Product Description

In all the stories told by mankind and recorded through its history, the tale of the siege of Troy is perhaps the greatest secular story ever told. It has certainly captured the western imagination for some 3000 years. Archaeological work has revealed that the site around Hisarlik, where Troy is believed to have been, is considerably larger and more interesting than was previously thought, making it more likely that the Trojan Wars were on the scale implied by Homer. This book reveals the literary, historical and archaeological records which make up the background to the tale of Troy and describes in detail the fortifications of Troy VI (i.e. Homer's Troy) and their correlation to other Bronze Age defence works in the Near East. This book also introduces the reader to the literary, historical and archaeological records which make up the background to the tale of Troy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172758 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-16
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Customer Reviews

The City of Troy
Troy is one of the most famous sites in the world. It has captured people's imaginations for millennia, and for a long time it was considered a fictional place until it was discovered by the German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, in the 19th century.

This book sets out to reconstruct the appearance of Troy, as it might have looked at its height over 3,000 years ago. Nic Fields presents us with a look at the 'nine cities of Troy' - that is the different levels of the city, as it was built and re-built from the Early Bronze Age to the Roman period.

He also looks at subjects such as mud-brick construction (based on techniques used in ancient Egypt), as well as the diferrent fortifications that made up the city, like walls, towers, gates and outer defences. Dozens of photographs help show us that site as it looks today.

Donato Spedaliere and his wife Sarah Sulemsohn - one is an artist the other an architect - provide some brilliant colour plates that show reconstructions of the city as it probably looked during the time of the Trojan Wars. These include overhead views of the city, as well as cutaways of various buildings. They even provide an imaginative reconstruction of the Greek assault on the city, where the famous wooden horse is displayed as a primitive battering ram.

This book will make a great introduction to the subject for anyone who has interest in the Bronze age, or for anyone who has imagined how the world of Homer might have actually looked like. Recommended.

An interesting view
A readable account of ancient Troy and the Trojan war, this booklet is not for everyone. If you have no knowledge of ancient Troy or the mythology surrounding it, or if you're expecting a detailed story about a historical war, you're likely to be dissapointed. However, for any visitor to the ancient site, this book, with its many coloured reconstruction-drawings and maps, is an indispensable guide. Also, for everyone who's ever wondered about the Trojan horse and what it really was, this book offers a compelling possibility. As it is, I've enjoyed reading it and it helped me very much to better understand the archeological site that once was the magnificent city of Troy.