From Stonehenge to Samarkand: An Anthology of Archaeological Travel Writing

by Brian M. Fagan

Ever since Roman tourists scratched graffiti on the pyramids and temples of Egypt over two thousand years ago, people have traveled far and wide seeking the great wonders of antiquity. In From Stonehenge to Samarkand, noted archaeologist and popular writer Brian Fagan offers an engaging historical account of our enduring love of ancient architecture--the irresistible impulse to visit strange lands in search of lost cities and forgotten monuments.
Here is a marvelous history of archaeological tourism, with generous excerpts from the writings of the tourists themselves. Readers will find Herodotus describing the construction of Babylon; Edward Gibbon receiving inspiration for his seminal work while wandering through the ruins of the Forum in Rome; Gustave Flaubert watching the sunrise from atop the Pyramid of Cheops. We visit Easter Island with Pierre Loti, Machu Picchu with Hiram Bingham, Central Africa with David Livingstone. Fagan describes the early antiquarians, consumed with a passionate and omnivorous curiosity, pondering the mysteries of Stonehenge, but he also considers some of the less reputable figures, such as the Earl of Elgin, who sold large parts of the Parthenon to the British Museum. Finally, he discusses the changing nature of archaeological tourism, from the early romantic wanderings of the solitary figure, communing with the departed spirits of Druids or Mayans, to the cruise-ship excursions of modern times,
where masses of tourists are hustled through ruins, barely aware of their surroundings.

From the Holy Land to the Silk Road, the Yucatán to Angkor Wat, Fagan follows in the footsteps of the great archaeological travelers to retrieve their first written impressions in a book that will delight anyone fascinated with the landmarks of ancient civilization.

Genres: Archaeology, History, Anthropology, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Brian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. I love archeology and ancient history, but somehow this book isn't that readable . It has more value as a reference for other books to read.

[Andrew Ives · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, and at 260ish pages it didn't appear to be an excessively arduous a read, but it took me forever. As Fagan mentions twice during the bibliography section, he had to read a vast amount of travel books in compiling this anthology, many of which he freely admits were "dull". As such, it would seem the 'exciting' extracts herein are only marginally less dull than those he left behind. To be fair, some parts, such as Mark Twain's experiences in Egypt, the Great Wall of China part towards the end and a few others were perfectly enjoyable. The real problem lies in this book's attempts to be all things to all readers - no matter how interested the readers may be in e.g. Egyptians, Greeks and Mayans, they are likely to be less enthusiastic about Indian, Middle Eastern, Turkestan or other lengthy sections of this book. Going by the other reviews, it seems most people find at least 100 pages of this book about something which they have little interest in. In addition to this, a horrible passage involving a dog in the section about the Pueblos and some other unpleasantness about jaculation later on did little to endear a dull book to me. Intelligent, educational, worthy, well-written it may be, but oh so dull. 2.75/5

[Terri Gav · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out at a good pace but I found it slowed considerably when discussing Central Asia. It could be that I'm not as familiar with that part of the world. I also found myself being bothered by the lack of concern for the indigenous peoples in these areas--I do realize that this was not the topic of the book and that Westerners particularly prior to the 20th century did not always consider indigenous people as human beings.

[Bianca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly look at the history of archaeological travel writing, this book is extremely thorough. The only issues I had were with the examples of writing included in the chapters. Though they served to illustrate the author's points about the styles of writing, attitudes of those times, etc., they were a bit lengthy at times and were barely discernible from the actual text. Since the author is a professor I guess I expected the use of blocked quotes or something akin to that.

A great read for someone interesting in how historical sites have been viewed over time.

[Tuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a great overview book for those interested in this, but if you know about Frank Cushing, Byron, lady Stanhope, and all the rest of those cultural vampires and thieves, don't bother with this book. oxford u did this? why?

[Owen · Rating 1 out of 5]

It shocks me how unreadable this book was. It gets penalized for making a fantastic subject unreadable. It's a book about the history and development of travel and adventure writing... and is so dull I couldn't bring myself to pick it up. Not important, not exciting.