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Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations
LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER | INDIE BESTSELLER | The New Yorker's Best Books of 2025 | Smithsonian's Top 10 Science Books of the Year | Washington Independent Review of Books's 51 Favorite Books of 2025 | Amazon's Best Books of the Year | Longlisted for the Non-Obvious Book Awards
From “one of America’s smartest and most charming writers” (NPR), an archaeological romp through the entire history of humankind—and through all five senses—from tropical Polynesian islands to forbidding arctic ice floes, and everywhere in between.
Whether it’s the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other The tang of Roman fish sauce and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and the clash of Viking swords? The frenzied plays of an Aztec ballgame...and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives?
History often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors’ lives, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology. These are scientists gone They make human mummies. They investigate the unsolved murders of ancient bog bodies. They carve primitive spears and go hunting, then knap their own obsidian blades to skin the game. They build perilous boats and plunge out onto the open sea—all in the name of experiencing history as it was, with all its dangers, disappointments, and unexpected delights.
Beloved author Sam Kean joins these experimental archaeologists on their adventures across the globe, from the Andes to the South Seas. He fires medieval catapults, tries his hand at ancient surgery and tattooing, builds Roman-style roads—and, in novelistic interludes, spins gripping tales about the lives of our ancestors with vivid imagination and his signature meticulous research.
Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning revelations about our past, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long gone and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way.
From “one of America’s smartest and most charming writers” (NPR), an archaeological romp through the entire history of humankind—and through all five senses—from tropical Polynesian islands to forbidding arctic ice floes, and everywhere in between.
Whether it’s the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other The tang of Roman fish sauce and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and the clash of Viking swords? The frenzied plays of an Aztec ballgame...and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives?
History often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors’ lives, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology. These are scientists gone They make human mummies. They investigate the unsolved murders of ancient bog bodies. They carve primitive spears and go hunting, then knap their own obsidian blades to skin the game. They build perilous boats and plunge out onto the open sea—all in the name of experiencing history as it was, with all its dangers, disappointments, and unexpected delights.
Beloved author Sam Kean joins these experimental archaeologists on their adventures across the globe, from the Andes to the South Seas. He fires medieval catapults, tries his hand at ancient surgery and tattooing, builds Roman-style roads—and, in novelistic interludes, spins gripping tales about the lives of our ancestors with vivid imagination and his signature meticulous research.
Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning revelations about our past, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long gone and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way.
443 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 8, 2025
562 people are currently reading
10213 people want to read
About the author
Sam Kean
17 books1,900 followersSam Kean is the New York Times-bestselling author of seven books. He spent years collecting mercury from broken thermometers as a kid, and now lives in Washington, D.C. His stories have appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Slate, among other places, and his work has been featured on NPR’s “Radiolab”, “Science Friday”, and “All Things Considered.” The Bastard Brigade was a “Science Friday” book of the year, while Caesar’s Last Breath was the Guardian science book of the year.
from SamKean.com
(Un)Official Bio:
Sam Kean gets called Sean at least once a month. He grew up in South Dakota, which means more to him than it probably should. He’s a fast reader but a very slow eater. He went to college in Minnesota and studied physics and English. At night, he sometimes comes down with something called “sleep paralysis,” which is the opposite of sleepwalking. One of his books appeared in an iPhone commercial once. Right now, he lives in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master’s degree in library science that he will probably never use. He feels very strongly that open-faced sandwiches are superior to regular ones.
from SamKean.com
(Un)Official Bio:
Sam Kean gets called Sean at least once a month. He grew up in South Dakota, which means more to him than it probably should. He’s a fast reader but a very slow eater. He went to college in Minnesota and studied physics and English. At night, he sometimes comes down with something called “sleep paralysis,” which is the opposite of sleepwalking. One of his books appeared in an iPhone commercial once. Right now, he lives in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master’s degree in library science that he will probably never use. He feels very strongly that open-faced sandwiches are superior to regular ones.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 330 reviews
August 30, 2025
I’m in the tank for Sam Kean; he’s one of my favorite non-fiction writers—endlessly insightful, always entertaining. I don’t love the approach he took for this book, mixing in fictional narratives to try to add color and depth to his fascinating forays into experimental archaeology. But, there’s still much to learn and even more to be entertained by here, as Kean remains in the top ranks of popular science writers when it comes to imparting deeply engaging scientific and historical knowledge leavened with the occasional dad joke.
July 27, 2025
What an interesting, informative and super-fun read!
I really enjoyed the fascinating stories in this book. This was my first Sam Kean book but you can bet I’ll now be reading more from him!
A big thank you to Little, Brown and Company for the ARC. I’m thrilled I got the chance to dive into this one early.
I really enjoyed the fascinating stories in this book. This was my first Sam Kean book but you can bet I’ll now be reading more from him!
A big thank you to Little, Brown and Company for the ARC. I’m thrilled I got the chance to dive into this one early.
August 10, 2025
I was intrigued by the description of Sam Kean’s latest book. I love learning about history in various new ways! So I was pleased to receive an eARC of Dinner with King Tut from NetGalley and publisher Little, Brown and Company. Indeed, one cannot fault Kean for his scrupulous commitment to embodying experiential archaeology—this book reads like a Discovery channel series, back when Discovey channel was good.
Kean is upfront and warns us that the book is partially fiction. Each chapter is set in a different place and time in human history (or prehistory). He intercuts his modern-day exploits with vignettes about an inhabitant of that time period doing activities that he discusses in the contemporary parts of the chapter: hunting, navigating, tanning hides, going on a daring rescue mission across rotten sea ice—you know, the usual. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it, and the first few felt jarring. But I warmed to these narratives and the way they reminded me of my connection to these people of the past—our shared humanity. As Kean reminds us, all of these people were anatomically modern humans, identical to me and you in every respect save the time of their birth. Food for thought.
As far as his interviews and experiments go, they’re a mixed bag. Kean positions most of his interviewees as outsiders and mavericks, noting that experimental/experiential archaeologists get a bad rap by the mainstream ones. Some of the stuff he passes on sounds a bit dodgy to me, and it leaves me wondering how accurate (to the best of our current knowledge) is Kean’s depiction of the various cultures he fictionalizes herein.
