A handbook to the palace of Minos at Knossos, with its dependencies,

by John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury

Plain white wrappers (pb), 8vo, in color illustrated dust jacket B/w photos & drawings, fold-out drawing of the palace. London, Max Parrish, 1958. Foreword by Sir Arthur Evans, Introduction by Sir John Meyres and Sir John Forsdyke. 76pp

Genres: History

63 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1933

Reviews

[Bertie Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

A handbook for the palace of Minos on the Island of Crete contains a short history of the different stages in the development of the palace as well as a survey of the surviving remains of the palace and the surrounding buildings of Knossos. It includes a short foreword by Arthur Evans, who excavated the site in the early 20th century.

Originally published in 1939, the book is quite dated, which is evidenced at certain points, such as with the discussion on the priest-king fresco, largely seen now as an artificial invention by Arthur Evans.

I read this book in preparation and as a travel guide for a visit to Knossos and found that although this Handbook provided some interesting information on Knossos's architectural developments, modern audio tours were far more illuminating in terms of giving me an understanding of the various architectural features of the palace and what their purpose may have been.

[Sebastian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's really by chance that I read two books dealing with Crete in parallel. Actually, the author of this book is mentioned in the other as he was killed in WW2 there. This book is basically a travel guide to the Palace of Minos, it gives you a tour (including maps and a walking plan) and tells you what to look out for. Apart from that there is little in terms of Minoan history. It is kind of dry and not a very good read unless you are actually there. As the excavations and knowledge of the Minoan period and the Palace of Minos have without a doubt advanced quite a bit in the 80+ years since this book appeared, it is probably only of historical value as a travel guide. I'll definitely pack it though if I ever get there :)

[Maan Kawas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book!