A Handbook to the Palace of Minos at Knossos: With its Dependencies

by John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury

Sir Arthur Evans's excavation at the Cretan site of Knossos from 1900 onwards uncovered a previously unknown civilization. His enthusiastic (though controversial) reconstructions of the site and its fresco decorations made it an attractive destination for travellers and tourists, and Evans thought a simple guidebook for visitors would be desirable alongside his own multi-volume work, The Palace of Minos (also reissued in this series). This was published in 1933 by John Pendlebury (1904–41), a brilliant young archaeologist later killed by German troops during the invasion of Crete in 1941. With a foreword by Evans, the handbook is in two an architectural history of the Palace of Minos, and a guide to the site, with a note of the time needed to explore each building, maps showing the best trail to be followed, plans, and detailed descriptions. The book continues to be of value to both archaeologists and tourists.

Genres: History

92 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!