So I would recommend this book with a grain of salt. While I have no doubt Kean did the research (sometimes to his own detriment!), he is ultimately a writer, not a scientist or an historian. Dinner with King Tut is interesting and occasionally illuminating, as long as you don’t mistake it for a more rigorous text.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
Kean is upfront and warns us that the book is partially fiction. Each chapter is set in a different place and time in human history (or prehistory). He intercuts his modern-day exploits with vignettes about an inhabitant of that time period doing activities that he discusses in the contemporary parts of the chapter: hunting, navigating, tanning hides, going on a daring rescue mission across rotten sea ice—you know, the usual. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it, and the first few felt jarring. But I warmed to these narratives and the way they reminded me of my connection to these people of the past—our shared humanity. As Kean reminds us, all of these people were anatomically modern humans, identical to me and you in every respect save the time of their birth. Food for thought.
As far as his interviews and experiments go, they’re a mixed bag. Kean positions most of his interviewees as outsiders and mavericks, noting that experimental/experiential archaeologists get a bad rap by the mainstream ones. Some of the stuff he passes on sounds a bit dodgy to me, and it leaves me wondering how accurate (to the best of our current knowledge) is Kean’s depiction of the various cultures he fictionalizes herein.
So I would recommend this book with a grain of salt. While I have no doubt Kean did the research (sometimes to his own detriment!), he is ultimately a writer, not a scientist or an historian. Dinner with King Tut is interesting and occasionally illuminating, as long as you don’t mistake it for a more rigorous text.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
September 30, 2025
Dinner with King Tut by Sam Kean – 4.5 Stars
This is a groundbreaking book that takes a fresh look at “experimental archaeology.” Kean highlights not only the work of innovative archaeologists around the world but also includes fictional interludes and even his own attempts at reconstruction. That mix of storytelling and hands-on science makes the book stand out from more traditional works of history.
I really liked the global scope of the book—it goes well beyond Egypt and shows how people across cultures are trying to breathe new life into the past. Some sections were more engaging than others, but that’s natural in a book with such a wide range of experiments and voices.
What stuck with me most was the sense that history isn’t just about objects in glass cases—it’s something we can test, re-create, and even taste. At times the narrative jumped a little quickly, but overall, it gave me a deeper appreciation for how archaeology can connect us more directly with people who lived thousands of years ago.
An engaging and original read for anyone curious about the ways we can make the ancient world feel alive again. I’ve read a few of these books lately-Ember of the Hand and the Buried City. In all three of these wonderful books it’s good to see the archaeological researchers are tying their research and discoveries into our modern world. Good stuff!
This is a groundbreaking book that takes a fresh look at “experimental archaeology.” Kean highlights not only the work of innovative archaeologists around the world but also includes fictional interludes and even his own attempts at reconstruction. That mix of storytelling and hands-on science makes the book stand out from more traditional works of history.
I really liked the global scope of the book—it goes well beyond Egypt and shows how people across cultures are trying to breathe new life into the past. Some sections were more engaging than others, but that’s natural in a book with such a wide range of experiments and voices.
What stuck with me most was the sense that history isn’t just about objects in glass cases—it’s something we can test, re-create, and even taste. At times the narrative jumped a little quickly, but overall, it gave me a deeper appreciation for how archaeology can connect us more directly with people who lived thousands of years ago.
An engaging and original read for anyone curious about the ways we can make the ancient world feel alive again. I’ve read a few of these books lately-Ember of the Hand and the Buried City. In all three of these wonderful books it’s good to see the archaeological researchers are tying their research and discoveries into our modern world. Good stuff!
May 29, 2025
Archeology no longer only relies on the tedious labor of shifting sand and dirt for discoveries. Today, experimental archeology endeavors to “recreate the past.”
To understand what life was like for early humans and in past civilizations, Sam Kean ate insects and blubber, got a tattoo, made beer and bread, and gamely battered his body in an ancient Aztec game. He trepanated a skull and made a mummy. He tanned leather with deer brains.
Kean’s book is organized by an eras of history. To understand daily life in each era, he creates an accompanying fictional story and then describes the experiments that recreate the foods, culture, and daily life referred to in the story.
I loved this lively, entertaining, informative, and sometimes stomach-turning book. Kean is intrepid! I would not try half of the experiments he describes!
Kean begins 75,000 years ago in Africa. We learn about ancient bedding, the use of ostrich eggs to carry water, and flint knapping. At the same time across the globe in South America, people ate poisonous wild potatoes with detoxifying clay sauce and hunted vicuna and giant sloths with atlatls.
6500 years ago in Turkey finds humans farming and creating the first cities. The cities would not be familiar: the mud brick houses were accessed through a hole in the roof, and people walked across roofs to get around. Grain was ground on precious millstones sourced in the mountains; to prevent accumulated wealth, the stones could not be passed down through a family but were destroyed when someone died. The dead were buried under the raised beds in the houses.
Egypt 2000 years ago saw the rise of distinct classes. The Pharaoh’s tomb was filled with precious items and bread and beer, his body mummified. Experiments have discounted past ideas of how the pyramids were built and offers a new option.
Canoes that could hold 100 people were used in 1000 BC Polynesia. They were made without metal or nails, and the sails were made from tree bark. Amazingly, they spread to islands across thousands of miles over the Pacific.
Up to half of Roman cities were slaves in 100 AD. Imagining an eruption like that if Mt Vesuvius, Kean weaves a story of a slave girl’s life. She wears a slave’s iron collar and her hair is harvested to sew into her mistress’s hair. We learn abut the public toilets with its shared sponge, how to make garum fish sauce, and how Roman concrete was self healing.
Back in the Americas in 500 AD, California tribes harvested acorns to process into meal. Tattoos represented more than ornamentation. Kean tries out various war clubs on watermelons.
Vikings in 900 AD raided Europe, targeting monestary’s riches. Experiments using ancient Viking salves show encouraging effectiveness that could lead to an alternative to antibiotics. Bodies preserved in bogs raise questions of why and how they died.
In Northern Alaska in 1000s AD, the Thule people lived in small settlements employing sophisticated use of limited natural resources. They used driftwood for furniture and sleds. Whale baleen on sled runners kept snow from building up. Reindeer antler goggles with slits prevented snow blindness. Whole seal skins became storage bags. And unfired clay pots became waterproof with blood and oil.
The technological advances of 1200 AD China were amazing. We learn about eunuchs and foot binding, alchemy and trebuchets.
In 1500 AD Mexico, the Aztec god required human sacrifices, but its civilization was brought down by smallpox carried by Spanish conquistadors. Nixtamalized corn meal tortillas and roasted insects were staples.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
To understand what life was like for early humans and in past civilizations, Sam Kean ate insects and blubber, got a tattoo, made beer and bread, and gamely battered his body in an ancient Aztec game. He trepanated a skull and made a mummy. He tanned leather with deer brains.
