Product Description

Julian Cope's long-awaited follow up to The Modern Antiquarian, his bestselling and critically acclaimed guide to ancient Britain. The Megalithic European takes us on a breathtaking journey around prehistoric Europe's first temples. Contents / The Megalithic European is a monumental colour guide to the standing stones and ancient temples of prehistoric Europe. / In a 6-year personal odyssey (leaving no stone unturned) Julian Cope covers 300 of the important sites of Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. / The book looks further, revealing several thousand years of information which scholars have previously ignored, to the Classical temples of the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas. / Section 1: a series of essays, looking at the universal desire of all settlers: to celebrate and mythologize the landscape in which they have chosen to live, highlighting comparisons with British settlements. / Section 2: a gazeteer of the many ancient sites in Europe that Julian Cope has personally visited, from Ireland to the Netherlands, from Crete to Denmark, discussing many areas outside the European arena, from Mount Ararat in Armenia to Mount Fuji in Japan, via the celebrated Mount Olympus of the Greek Myths to the legendary Tree of Yggdrasil of the Norse Myths.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53657 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

Review
ON THE MODERN ANTIQUARIAN: 'Insightful essays!Terrific and daft in equal measure.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Not only a joy, but a useful field guide.' THE GUARDIAN 'A handsome traveller's text!A remarkable fusion of scholarship, practical advice and visionary insight.' THE EXPRESS 'A sumptuous technicolour delight. Erudite, playful and provocative.' MOJO 'A strange and marvellous artefact, remarkable for its seriousness as much as its frivolity.' WEEKEND REVIEW, THE INDEPENDENT 'Utterly unique!opens a real window on Britain's prehistory.' THE TIMES 'A ripping good read.' THE TIMES 'Immensely detailed and sumptuously illustrated!an essential guide' THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MORE REVIEWS FOR MODERN ANTIQUARIAN 'An inspiring book, and practical too.' HERE'S HEALTH 'Striking a tone of impassioned authority, this book finds time to rail against the Judaeo-Christian mindset while painting the Neolithic landscape as an inspirational antidote to modern urban blues.' SELECT 'This beautifully designed tome!could inspire anyone to put on their wellies and go yomping across the moors to investigate for themselves. A great work by a great British eccentric.' MELODY MAKER 'An entertaining mixture of history and travelogue.' THE A LIST, THE MIRROR 'A unique blend of information, observation, personal experience and opinion which is as unlike the normal run of archaeology books as you could imagine.' THE INDEPENDENT ON HEAD ON/REPOSSESSED: Hilarious, observant and deeply subversive.' I-D 'Considered and self-deprecating!Mighty.' TIME OUT 'Repossessed!is one of the best books about the 80s ever written and without doubt the best book about toy cars, hermiting, integrity and drug paranoia.' THE GUARDIAN 'Cope's passion and intelligence are well served by a vein of self-deprecating wit.' THE DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Wondrous memoirs of fleeting stardom and LSD-induced psychosis.' Q MAGAZINE [The 50 Best Music Books Ever, 2001] 'Cope's rocking writing at its most infectious, moving and hilarious.' NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS 'Compulsive reading!This man is truly a genius.' LOADED 'A wryly rendered masterpiece.' Q MAGAZINE

