The Ancient Greeks (History Starts Here)

John Malam studied Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Birmingham, after which he worked as an archaeologist at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire. He is now an author specialising in information books for children. John also writes a weekly children's book review column for the Manchester Evening News. He lives in Cheshire with his wife, a book designer, and their two children.

Grade 4-6-These books provide basic introductions to their topics, but with such oversimplification as to render them inferior to the many other, far better titles that cover the same material. Two-page chapters consist of many full-color illustrations, including some maps, and address such subjects as warfare, religion, trade, writing, and other aspects of daily life. Most of the pictures are small and do not serve to dramatize the achievements of either culture. A postage-stamp-sized depiction of the Parthenon, for example, cannot begin to depict the beauty and complexity of that structure. Neither book has a list for further reading. These texts treat complex subjects too superficially to engage the interest of readers.
David N. Pauli, Starke County Library, Knox, IN
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.