Kean’s book is organized by an eras of history. To understand daily life in each era, he creates an accompanying fictional story and then describes the experiments that recreate the foods, culture, and daily life referred to in the story.
I loved this lively, entertaining, informative, and sometimes stomach-turning book. Kean is intrepid! I would not try half of the experiments he describes!
Kean begins 75,000 years ago in Africa. We learn about ancient bedding, the use of ostrich eggs to carry water, and flint knapping. At the same time across the globe in South America, people ate poisonous wild potatoes with detoxifying clay sauce and hunted vicuna and giant sloths with atlatls.
6500 years ago in Turkey finds humans farming and creating the first cities. The cities would not be familiar: the mud brick houses were accessed through a hole in the roof, and people walked across roofs to get around. Grain was ground on precious millstones sourced in the mountains; to prevent accumulated wealth, the stones could not be passed down through a family but were destroyed when someone died. The dead were buried under the raised beds in the houses.
Egypt 2000 years ago saw the rise of distinct classes. The Pharaoh’s tomb was filled with precious items and bread and beer, his body mummified. Experiments have discounted past ideas of how the pyramids were built and offers a new option.
Canoes that could hold 100 people were used in 1000 BC Polynesia. They were made without metal or nails, and the sails were made from tree bark. Amazingly, they spread to islands across thousands of miles over the Pacific.
Up to half of Roman cities were slaves in 100 AD. Imagining an eruption like that if Mt Vesuvius, Kean weaves a story of a slave girl’s life. She wears a slave’s iron collar and her hair is harvested to sew into her mistress’s hair. We learn abut the public toilets with its shared sponge, how to make garum fish sauce, and how Roman concrete was self healing.
Back in the Americas in 500 AD, California tribes harvested acorns to process into meal. Tattoos represented more than ornamentation. Kean tries out various war clubs on watermelons.
Vikings in 900 AD raided Europe, targeting monestary’s riches. Experiments using ancient Viking salves show encouraging effectiveness that could lead to an alternative to antibiotics. Bodies preserved in bogs raise questions of why and how they died.
In Northern Alaska in 1000s AD, the Thule people lived in small settlements employing sophisticated use of limited natural resources. They used driftwood for furniture and sleds. Whale baleen on sled runners kept snow from building up. Reindeer antler goggles with slits prevented snow blindness. Whole seal skins became storage bags. And unfired clay pots became waterproof with blood and oil.
The technological advances of 1200 AD China were amazing. We learn about eunuchs and foot binding, alchemy and trebuchets.
In 1500 AD Mexico, the Aztec god required human sacrifices, but its civilization was brought down by smallpox carried by Spanish conquistadors. Nixtamalized corn meal tortillas and roasted insects were staples.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.
July 29, 2025
This wasn’t really what I was looking for. It is a somewhat awkward hybrid of history, instruction from archeologists, experiments by the author (like tanning leather and tattooing) and fictional interludes as imagined by the author. I still don’t know what King Tut ate,but there was a lot of bread n Egypt,
A lot of the things that the experimental archeologists are studying in this book just don’t seem that useful to me (like eunuchs in China or grueling Aztec games). However, there is some interesting information here. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
A lot of the things that the experimental archeologists are studying in this book just don’t seem that useful to me (like eunuchs in China or grueling Aztec games). However, there is some interesting information here. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
July 28, 2025
This is a fun, impressive, wide-ranging account of how experimental archaeologists are trying to reconstruct the sensory world of the past through hands-on methods. Kean moves chronologically and geographically from early humans in Africa (75,000 years ago) to post-conquest Mesoamerica. Each chapter focuses on a particular civilization and the researchers who are trying, sometimes obsessively, to bring its material culture back to life.
The book works best when it leans into labor and craft: how things were made, how they decayed, and what that tells us about the people who made them. While not overtly political, Kean doesn’t entirely avoid questions of power, class, conquest, and collapse. One of the most successful aspects of the book is its blending of fiction with nonfiction. Kean's reconstruction of what life might have felt like in a given time and place in narrative form was really impressive to pair with the hard science of how we know those things. They aren’t overdone or sentimental, and they do a lot of work grounding the research in lived experience. It’s a smart structural choice that keeps the book from reading like a disconnected string of fun facts.
Some chapters are stronger than others, and there’s an unevenness in how much historical or cultural depth is given to each region. But as a whole, the book is well-researched, well-paced, and refreshingly fun!
The book works best when it leans into labor and craft: how things were made, how they decayed, and what that tells us about the people who made them. While not overtly political, Kean doesn’t entirely avoid questions of power, class, conquest, and collapse. One of the most successful aspects of the book is its blending of fiction with nonfiction. Kean's reconstruction of what life might have felt like in a given time and place in narrative form was really impressive to pair with the hard science of how we know those things. They aren’t overdone or sentimental, and they do a lot of work grounding the research in lived experience. It’s a smart structural choice that keeps the book from reading like a disconnected string of fun facts.
Some chapters are stronger than others, and there’s an unevenness in how much historical or cultural depth is given to each region. But as a whole, the book is well-researched, well-paced, and refreshingly fun!
September 25, 2025
I have very mixed feelings about this book, and would caution anyone reading it to think critically about its methods and conclusions.
The good: I love Sam Kean’s joy for knowledge and his insatiable curiosity. His “have a go” attitude is really refreshing and non-judgmental and his writing is lively and entertaining. He is a gifted raconteur. It was an interesting read.
The bad: I don’t think experimental archaeology is all that rogue. I’m hard pressed to imagine an archaeology department in the world that doesn’t have some corner where people are flint knapping or mucking about trying to recreate ancient structures. In this way the premise feels like a bit of straw man, and rests on the assumption that knowledge production and education are primarily about entertainment. While there is certainly gate-keeping, small c conservatism, and snobbery in every academic field (and academic publishing is another can of worms entirely) if someone repeatedly can’t get anyone to pay attention to their ideas about how the pyramids were built…maybe there is a reason for that.
The ugly: The book assumes way too much about not just archaeology (and nothing about sociocultural anthropology, which is screaming to be acknowledged on its pages), but about other human beings full stop, living or dead.