From the Author
"The Megalithic European is the conclusion of a 10-year odyssey that began with my research for its predecessor, The Modern Antiquarian, and took me far beyond the prehistoric sites of Britain dealt with in that first book. From here I literally journeyed from the temple circles of Ireland to the stone boats of Scandinavia and megaliths of the Mediterranean. What emerged was a 21st Century travelogues through some of the oldest structures in the world.
I also realised that no-one had even attempted a thorough look at Europe before and even the existing books that had skimmed the surface were long out of print. The Megalithic European is my second huge guide to the first monuments of humanity, this time taking in over 300 prehistoric sites on mainland Europe and in its islands. The essay section examines the mystery of our prehistoric beginnings in order for us to understand and enrich our lives in the here and now. The gazetteer section is relentlessly thorough, with detailed instructions on how to get to these sites, and is stuffed as full as I could make it with over 800 colour photographs, maps, antiquarian drawings, reconstruction illustrations of these sacred places, and my own black and white drawings which just seemed to multiply as I moved from place to place.
The secret weapon of this book is the surprising accessibility of these prehistoric megaliths. British travellers love to go abroad and the megalithic sites just happen to be in many of the places the British like to go already. Perfect. Low cost airlines can whizz you to places you’ve barely heard of and you’re only a half-hour away from great stones! Mums or Dads who always spoil their kids’ holidays with re-routes away from the beach onto Bodmin Moor can now set their kids up and troll around umpteen Sardinian, Menorcan, Mallorcan, Maltese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Breton or Irish stone circles, etc. Compromises can be had in the northern sites around the Baltic, where kids will be happy to spend the summer in clean seas, with megaliths close to the Dutch, German, Danish and Swedish coasts.
I felt that a British overview could get open-minded travellers out there to the monuments themselves - an ideal way to move the study up one further notch, getting some kind of dialogue going that will allow us all to see the context of our ancient past.
I’m past the stage of trying to theorize about these places. I know what I believe, but I’m more interested in getting other people to see for themselves. Yes, the book is heavyweight and archeologically thorough, but, better still, it’s full of amazing photogenic sites across Europe that could make anyone travel."

JULIAN COPE - JULY 2004

About the Author
Julian Cope shot to fame with the band Teardrop Explodes during the Punk era. He has continued to make albums and produce other performers. He is hailed as a visionary by those people who recognise his genius and a madman by those who find him perlexing. He has written three books all of which have received ecstatic reviews. His most recent book, The Modern Antiquarian, established itself as a classic travel guide to ancient Britain. It sent ripples through the world of archaeology and spawned a BBC documentary of the same name. It book remained in the bestseller lists for many weeks.

Customer Reviews

Not encyclopaedic perhaps, but excellent all the same
Julian Cope continues to work very hard at promoting the temples of our ancestors. Looking at the places he highlights makes you reel with the realisation that so many structures can still exist after the turbulence of the last couple of millennia. His first book was wide in scope - this seems less so, but covering a whole continent was never going to be easy. Particularly impressive is that it was completed in a short time and has a lot of useful information gained from personal experience. No mean feat.

He is thoughtful, realistic, sometimes scholarly, which makes the academic content of the first part of the book seem at odds with the opulent but somewhat off-putting packaging. The gazetteer will be much used, and complements works by Burl in particular very nicely.

Nonetheless, good on Julian for producing another book on a subject that's not taken seriously enough. It's sure to appeal to many people, and provoke enthusiasm and thought in them.

Cope delivers... again!
Although I haven't read the entire book just yet, it is fair to say that first impressions are good, as the Arch Drude of Wessex once again takes us on a prehistoric journey to remember. Nothing can beat the feeling of visiting these sites, but as with the Modern Antiquarian, Cope provides you with great analysis of each site and an indepth essay section. Directions are also clear and will obviously be of great help during the many holidays that lie ahead. Great colour pictures of the interior and exterior of many sites are included and it is layed ouy in a very easy to follow way.
So if you are interested in seeing what Europe has to offer the megalithic traveller then I cannot think of a more suitable guidebook, or starting point. Buy it...

Yet another outstanding piece of work!
Julian's journey of discovery continues and is the sequel a flop? No it's flipping brilliant as well! Is there no limit to the talents of this man? See my review of `The Modern Antiquarian'. I have to say that I really enjoy the way he presents his work. I see it as leagues ahead when it comes to armchair history, were not all academic genius's you know? This European gazetteer set me a thinking - who knows maybe one day even a third book on Turkey and the surrounding regions - monument and site rich and barely scraped over, areas just gagging for such a champion, Julian are you listening? Well we can all live in hope I suppose.