The Maya

Extremely dense - think of this as a textbook - but apparently the most comprehensive collection of information about the Maya. I was influenced by Jared Diamond, who in the "Further Reading" section of his excellent "Collapse" says so in no uncertain terms.

Fun trivia: you know that 2012 bs? It's this guy's fault. In an earlier edition of this book, he idly pointed out that the Mayan calendar is cyclical and a cycle ends in 2012; conspiracy theorists took it from there. In this edition he comments on it, with a combination of shame and amusement.

If you're like me, you have a fascination with mesoamerican civilizations. Well, my fascination lies more in their mythology, but just the same, the civilization behind the mythology is just as interesting.

Michael Coe gives a historical overview of this once great civilization, explaining their culture in an illuminating way. Both barbaric and beautiful, the Aztecs left their influence on North America before being all but destroyed by the Spanish.

This book is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in precolumbian civilizations, or even just mesoamerican civilizations.

Over three quarters of this book is spent on describing cities and artifacts in a long list. This is probably what Maya specialists are interested in, but I would think that a book with this title should actually try to write the history of the Maya and not just present the archaeological evidence of it. The book finally changes to a more interesting way of presentation towards the end (long after the chapters which judging by their title should have dealt with the different time-periods in Maya history), but up to that point it's pretty tough going for someone who's interested only in a larger view of Maya history.

Coe's work still remain some of the best in the field. Enjoyable and fascinating, they bring history alive and let ancient civilization flourish once more. All archaeological/historical authors should take note.

This is the second book I finished this weekend.

I found the book fascinating. I just looked at it on the shelf for a number of years, and then decided to read it in installments, finishing today. Ancient history is normally not my bag, but I finished two this year, the other being Thucydides Peloponnesian Wars, as one of my sons reminded me.

The book is a slog but then so is any book when you're not familiar with the underlying material, in this case Mayan history. My familiarity, such as it is, comes from a Scarsdale Adult School course I took either during fall 1972 or 1973, and from tours of the Chichen Itza and Uxmal pyramids during October 1989 and March 1990, from Club Med Cancun.

Authoritative and accessible account of Maya civilization, archaeology, and decipherment of their script.

I bought this book for a report and wound up reading all of it out of enjoyment. Very interesting and educational. It is very accurate as well because I found the same information in several other places.