“If this field truly wants to fulfil its promise of illuminating the lives of everyday people in the past, then it needs to focus on what people in the past actually experienced, the moments that filled their days and filled their lives,” he writes. I’m not convinced that has ever been promised by archaeology. Material remains only go so far, and the flatness Kean snubs his nose at isn’t a lack of liveliness, but prudence against making unsupported conclusions about people’s inner lives. Experiencing the sensations of the past – touch, taste, smell, sound – is not the same thing as understanding how people found meaning in those sensations or thought about them (and it sure doesn’t justify the appallingly cringy accents used in the audio version of this book). For Kean, experimental archaeology is a corrective (he uses the word “spiritual”) against our contemporary alienation from the material world. I don’t the idea that “we” are alienated from the material world is true in the slightest, but think that maybe what Kean really needs is a crash course in Marx’s take on the labour theory of value.
Kean writes that “the least we can do is try to understand them on their own terms.” We can’t. We can speculate, we can make educated guesses, we can wonder, and we can trace ideas and behaviours through time, but we can never be sure. In this way the parts of the book that are fiction are certainly engaging and based in some material empiricism, but they go too far.
The uniqueness of experimental archaeology, he says, is that it can do that in a way that no other field can. “Artefacts are physical proof of what people have achieved, but can only take us so far into the minds of other people. To reach them on that deeper level, we need to inhabit their world. To endure their frustrations and revel in their joys. To touch and smell and taste everything they took for granted.” My friend, you have just described ethnography, and it still doesn’t let us into the minds of other people — even though it has a distinct advantage over archaeology in that it involves actual conversation. Our experience will always be mediated by our own ways of being in the world. The promise of anthropology, archaeology included, is not that people in the past (and present) are “no different from us” [I have an idea of who he means by “us”], but that it points to the textures of human difference, and the hope that what we are told is “normal” and “natural” in our own contexts is always open to challenge.
The good: I love Sam Kean’s joy for knowledge and his insatiable curiosity. His “have a go” attitude is really refreshing and non-judgmental and his writing is lively and entertaining. He is a gifted raconteur. It was an interesting read.
The bad: I don’t think experimental archaeology is all that rogue. I’m hard pressed to imagine an archaeology department in the world that doesn’t have some corner where people are flint knapping or mucking about trying to recreate ancient structures. In this way the premise feels like a bit of straw man, and rests on the assumption that knowledge production and education are primarily about entertainment. While there is certainly gate-keeping, small c conservatism, and snobbery in every academic field (and academic publishing is another can of worms entirely) if someone repeatedly can’t get anyone to pay attention to their ideas about how the pyramids were built…maybe there is a reason for that.
The ugly: The book assumes way too much about not just archaeology (and nothing about sociocultural anthropology, which is screaming to be acknowledged on its pages), but about other human beings full stop, living or dead.
“If this field truly wants to fulfil its promise of illuminating the lives of everyday people in the past, then it needs to focus on what people in the past actually experienced, the moments that filled their days and filled their lives,” he writes. I’m not convinced that has ever been promised by archaeology. Material remains only go so far, and the flatness Kean snubs his nose at isn’t a lack of liveliness, but prudence against making unsupported conclusions about people’s inner lives. Experiencing the sensations of the past – touch, taste, smell, sound – is not the same thing as understanding how people found meaning in those sensations or thought about them (and it sure doesn’t justify the appallingly cringy accents used in the audio version of this book). For Kean, experimental archaeology is a corrective (he uses the word “spiritual”) against our contemporary alienation from the material world. I don’t the idea that “we” are alienated from the material world is true in the slightest, but think that maybe what Kean really needs is a crash course in Marx’s take on the labour theory of value.
Kean writes that “the least we can do is try to understand them on their own terms.” We can’t. We can speculate, we can make educated guesses, we can wonder, and we can trace ideas and behaviours through time, but we can never be sure. In this way the parts of the book that are fiction are certainly engaging and based in some material empiricism, but they go too far.
The uniqueness of experimental archaeology, he says, is that it can do that in a way that no other field can. “Artefacts are physical proof of what people have achieved, but can only take us so far into the minds of other people. To reach them on that deeper level, we need to inhabit their world. To endure their frustrations and revel in their joys. To touch and smell and taste everything they took for granted.” My friend, you have just described ethnography, and it still doesn’t let us into the minds of other people — even though it has a distinct advantage over archaeology in that it involves actual conversation. Our experience will always be mediated by our own ways of being in the world. The promise of anthropology, archaeology included, is not that people in the past (and present) are “no different from us” [I have an idea of who he means by “us”], but that it points to the textures of human difference, and the hope that what we are told is “normal” and “natural” in our own contexts is always open to challenge.
September 28, 2025
If you are looking for archaeology, unfortunately you will not find it in this book. A good 50% (or more) of the book is taken up by fictional vignettes about life in the past. Another 25% is the author himself attempting ill-advised experiments, like tanning skin in his own old urine in his apartment. Of the 25% remaining, some is spent interviewing "enthusiasts," some interviewing practitioners of ancient techniques, some interviewing scientists, and a very very VERY few people who are actually archaeologists. Wouldn't you expect to find more archaeology in a book with archaeologists in the title? I know I would! The author's use of the term "rogue archaeologists" is LOOSE.
The other main issue I had is that the author 1) hates actual archaeology and yet 2) knows nothing about it. Instead of highlighting the unique contributions of experimental archaeology in and of itself, he sets up a non-existent conflict between "traditional archaeology" (which he disparagingly calls "dig-in-the-dirt archaeology" or just "dirt archaeology" on multiple occasions) and experimental archaeology. To him, traditional archaeology is BORING but experimental archaeology is COOL (and he only begrudgingly acknowledges the useful contributions of traditional archaeology a couple times). Traditional archaeology is DUSTY and STAGNANT, but experimental archaeology is INNOVATIVE. And because experimental archaeology is sooooo much better, traditional archaeologists are jealous of them and don't respect their work. I have degrees in archaeology/bioarchaeology, and I do not know this to be true. That is why it is clear that the author doesn't know anything about archaeology. If he did, he would not claim that archaeologists have "no clue" how ancient Egyptians built the pyramids (a truly insane false claim) or end the book with a plea to traditional archaeologists to stop focusing on boring artifacts and consider the lived experiences of past peoples. My guy-- they DO. There are a lot of really interesting and innovative archaeological studies he could have drawn from for this book, but unfortunately he chose not to do that research.
Ultimately this is a two star read for me because I did enjoy the aspects of experimental archaeology that DID exist, and because it made for an entertaining hate-read.
