This is an absolutely marvelous informational text. I was quite impressed with how this book was set up and the detailed information provided. The set up of this book allows a reader to learn about many different aspects of the city of Pompeii and the inhabitants: social lives, working lives, different tools and shelters that were in the city.
I also loved the graphics of show more this book. On every page there are text features such as details pictures, informational text, foldable pages, and maps. This book is filled with important information about the different aspects of the Romans that lived in Pompeii. I especially enjoyed the fold out pages that presented the layouts of different styles of homes. I think it is a fun affect that gives the reader some enjoyment while reading the text. show less