Product Description

This is the first book to approach Stonehenge without any theoretical position. It describes what is known and believed about the monumentÂ’s construction from c. 3000 BCE onwards. The Middle Ages were content with the story of it having been brought by Merlin from Ireland. The post Reformation antiquaries gave us the conception of Stonehenge as a historical monument. It played a significant role in the imagination of writers and artists. Then the Victorians invented prehistory and Darwin himself came to measure it. In 1918 it passed into public ownership and 1926 saw the first forced entry by Druids.The Earth Mysteries Movement now sees the stones as part of a greater web of ley lines and other phenomena. Archaeologists, united in their disdain for that, remain divided on many other points. And perhaps the most fraught issue now is conservation as the henge stands between two thundering main roads. This rich and provocative book explores all this in presenting a monument whose history is as fascinating as its secret.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280753 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
Conde Nast Traveller 'excellent...an important and deeply satisfying book.' The Independent - 'a lucid and sophisticated history explaining how the meaning of Stonehenge is in perpetual flux.'Sunday Times - 'Her book is a treasure: stylish, thoughtful, miraculously condensed, and as full of knowledge as a megalith is full of megalith.' TLS - '...brings genuine originality to the cultural history of Stonehenge.'

The Independent
`a lucid and sophisticated history explaining how the meaning of Stonehenge is in perpetual flux.'

Sunday Times
`Her book is a treasure: stylish, thoughtful, miraculously condensed, and as full of knowledge as a megalith is full of megalith.'