The other main issue I had is that the author 1) hates actual archaeology and yet 2) knows nothing about it. Instead of highlighting the unique contributions of experimental archaeology in and of itself, he sets up a non-existent conflict between "traditional archaeology" (which he disparagingly calls "dig-in-the-dirt archaeology" or just "dirt archaeology" on multiple occasions) and experimental archaeology. To him, traditional archaeology is BORING but experimental archaeology is COOL (and he only begrudgingly acknowledges the useful contributions of traditional archaeology a couple times). Traditional archaeology is DUSTY and STAGNANT, but experimental archaeology is INNOVATIVE. And because experimental archaeology is sooooo much better, traditional archaeologists are jealous of them and don't respect their work. I have degrees in archaeology/bioarchaeology, and I do not know this to be true. That is why it is clear that the author doesn't know anything about archaeology. If he did, he would not claim that archaeologists have "no clue" how ancient Egyptians built the pyramids (a truly insane false claim) or end the book with a plea to traditional archaeologists to stop focusing on boring artifacts and consider the lived experiences of past peoples. My guy-- they DO. There are a lot of really interesting and innovative archaeological studies he could have drawn from for this book, but unfortunately he chose not to do that research.
Ultimately this is a two star read for me because I did enjoy the aspects of experimental archaeology that DID exist, and because it made for an entertaining hate-read.
May 18, 2025
I picked up this book because I like the author, but it turned out to be a fun surprise. This book is a mix of non-fiction research and fictional stories based on the research. I'm more of a non-fiction fan, but it was interesting to see how the author who researched the book interpreted it into a story. There is even a bit of personal experience mixed in that I also enjoyed. I would recommend this book to fiction, and non-fiction lovers alike and hope that we see more of this mix from the author in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I enjoyed it very much!
October 21, 2025
Well, that was fun! I read this book delving into "experimental archaeology" much faster than I expected. Kean is a talented and engaging writer, and if you're one of those people who learns by doing, reading this book is the next best thing to getting a "taste" (haha, excuse the pun) of how historical people lived.
Fittingly for a book focused on experimental archaeology, this format of this book is experimental itself, which Kean warns you about in his introduction. In each of the chapters, he blends historical info, details about his personal experimentation with an element of the time, and a fictional vignette imagining the lives of some people from the time period. These are all chopped up and interspersed in short sections within the chapter, so you can't really skip around. Personally, at first I found the fictional parts a bit jarring, but I warmed up to them and enjoyed them by the end.
The book has eleven chapters, progressing in historical order. Here's what you're in for:
Africa - 75,000 years ago
South America - 7500 BC*
Turkey - 6500s BC
Egypt - 2000s BC
Polynesia - 1000s BC
Rome - AD 100s
California - AD 500s
Viking Europe - AD 900s
Northern Alaska - AD 1000s
China - AD 1200s
Mexico - AD 1500s
I would say definitely don't read this book for any deep historical knowledge - the topics covered are all periods of time that most folks are somewhat familiar with and Kean doesn't really veer into the the obscure. But it is worth reading for the experiments - which include Kean knapping a stone tool, making leather, trying to sail a Polynesian boat, and eating a LOT of weird (but some delicious) things. A strong stomach may be required for some of these chapters.
Kean is sure to include his thoughts along the way - before, during and after the experiment, which is part of the fun. He's definitely not "gonzo" - many times he goes into these activities with a healthy amount of trepidation. You can't say the guy isn't dedicated to his topic.
I really enjoyed this book! I hope it makes experimental archaeology more accepted as a practice.
This was another for-sure winner of a pick for the SciFri Book Club.
*Not sure why Kean chose to use the old-fashioned BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) unless he just assumes people are more comfortable with an outmoded dating system.
Fittingly for a book focused on experimental archaeology, this format of this book is experimental itself, which Kean warns you about in his introduction. In each of the chapters, he blends historical info, details about his personal experimentation with an element of the time, and a fictional vignette imagining the lives of some people from the time period. These are all chopped up and interspersed in short sections within the chapter, so you can't really skip around. Personally, at first I found the fictional parts a bit jarring, but I warmed up to them and enjoyed them by the end.
The book has eleven chapters, progressing in historical order. Here's what you're in for:
Africa - 75,000 years ago
South America - 7500 BC*
Turkey - 6500s BC
Egypt - 2000s BC
Polynesia - 1000s BC
Rome - AD 100s
California - AD 500s
Viking Europe - AD 900s
Northern Alaska - AD 1000s
China - AD 1200s
Mexico - AD 1500s
I would say definitely don't read this book for any deep historical knowledge - the topics covered are all periods of time that most folks are somewhat familiar with and Kean doesn't really veer into the the obscure. But it is worth reading for the experiments - which include Kean knapping a stone tool, making leather, trying to sail a Polynesian boat, and eating a LOT of weird (but some delicious) things. A strong stomach may be required for some of these chapters.
Kean is sure to include his thoughts along the way - before, during and after the experiment, which is part of the fun. He's definitely not "gonzo" - many times he goes into these activities with a healthy amount of trepidation. You can't say the guy isn't dedicated to his topic.
I really enjoyed this book! I hope it makes experimental archaeology more accepted as a practice.
This was another for-sure winner of a pick for the SciFri Book Club.
*Not sure why Kean chose to use the old-fashioned BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) unless he just assumes people are more comfortable with an outmoded dating system.
August 11, 2025
When I go to Italy in October I will find a place that sells authentic garum aka ancient Roman fish sauce and lowkey that’s now a priority over finding my distant relatives🇮🇹
July 30, 2025
This was fun and interesting nonfiction describing the author's experiences working with experimental anthropologists in attempts to recreate the customs, items, etc. of older civilizations and experience them firsthand. A few examples include stone knapping, eating bread and beer the way ancient Egyptians prepared it, trepanation, and there's even a bit about a poop knife. It ranges from Africa 75,000 years ago to Mexico 1500 AD. The author alternates the accounts of his personal experiments with fictionalized narratives of people who lived these experiences in order to put them into context. Very neat!
July 14, 2025
Sam Kean's "Dinner with King Tut: True Tales of Food, Drink, and History" represents a bold departure from conventional historical narrative, blending the rigor of archaeological research with the visceral thrill of hands-on experimentation. As the New York Times bestselling author of "The Disappearing Spoon" and "Caesar's Last Breath," Kean has carved a unique niche in popular science writing, but this latest work ventures into uncharted territory—quite literally getting his hands dirty in the pursuit of historical truth.
The book's central premise is both simple and revolutionary: to understand our ancestors, we must experience their world through all our senses, not merely observe their artifacts through museum glass. Kean introduces readers to the emerging field of experimental archaeology, where researchers don't just theorize about ancient life—they live it, taste it, and sometimes suffer through it.
