This book is both charming and irritating. I recommend it highly DESPITE the fact that the prose is poorly written, the ideas often pedestrian, and the attitude is--to be charitable and Nietzschean-- "unzeitgemässig." Still, anyone who is trapped in Academe will be both entertained by this book and perhaps moved to deep thought.

Buy this book quickly and pay whatever the bookseller asks! This one-of-a-kind book will change the way you think about literature. I love literature, and so does the author,but its dark side is seldom discussed. It can make you lazy, it can make you a chronic contrarian, it can be a trojan horese which slips silly ideas into your mind which you would never accept if they were presented to you as rational arguments(the perfect example of this is the fact that we're supposed to sympathize with Mersault in Camu's "The Stranger," even though he shot a man for the simple reason that the sun was in his eyes.) The publisher needs to keep this book constantly in print..

Ever wonder where the stuff you think of as everything came from? James & Thorpe have used a good range of experts and a fair amount of book reading to help them create an entertaining look at where ideas, activities, and objects come from. In 12 categories ranging from medicine to sex to sports, they look at 102 subcategories. The general introduction to the book explains why they've tackled this topic and each chapter has its own introduction that explains the categories and the reasons for including each subcategory. I wouldn't go as far as to call it "academic" or "scholarly" but its nice to see someone popularizing the periods of human history I love in a way that I can support.

This was an entertaining volume on the history of some of the things we think of as "modern" inventions. Many of them were already known to me from other sources, where I came across them in preparing for my MA in history. Inventions like "Greek fire" the first flame thrower, the "Bagdad battery" a possible device for electroplating, and the early trepinning surgeries are some of those familiar to me. More surprising was the cataract surgery and plastic surgery to repair nose and ears practiced by the Romans and probably invented even earlier in India or Babylon. This is a great book for anyone who wonders "Who was the first to..."

This book is describes ancient inventions and construction projects predating 1492. It is well researched, documented, and illustrated.

There is an assumption with some that earlier humans were rustic simpletons. This book dispels that notion. It describes everything from the mundane (wine, cosmetics), to the grandiose (an early Suez Canal), to the dangerous (trepanning, i.e. drilling holes in one's head as an early form of surgery), to the practical (mills, weapons, paper). One of the strangest discoveries is of a cave that is made to resemble hell.

In addition to the expected inventions from Egypt, Greece, and Rome inventions from all over the world are represented including ones from South America, China, and ancient Scythia the area where modern Ukraine is found. Inventions from that area include the earliest form of shelter (mammoth bone huts), domestication of horses, the earliest melodic musical instruments (flutes), maps, trousers, jewelry, ovens, houses, soap, and saunas (in which hashish was thrown on hot stones).

This is a feel-good book. It documents the creativity and imagination of humans.

When I first saw the title "Ancient Mysteries" I was immediately put off by the title and thought: here goes another "aliens built the pyramids" New Age woo woo book. My closer read of the editorial reviews at Amazon indicated the book took a more sensible approach.

Authors James and Thorpe do a great job of going through the various architectural and technological wonders of the ancient world. The book is a compendium of loosely linked chapters and the sections could easily be read backwards without losing much meaning.

Though the book does a lot of debunking of fringe archeology, it does it in a very effective way. Rather than hitting hard at some of the fringe theories right up front, the authors do their best to present those theories in the best light possible. Often they got me hooked on them. Then they very gently begin to tear down the theories with hard evidence. (Which is often ignored or conveniently overlook by the fringe proponents.) I constantly felt the little voice inside me going "Uh oh..."

You won't come away with any great understanding of the ancient world, the authors cover far too much ground for that. You will however have a fun -- and extensive read, and will gain some insight into how science and archeolgy work together.

I was a little disappointed that they barely covered some of the issues concerning the ancient Pueblo sites here in New Mexico.

First off, I believed in a good amount of the theories that "Ancient Mysteries" firmly ground into the dust. For the first few chapters as my beliefs were gently yet intelligently corrected, I could feel my anger rising - I didn't want to read it anymore!

But something remarkable happens when people are allowed to open their eyes further, as mine were. I found myself hungrily eating up page after page to find out the latest theories, discoveries and finds; I was becoming enamored to the idea of scientific enlightenment. So often "Sci Enlight" encompasses closed-eyes-ears of the sci community; often ignoring obvious discrepancies in polished theories; James & Thorpe engage in none of the usual classical scholar dismissals - information is put forth clearly and teams with a thorough bibliography.

However, by the middle of the book; observant readers can tell by the first few paragraphs of a new chapter if it's theory/history that the authors agree with. There's a slight derogatory tone with theories that they are about to smash; excited hyperbole with theories they agree with.

But all in all, read the book! It's a wonderful read.

I decided to read this book as a way to understand what "mainstream" scientists say about Graham Hancock's theories about ancient civilizations, and how these scientists would counter his arguments. This book is excellent for that because it addresses some of his ideas and writings point-blank.

