Stonehenge Complete

by Christopher Chippindale

Since its first and prize-winning edition of 1983, "Stonehenge Complete has established itself as the classic account of this most famous of ancient places. For this new edition, Christopher Chippindale has revised and updated the story to include the latest theories and discoveries. People have puzzled over Stonehenge for centuries, speculating and dreaming about it, drawing and painting it, trying to make sense of it. Here is the story of the one real Stonehenge, as well as the many unreal Stonehenges that archaeologists, tourists, mystics, astronomers, artists, poets, and visionaries have made out of it. New studies in the last decade have revolutionized our knowledge of the complex sequence of structures that make its celebrated profile; remarkably, these new discoveries have been made without new excavations. Stonehenge today is as lively as it ever was. After a period of dissent and confrontation, visitors are once again welcome to see the sun rise over the Heel stone on midsummer solstice day, and some 20,000 people are expected to gather at midsummer dawn this year. As the new edition explains, they are in although Stonehenge is indeed astronomically oriented, it is not aligned on the midsummer sunrise at all.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, Travel, British Literature, Science

296 pages, Paperback

First published June 22, 1983

About the author

Christopher Ralph Chippindale is a British archaeologist. He worked at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from 1988 to his retirement in 2013, and was additionally Reader in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge from 2001 to 2013.

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this at stonehenge. :) Complete and informative, boring in places. The pictures are fabulous and the history is extensive.

[Russell Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not written as I would have expected with the dawn of time, but rather as it was rediscovered, interpreted and rebranded over and over again, so that it only begins to become more clear later in the book, but not definitely as we still do not know. I appreciated how this book was written and especially the time and trouble the author saves by saying he has read everything, and his book will save you the trouble. I will take that under advisement as I reach for the next Stonehenge tome.

[Meaningless · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very detailed. As someone who read a ton of non fiction (text)books, this was by far one of the most dry books I have ever read. There seems to be passion for the subject, but lack of passion in expressing it. It took me so long to finish reading it.

One of the few books that I've completely read that I don't recommend, not even to people who are fans of the subject.

[Campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I could have read the first and last chapter and learned everything I needed to about Stonehenge. So much of what I read felt like a waste of my time. If you’re interested in what Stonehenge is, this book isn’t the best option. If you’re looking to learn Avery thing about what Stonehenge ISN’T, then go right ahead and read this book full of everything people though about Stonehenge only to be proved wrong years later.

[John Carter McKnight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is ill-served by its publisher/back cover copy: it's not really about Stonehenge, but about "Stonehenge," the construct of imagination and research in English thought from Medieval times to the present. It is also very, very dry, up till the final chapters, when the author rolls up his sleeves and takes on academic opponents.

A historiography of "Stonehenge" is a valuable thing, but even here, the book falls for being under- (well, actually, *not*) theorized. There's a lot of narrative description, but little to no effort to extract meaning from it, or to relate various era's "Stonehenges" to a greater notion of meaning-making about antiquity.

On the positive side, the book is a lovely artifact, well worth the paper. The stock is substantial and glossy, and illustrations clear and extensive.

Useful as a source for in-depth study of particular periods of antiquarian/scientific/artistic/mystical thought, but there are many more readable works that actually address the Neolithic context of Stonehenge itself.

[Sarah - All The Book Blog Names Are Taken · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my book blog ----> http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.bl... for a few pictures of this awesome place that I took in 2009 when visiting with my momma.

++++++++++++++

Eh.

This one will be short and sweet because there really is not a lot to say about this book, despite its nearly 300-pages and drawing after drawing of what people IMAGINE Stonehenge to look like even when they know that's not ACTUALLY what it looks like (I'm looking at you, Victorian artists...and pretty much every artist ever.)

Based on the title, I thought this was going to be about Stonehenge and the who/what/where/when/why, as far as we can know. Instead it was about how people throughout history have interpreted, damaged, and excavated the site. Some parts were truly DULL. I did find the sections devoted to the Druids interesting, and the dismissing of that myth. It was not until the page 264 (the chapter ends on page 272) that I got what I came for. Kind of a bummer.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This really is a 'complete' book - it contains everything from archaeological history, tourism, to modern day druidism, UFOs and how the roads have been proposed to be drawn in the area. All very scientific, not speculative, and so full of details that as a reader you might loose your way from time to time...

If you're interested it's well worth a read, but you might want to skip the parts that interest you less.

[Glyn Longden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 5.5/10. You have to read almost the whole book before you get to the meat and potatoes....who built it, when, why, how. Don't know how this book is in its third printing. Excellent pics and drawings though. If you don't know anything about Stonehenge, this would be a good book for you.

[Ambar · Rating 4 out of 5]

very deep science investigation about Stonehenge including why this building exist there. Who did it and why.
The book was spread into many science objects from archeology, paganism and also history and astronomy. Very good book so far for Stonehenge.

[Smp · Rating 3 out of 5]

didnt quite finish, I have to go back to it

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scholarly, but fun, fun ,fun. Obviously far from the last word despite the title as Science! marches on...