The Structure: Fiction Meets Rigorous Research
Unlike Kean's previous works, "Dinner with King Tut" employs a dual narrative structure that proves both ambitious and largely successful. Each of the eleven chapters alternates between meticulously researched historical fiction and first-person journalistic accounts of Kean's adventures with contemporary experimental archaeologists.
The fictional sections follow various characters across time and geography—from a San hunter in Africa 75,000 years ago to an Aztec warrior facing Spanish conquistadors in 1500s Mexico. These vignettes, while invented, are built upon solid archaeological evidence. Kean takes pains to ensure that every detail—what people ate, how they slept, what they smelled—reflects genuine research findings.
The nonfiction portions chronicle Kean's globe-trotting quest to experience ancient life firsthand. He fires medieval catapults, performs primitive neurosurgery (trepanation), brews Viking beer, and even makes his own mummy. These personal experiments, conducted alongside leading researchers, provide the sensory details that traditional archaeology often neglects.
Strengths: When History Becomes Visceral
Kean's greatest achievement lies in making the abstract concrete. When he describes the "spongy and chewy" texture of ancient Egyptian bread with its "scrumptious sourdough tang," or the "crab-like odor of a deer hide" during tanning, readers gain insights that no amount of theoretical discussion could provide. His collaboration with "gastro-Egyptologist" Seamus Blackley, who uses ancient yeast to recreate pharaonic bread, exemplifies the book's strength in revealing the sophisticated palates of our ancestors.
The author's self-deprecating humor prevents the material from becoming either preachy or intimidatingly academic. His admission that he "would have starved to death in about half an hour" if transported to any historical era creates an endearing vulnerability that draws readers into his journey of discovery.
Perhaps most compelling is Kean's ability to challenge preconceptions about ancient civilizations. His exploration of Roman cuisine through chef Sally Grainger demolishes the persistent myth that ancient food was universally terrible. The revelation that Roman fish sauce (garum) resembles modern umami-rich condiments, or that Vikings performed remarkably successful neurosurgery, forces readers to reconsider their assumptions about historical "primitiveness."
The Sensory Revolution in Historical Understanding
Kean excels at demonstrating how experimental archaeology fills crucial gaps in our understanding. Traditional archaeological methods might tell us that ancient Egyptians consumed beer daily, but only through brewing it himself does Kean discover its "Kombucha-like" taste and function as a practical thirst-quencher in desert conditions. These sensory revelations often prove more illuminating than volumes of theoretical analysis.
The book's exploration of trepanation—ancient skull surgery—showcases this approach at its finest. Rather than simply describing the procedure, Kean performs it on animal skulls, revealing both the surprising feasibility of the operation and the psychological barriers early surgeons had to overcome. His discovery that traditional trepanations often outperformed 19th-century European surgery provides a humbling perspective on technological progress.
Critical Weaknesses: Where Ambition Exceeds Execution
Despite its many strengths, "Dinner with King Tut" suffers from structural inconsistencies that occasionally undermine its impact. The alternating fiction/nonfiction format, while innovative, creates jarring transitions that can disrupt narrative flow. Some fictional sections, particularly the earlier chapters set in prehistoric Africa, feel less compelling than Kean's reported adventures with contemporary researchers.
The book's scope, spanning 75,000 years across multiple continents, sometimes prevents deeper exploration of individual topics. While Kean's breadth is impressive, readers seeking detailed analysis of specific periods or practices may find themselves wanting more depth. The chapter on Polynesian navigation, for instance, touches on fascinating wayfinding techniques but barely scratches the surface of this remarkable maritime culture.
Kean's writing occasionally lapses into sensationalism, particularly when describing violent historical practices. His detailed account of Aztec human sacrifice, while historically accurate, sometimes reads more like pulp fiction than serious historical analysis. These moments threaten to overshadow the book's more substantive contributions to historical understanding.
The Author's Evolution and Scientific Credibility
Coming from Kean's previous works—"The Disappearing Spoon" (chemistry), "The Violinist's Thumb" (genetics), and "The Icepick Surgeon" (science history)—this book represents a natural evolution toward increasingly hands-on exploration. His background in science writing serves him well in evaluating experimental methodology and presenting complex archaeological theories accessibly.
However, Kean's enthusiasm for his subject occasionally overwhelms his critical faculties. While he acknowledges controversies within experimental archaeology, he sometimes glosses over significant limitations of the field. Critics argue that experimental archaeology can never truly replicate ancient conditions, and that modern practitioners inevitably bring contemporary biases to their interpretations. Kean addresses these concerns but perhaps not with sufficient rigor.
Final Verdict: A Flawed but Fascinating Journey
"Dinner with King Tut" succeeds admirably in its primary mission: making ancient history viscerally compelling for contemporary readers. Despite structural weaknesses and occasional lapses in critical analysis, Kean's enthusiasm proves infectious, and his sensory approach to historical understanding offers genuinely fresh insights.
The book works best when Kean allows his subjects—both ancient and modern—to speak for themselves. His encounter with Polynesian navigators, his collaboration with Roman food historians, and his attempts at ancient crafts all demonstrate the power of experiential learning to illuminate the past.
While not without flaws, "Dinner with King Tut" represents an important contribution to popular historical writing. It successfully demonstrates that understanding our ancestors requires more than analyzing their artifacts—it demands experiencing their world. For readers willing to embrace Kean's unconventional approach, the book offers a uniquely immersive journey through human history, complete with all its tastes, textures, sounds, and smells.
The book ultimately argues that experimental archaeology isn't merely academic exercise but a form of cultural preservation—a way of maintaining connections to the material foundations that have sustained human civilization for millennia. In our increasingly abstract digital world, this message resonates with particular urgency. Kean may not have written a perfect book, but he has crafted an important one that challenges readers to engage with history through all their senses, not merely their intellect.
The book's central premise is both simple and revolutionary: to understand our ancestors, we must experience their world through all our senses, not merely observe their artifacts through museum glass. Kean introduces readers to the emerging field of experimental archaeology, where researchers don't just theorize about ancient life—they live it, taste it, and sometimes suffer through it.
The Structure: Fiction Meets Rigorous Research
Unlike Kean's previous works, "Dinner with King Tut" employs a dual narrative structure that proves both ambitious and largely successful. Each of the eleven chapters alternates between meticulously researched historical fiction and first-person journalistic accounts of Kean's adventures with contemporary experimental archaeologists.
