Another book brought back by a friend, after her recent trip to Greece, this spiral-bound volume showcases twenty-seven archaeological sites, with a brief textual introduction to each, a stunning color photograph of the current remains/ruin, and a plastic overlay that reproduces the original building.

Intended for tourists, there isn't much here for the serious scholar of antiquity, and I found myself skimming through the text. The real attraction is the series of "before and after" shots of some of Greece's most famous archaeological sites, and it's great fun to flip the plastic overlay back and forth...

Here the reader can gaze at the "original" Acropolis of Athens, with its Propylaia, Parthenon, and Erechtheion. Also in Athens: the Theater of Dionysos, the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, the Tholos, the Temple of Zeus Olympios, and the Library of Hadrian. Other sites include: the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion; the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina; the Sanctuary of Asklepios and the Tholos at Epidauros; Grave Circle A and the Palace at Mycenae; the Palace of Tiryns; the Heraion and the Sikyonian Treasury at Olympia; the Temple of Apollo and the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia at Delphi; the Theater of Dodone; the Agora of Thessalonike; the Temple of Apollo and the Sacred Way on Delos; the Palace of Knossos on Crete; and the Temple of Apollo Pythios on Rhodes.

What fun! ( )

Case 12 shelf 1