Product Description

The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History illustrates in a chronological series of maps, the evolution and flux of races in Europe, the Mediterranean area and the Near East. From 50,000 B.C. to the fourth century A.D., it is one of the most successful of the bestselling historical atlas series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38656 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
Colin McEvedy is the author of The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History; The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History; The Penguin Atlas of Recent History (Europe Since 1815) and The Penguin Atlas of North American History. He lives in London, W6

Customer Reviews

A unique insight into the formation of Europe
Along with the other books in this series that I have read, Medieval, Modern and Recent History, this book is a solid and occasionally witty overview of the sweep of European development. It is fair to say that I have worn the book out as I often reread and refer to it. A must have on any bookshelf.

Useful but rather small
This is a small book both in terms of page numbers and size. However a lot of information is crammed in, mostly by using very small type faces, and I mean small. The format through most of the book is text on the verso page and a map (almost monochromatic) on the recto page. The content is sound but obviously restricted by the size of the book. I use this as an easy access aide memoire to the main events of the ancient period. Could be useful for school as it is cheap and compact.
I've awarded 3 stars as I think its rather grandiose title is a bit misleading; I would call it a guide rather than an atlas.

Nice book but of limited use only
After going through this book I must say that I am a bit disappointed. Although this book certainly has it's uses, it is very limited in what it gives you as an atlas of ancient history. I had expected at least some detailed maps of the important areas (Egypt, Middle east, Mesopotamia, etc.) but you only get very general maps covering an area from Norway down to the Sahara, with broad outlines of the empires and cultures, in most cases cities are not even indicated. If you only need the broad outlines of what was happening, this book is fine, but if you are looking for more then this book is definitely not what you need. The accompanying text is of more value, especially the population estimates, trade routes and so but most of it is a good but basic summary of history from the emergence of modern man till the fall of the Roman Empire.