The fictional sections follow various characters across time and geography—from a San hunter in Africa 75,000 years ago to an Aztec warrior facing Spanish conquistadors in 1500s Mexico. These vignettes, while invented, are built upon solid archaeological evidence. Kean takes pains to ensure that every detail—what people ate, how they slept, what they smelled—reflects genuine research findings.
The nonfiction portions chronicle Kean's globe-trotting quest to experience ancient life firsthand. He fires medieval catapults, performs primitive neurosurgery (trepanation), brews Viking beer, and even makes his own mummy. These personal experiments, conducted alongside leading researchers, provide the sensory details that traditional archaeology often neglects.
Strengths: When History Becomes Visceral
Kean's greatest achievement lies in making the abstract concrete. When he describes the "spongy and chewy" texture of ancient Egyptian bread with its "scrumptious sourdough tang," or the "crab-like odor of a deer hide" during tanning, readers gain insights that no amount of theoretical discussion could provide. His collaboration with "gastro-Egyptologist" Seamus Blackley, who uses ancient yeast to recreate pharaonic bread, exemplifies the book's strength in revealing the sophisticated palates of our ancestors.
The author's self-deprecating humor prevents the material from becoming either preachy or intimidatingly academic. His admission that he "would have starved to death in about half an hour" if transported to any historical era creates an endearing vulnerability that draws readers into his journey of discovery.
Perhaps most compelling is Kean's ability to challenge preconceptions about ancient civilizations. His exploration of Roman cuisine through chef Sally Grainger demolishes the persistent myth that ancient food was universally terrible. The revelation that Roman fish sauce (garum) resembles modern umami-rich condiments, or that Vikings performed remarkably successful neurosurgery, forces readers to reconsider their assumptions about historical "primitiveness."
The Sensory Revolution in Historical Understanding
Kean excels at demonstrating how experimental archaeology fills crucial gaps in our understanding. Traditional archaeological methods might tell us that ancient Egyptians consumed beer daily, but only through brewing it himself does Kean discover its "Kombucha-like" taste and function as a practical thirst-quencher in desert conditions. These sensory revelations often prove more illuminating than volumes of theoretical analysis.
The book's exploration of trepanation—ancient skull surgery—showcases this approach at its finest. Rather than simply describing the procedure, Kean performs it on animal skulls, revealing both the surprising feasibility of the operation and the psychological barriers early surgeons had to overcome. His discovery that traditional trepanations often outperformed 19th-century European surgery provides a humbling perspective on technological progress.
Critical Weaknesses: Where Ambition Exceeds Execution
Despite its many strengths, "Dinner with King Tut" suffers from structural inconsistencies that occasionally undermine its impact. The alternating fiction/nonfiction format, while innovative, creates jarring transitions that can disrupt narrative flow. Some fictional sections, particularly the earlier chapters set in prehistoric Africa, feel less compelling than Kean's reported adventures with contemporary researchers.
The book's scope, spanning 75,000 years across multiple continents, sometimes prevents deeper exploration of individual topics. While Kean's breadth is impressive, readers seeking detailed analysis of specific periods or practices may find themselves wanting more depth. The chapter on Polynesian navigation, for instance, touches on fascinating wayfinding techniques but barely scratches the surface of this remarkable maritime culture.
Kean's writing occasionally lapses into sensationalism, particularly when describing violent historical practices. His detailed account of Aztec human sacrifice, while historically accurate, sometimes reads more like pulp fiction than serious historical analysis. These moments threaten to overshadow the book's more substantive contributions to historical understanding.
The Author's Evolution and Scientific Credibility
Coming from Kean's previous works—"The Disappearing Spoon" (chemistry), "The Violinist's Thumb" (genetics), and "The Icepick Surgeon" (science history)—this book represents a natural evolution toward increasingly hands-on exploration. His background in science writing serves him well in evaluating experimental methodology and presenting complex archaeological theories accessibly.
However, Kean's enthusiasm for his subject occasionally overwhelms his critical faculties. While he acknowledges controversies within experimental archaeology, he sometimes glosses over significant limitations of the field. Critics argue that experimental archaeology can never truly replicate ancient conditions, and that modern practitioners inevitably bring contemporary biases to their interpretations. Kean addresses these concerns but perhaps not with sufficient rigor.
Final Verdict: A Flawed but Fascinating Journey
"Dinner with King Tut" succeeds admirably in its primary mission: making ancient history viscerally compelling for contemporary readers. Despite structural weaknesses and occasional lapses in critical analysis, Kean's enthusiasm proves infectious, and his sensory approach to historical understanding offers genuinely fresh insights.
The book works best when Kean allows his subjects—both ancient and modern—to speak for themselves. His encounter with Polynesian navigators, his collaboration with Roman food historians, and his attempts at ancient crafts all demonstrate the power of experiential learning to illuminate the past.
While not without flaws, "Dinner with King Tut" represents an important contribution to popular historical writing. It successfully demonstrates that understanding our ancestors requires more than analyzing their artifacts—it demands experiencing their world. For readers willing to embrace Kean's unconventional approach, the book offers a uniquely immersive journey through human history, complete with all its tastes, textures, sounds, and smells.
The book ultimately argues that experimental archaeology isn't merely academic exercise but a form of cultural preservation—a way of maintaining connections to the material foundations that have sustained human civilization for millennia. In our increasingly abstract digital world, this message resonates with particular urgency. Kean may not have written a perfect book, but he has crafted an important one that challenges readers to engage with history through all their senses, not merely their intellect.
July 31, 2025
Enjoyed the other books by this author, but the format of interspersing fact and fiction I found annoying and trite. Did not finish.
September 7, 2025
3.5 stars (between good and very good)
Experimental archaeology and imaginative anthropology
Kean’s project here is to convey to the reader what life would have been like for people living in particular times and places in human history so we can understand how they lived, the food they ate, the technology they used. Not only does he explain these details, he also attempts many of the same activities himself, such as tanning leather, making primitive tattoos, baking Egyptian bread, sailing a Polynesian canoe, firing a trebuchet, and many others.
For each chapter Kean uses a fictional vignette to illustrate a specific slice of life. For example, in one chapter he tells the story of a hypothetical young woman in the Andes in 7500 BC who becomes orphaned when her parents die eating undercooked potatoes. She wishes to prove herself as a hunter and attempts to hunt and kill a giant sloth. Through digressions within this story Kean notes that wild potatoes are actually poisonous and shows how they must be prepared with care. He discusses the process of making stone tools and obsidian knives (which are much sharper than surgical scalpels), and how prehistoric hunters used atlatls, or throwing sticks, to hurl darts. He relates his experiences learning to make stone tools and trying to hit targets using an atlatl. He explains how this device can allow a hunter to launch a dart faster and farther, although it takes a great deal of practice and finesse to become proficient. He then provides archeological evidence that many stone-age hunters were women, theorizing that the atlatl reduced the strength advantage that men might otherwise possess.
