This book is one of the latest volumes in the Longman Regional History of England series. The series has a simple goal--to provide a two volume review of the archaeology, landscape, and social history of each geographical region in England. The first volume for each set covers from the Paleolithic to AD 1000; while the second covers from AD 1000 to the 1980s. Each volume has a separate author. A book covering prehistoric and early historic Wessex is long overdue. The archaeology of Stonehenge and the Neolithic Early Bronze Age of Wessex has been extensively treated by others (Burgess 1980; Castledon 1987; Richards 1990), the only recent books to look at the whole of Wessex over several thousands of years are Crittal's 1973 Victoria County History volume on Wiltshire and J. F. S. Stone's 1958 study Wessex. Suffice to say, since these two books appeared there have been extensive excavations throughout Wessex and new interpretations of the archaeological record. This book does provide a start in filling the gap. Cunliffe provides a well-written, organized review of the archaeology and early history of Wessex. A nice balance is struck in describing such well known sites as Bath, Silchester or Stonehenge, and incorporating the data from smaller sites such as Chalton and Winterbourne Stokes. Examination of the bibliography shows that site reports written up through 1991 were incorporated into this review. Exceedingly useful is an appendix listing the radiocarbon dates for sites in Wessex, in both calibrated and uncalibrated form. Each chapter is laid out in similar fashion. There is an introductory section, a section explaining social and political developments, a description of the economy, material culture and settlement patterns. Interpretations of all this data occurs primarily at the end of each section and chapter. For the most part, Cunliffe's interpretations and approach to the archaeological record are rooted in the "New Archaeology" of the late 1960s and not tinged by the jargon-laden post-processualists. Overall, this a a very good book, but it has some deficiencies. First, Cunliffe is Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University and is a very accomplished excavator of such sites as Bath and Danebury. His strength is with the Iron Age and Roman periods in Britain though. Wessex is an area with an extremely rich archaeological record, and in the hands of another writer, say Richard Bradley or Julian Richards, there would be more interpretation and synthesis and less dry description. Second, the later time periods-Roman and Anglo-Saxon-are dealt with in cursory fashion. In these final chapters too, less emphasis is put on archaeology and more on the historical record. Historians may enjoy this, but the Early Medieval period is one which has a limited database and can benefit from utilizing archaeology.

This book is very indepth in explain how pirates would survive on long journies abroad by sleeping nude three to a bunk like spoons. With the weather conditions, that was their only means of survival. It makes one understand that sodomy was part of their lives, as they usually had several male lovers aboard the vessel. The chapter on hot racking was especially revealing, considering 90% of all pirates engaged in that. This is a very good book about pirates and their lifestyles and I would recommend it to anyone.

One needs to take their hat off to Mr. Burg for an excellent book of the life and times of family life of England in the 17th and 18th Centuries. He must have searched through quite a lot of material to find many of the accounts contained in this remarkable sociology book. Cats who are abandoned are known as feral cats and are not, as a rule, very sociable. So who would have believed that children (both boys and girls) would be asked to leave their homes at a very young age and fend for themselves? Who would have believed that society would have condoned sodomy (more like pederasty) between boys and men? It is worth noting that since these "feral" boys had probably never seen or had known about heterosexual sex between two consenting adults, sex to to these boys was considered a rite of initiation, or at other times, a recreational pastime, at best. There were two entries within Burg's book which are of special note. When a pirate ship seized a merchant ship in the Indian Ocean, the ship was borded, the men seized their hapless crew and threw the only woman on the merchant ship into the Indian Ocean. She was probably seen as worthless baggage, in the pirate's eyes. In another instance, a sixteen year old boy from England (John Durrant) was having sex with a Hindu man (Abdul Rhyme) who was in his 30's. This incident happened in international waters. Ordinarily, this was not considered a crime, or offensive to the other pirates around them. But since the boy was not having an affair with a Christian, he and his "lover" were given 40 lashes, and then salt was rubbed into their wounds upon their return to England. Afterwards, they were fed bread and water, and the punishment was repeated some time later, this time with 10 lashes. For someone looking for a first or second person account of sex between boys, or worse yet, between a man and a boy, this book is not for you. "Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition" is a sociology book-specifically about the lives of some married couples who saw their children as young adults, and not as the unique and cherished people which they truly are.

Ahoy me fine salty sailors. If ye be lookin for gripping adventure on the high seas, this be the book for ye. It hoisted me mizzen mast and shivered me timbers, Yar! If you've ever wondered exactly what to do with a drunken sailor, this is the book for you. The author, Barry Richard Burg is a great expert on seamen and it really shows through. I was dissapointed to find that the nautical phrase "a three days blow" didn't mean what I thought it did, but the author's loving descriptions of how these pirates would oil each other up with whale blubber and lash each other with the cat o' nine tails more than made up for it. I'm tempted to go summon my cockswain, rent "The Pirate Movie", then kick back and mourn the passing of the days when burly pirates would start their day by opening the seacock and pumping furiously. Customers who bought titles by Barry Richard Burg also bought titles by J. K. Rowling -- coincidence? I think not.

infamously brutal army of hard-nuts & psycopaths? you dont know LA LEGION.sorry but this novel is lie 90%

An exagerated tale whose failures in story telling mirror exactly the lack of objectivity. A shining example of the lack of personal responsibility that is becoming so prevelant in our modern world

A 16 year old runs off & joins the legion, becomes an officer in this infamously brutal army of hard-nuts & psycopaths. After several years of being stranded in the legion, the boys mother, Sadie Galvin, rescues him after 3 attampts. A powerful book unrivaled by Speilberg style fiction!

I found that the book sheds little light on the mystery of Stonehenge. Because Fowles is a renowned novelist, I found that the book was more like a story than a source of information. For a nonfiction work, it lacked concrete support. Also, it says little about the actual Stonehenge. It says more about the other events of the time. The only reason it was added to other scholarly works about its subject was because it came from an author that lived near it and experienced the majestic power of Stonehenge during the time when it was most popular.