As a whole, this book is truly fascinating. In addition to shedding a sober light on the Egyptian pyramids, Mayan culture, and other Hancock favorites, the book addresses quite a few other intriguing mysteries like "Who was the Minotaur", "Who was King Arthur", "What was the Star of Bethlehem" and Stonehenge.

Each subject is approached in a rational, scientific manner, and is discussed using facts and commentary from respected sources. This book very much reflects what today's respected academic field believes. The breadth of the book is truly amazing when you consider that each subject is discussed in adequate detail to prove or disprove certain hypotheses. And finally, it is well written and easy to follow.

So for its research and ambition in addressing so many fascinating subjects, the book is a gem. For people interested in ancient history, this book will be invaluable.

As far as Hancock debunkery goes, in some areas they completely debunk him, in other areas the hypotheses and evidence they present is good and insightful, but not necessarily any more persuasive or powerful than what Hancock presents. In some areas, I still believe Hancock has it right. In the end, hypotheses are just that, and it comes down to your own beliefs.

At any rate, this book is fascinating and I couldn't put it down.

This book gives a convincing and well researched thesis that the conventual chronology for the years roughly 1000BC to 500BC have been inflated by about 250 years. It also demonstrates that the problem is with the standard egyptian chronology which is throwning off the dating. This is a thesis put forth in other books notably PHAROAHS AND KINGS by DAVID ROHL however this book goes into greater depth and covers more areas than any other book I have seen on the subject. But frustratingly it stops there and totally fails to give the authors thesis on what the correct chronology for this time is. The impression left is that this only half the book. What's here is very interesting but is like a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces left out.

Centuries of Darkness is, to me, an unusual work, in that the authors seem to be serious historians, who are still willing to stand up and point out the emperor's got no clothes. In this case, the emperor is the convoluted house of cards made up of middle eastern chronology which has been developing, in good faith, for over a century, and the fact that there appear to be flaws in this structure. The descriptions of these flaws and their suggestions for ways to handle them are well presented, even if they are not all immeadiately compelling. In short, this work is truly nutritious food for thought, and well worth the time to read it.

James does an excellent job of confronting the problem of chronology in archaeology and ancient history. Is our understanding of the ancient world hopelessly confused because of a confused chronology? James looks at research on the entire ancient Mediterranean, comparing building and pottery finds, writings, and artwork, and the dating techniques used to place them in context. As others--from Immanuel Velikovsky (Ages in Chaos, 1952) to David Rohl (Pharaohs and Kings, 1997)--have argued, James sees the source of the problem in Egyptology. The dates calculated for the reigns of certain pharaohs and dynasties have been used as the foundation on which to cross-date finds throughout the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean. If this foundation is rotten, it throws the chronology of the rest of the ancient world into chaos.

This is a scholarly book, and its very thoroughness makes it a rather dry and seemingly repetitive read. This is mainly because the same kinds of errors have been made or borrowed in all the studies--Greek, Hittite, Egyptian, Israelite, etc.--that James critiques. Still, it is an excellent reference work for anyone trying to understand where our studies of ancient history went wrong and where they need to be corrected.

This isn't really a map; it's an artistic drawing of the area, concentrating on places in the Hillerman series. If you're a huge fan, you may want to make it into a wall poster; but for a real map of the area, get what Leaphorn himself uses - the AAA map of Indian Country. It's free, far more detailed, and far more accurate. At $... this would be a nice addition; but at this price I felt ripped off. Get the AAA map instead and save the money.

When I ordered this map, I think I was expecting Lt. Leaphorn's legendary crime map. I didn't get it and I think my overly high expectations have kept me from enjoying this map as much as I might have. The map has some problems. I don't care for the oblique view. Some of the border art is not that well done and it's distracting. I wish they hadn't put the compass points diagram in the middle of the map. The map does have pretty much all the real places mentioned in Hillerman's books (I'm going to give up looking for Short Mountain). Now that I have this map I'm going to have to go back and reread all the books and find all the places that weren't in my Rand McNally atlas. There are some serious spoilers (especially for People of Darkness) in the site descriptions on the back. So be careful if you haven't read all the books yet.

Too bad for me this came out after I'd read the books. Lucky you if you haven't read most of the books yet.

You can't use any old map as a companion for the Hillerman series, because most maps use criteria that don't fit sparsely populated areas or Navajo culture. Typical maps of the entire reservation portray it as mostly empty space.

The legendary AAA map that Leaphorn uses in the mysteries is excellent, but more detail than you need if you just want to follow along with the books. It also doesn't include fictitious features like "Short Mountain". (The "Guide to Indian Country" is free for AAA members. Not all offices carry it; I got mine from the Phoenix office.)

Another reviewer complained that this isn't a real map because it concentrates on places in the Hillerman series. But if you're just reading the series, that's exactly what you want: a specialized companion to the books.