Minoan Crete: An Introduction

Merely to satisfy my curiosity.

A very good up-to-date introduction by someone who is deeply intimate with the island of Crete and its history. My only complaint is that there is not much discussion about the effects of the Thera volcanic eruption.

This book was a huge disappointment. The author is tremendously knowledgeable, but the writing is almost simply a list of things found in various sites. There is little sense of narrative here; even given the fact that very little is known of individual Minoans, there certainly is a narrative of the civilization. And this book never gets to that - after reading it I didn't have any sense that individuals lived in Minoan society. Somehow the author managed to make wars, collapses, and vibrant art boring. I'm preparing for a trip and this book made me less interested in the Minoans, not more. I am a history teacher and historian, and have waded through quite a few boring books; this is dreadfully boring; even a specialist would need to concentrate to get through this.

This book is a lively and up-to-date rundown of Minoan Crete. It covers the classic goodies (e.g. Knossos, Thera, Linear A) but also a lot of recent discoveries and fascinating niche topics that don't get much (if any) attention in other books for general audiences. These include lesser-known palaces, life in non-palace towns, and especially the influence of the environment on the Minoans' development. It's also a real page-turner, with a clear narrative and lively prose that expresses the author's love of the topic.This book is an absolute compete and total delight.

There are almost no colored pictures in this book. Going by the cover and product description (and by the subject of the book!) I expected many.