Here are the civilizations discussed (from the table of contents):
1. Africa —75,000 Years Ago
2. South America — 7500 BC
3. Turkey —6500s BC
4. Egypt —2000s BC
5. Polynesia — 1000s BC
6. Rome— AD 100s
7. California — AD 500s
8. Viking Europe — AD 900s
9. Northern Alaska — AD 1000s
10. China — AD 1200s
11. Mexico — AD 1500s
Overall, the book is both entertaining and informative. Like the rest of his books, really.
Experimental archaeology and imaginative anthropology
Kean’s project here is to convey to the reader what life would have been like for people living in particular times and places in human history so we can understand how they lived, the food they ate, the technology they used. Not only does he explain these details, he also attempts many of the same activities himself, such as tanning leather, making primitive tattoos, baking Egyptian bread, sailing a Polynesian canoe, firing a trebuchet, and many others.
For each chapter Kean uses a fictional vignette to illustrate a specific slice of life. For example, in one chapter he tells the story of a hypothetical young woman in the Andes in 7500 BC who becomes orphaned when her parents die eating undercooked potatoes. She wishes to prove herself as a hunter and attempts to hunt and kill a giant sloth. Through digressions within this story Kean notes that wild potatoes are actually poisonous and shows how they must be prepared with care. He discusses the process of making stone tools and obsidian knives (which are much sharper than surgical scalpels), and how prehistoric hunters used atlatls, or throwing sticks, to hurl darts. He relates his experiences learning to make stone tools and trying to hit targets using an atlatl. He explains how this device can allow a hunter to launch a dart faster and farther, although it takes a great deal of practice and finesse to become proficient. He then provides archeological evidence that many stone-age hunters were women, theorizing that the atlatl reduced the strength advantage that men might otherwise possess.
Here are the civilizations discussed (from the table of contents):
1. Africa —75,000 Years Ago
2. South America — 7500 BC
3. Turkey —6500s BC
4. Egypt —2000s BC
5. Polynesia — 1000s BC
6. Rome— AD 100s
7. California — AD 500s
8. Viking Europe — AD 900s
9. Northern Alaska — AD 1000s
10. China — AD 1200s
11. Mexico — AD 1500s
Overall, the book is both entertaining and informative. Like the rest of his books, really.
August 1, 2025
3.5 stars. Sam Kean goes in a different direction in his latest offering a bold vision with mixed results.
I'm a big fan of "popular science" books - books written for the layman (often by the layman) that highlight all the interesting bits of man's quest for understanding of the natural world and leave out the yawn-inducing technical jargon. In this genre, to my thinking, no writer has ever outshone Sam Kean. I came across The Disappearing Spoon (all about the Periodic Table of the Elements - fascinating!) at the Pacific Science Center when my now-young-adult-daughter was but a mite, and I've eagerly awaited and lustily devoured every book he's written since. From the secrets encoded in our DNA to the marvelous mysteries of the human brain, from the surprisingly riveting journey of the gases that comprise the air we breath to the dastardly deeds done in the name of science, Sam Kean has consistently expanded my appreciation of the natural world and often left me wide-eyed in wonder. He also writes and narrates an amazing podcast - one of my very favorites - "The Disappearing Spoon Podcast" with the tagline: "A topsy-turvy, sciencey history podcast where footnotes become the real story." I am a top-tier Patreon subscriber to this podcast and have traveled to hear him share aloud more astounding stories he's uncovered in his studies. So, all this to say, as the kids might nowadays: I stan Sam Kean.
In spring of 2025, it seemed that every living author I love had a new book coming out. That is a very sweet place for a reader to be. More than any other new release, I was looking forward to this offering from Sam Kean. Archaeology is so fascinating, and who better than Sam to bring those dusty bones to life? Maybe Ezekiel, but no one else. And ... I liked it. At times I did not particularly like it. At other times, I loved it. And so now, over a week after finishing it, I have decided that I liked it.
The thing is, it is a departure from his normal formula, and I was not expecting that. Imagine if Bill Bryson and Jean M. Auel had a child, and you might get a little closer to how this book unfolded. Surprisingly, Sam tries his hand at fiction by creating vignettes of ancient peoples (ranging from 75,000 years ago in Africa to a mere 500 years ago in Mexico) in order to bring those dry bones to life with narrative flair. That's the X chromosome from Jean M. Auel. He intersperses these vignettes with stories of his adventures with practitioners of "experimental archaeology" - basically a bunch of D&D/SCA-level nerds (this is not a diss - I resemble that remark and would most likely thrive in their world, as my D&D-playing daughter keeps assuring me) who get way into recreating historical weaponry, food, textiles, technology, medicines, etc. and probably were highly gratified that Sam Kean came to visit them. This is the Y-chromosome from Bill Bryson, who, if he reads this book, will probably be kicking himself that he did not think of this idea first.
In his introduction to his first time-traveling foray back to the cradle of Homo sapiens, Kean notes that "these ancestors of ours [were] every bit as intelligent as us today, and every bit as prone to folly" (p. 9). This observation frames the rest of the stories and explorations and recreations in Dinner with King Tut as Kean shows us how strikingly sophisticated ancients could be with rudimentary tools and scattered settlements and also how achingly human they were full of pride, envy, greed, lust, anger, etc. So, there was so much to like in this new book.
But, for me, it was an uneven read. Not slightly uneven, as even the best books are in spots, but quite a roller coaster. My favorite chapters were Turkey (the drama of what happens when one goes rogue in a ruthlessly egalitarian society), Egypt (why did I keep hearing the voice of the sly merchant [genie] from the opening scene of Disney's Aladdin whenever Abukar spoke?), Rome/"Pompeii" (a civilization that truly fascinates me and that I know something about and so was drawn into the narration - also, the Roman feast he described was amazing), California (dang it, I got completely wrapped up in the tragic story of Nadu and Hembem and Nadu's subsequent revenge arc), and Alaska (amazing that human beings ever settled up there and just went to town on eating frozen seal meat and hanging out with sled dogs). So, lots to like there - and those were the spaces this book was unputdownable.
Then, though, THEN there was the slog through Asana's annoying hunting adventure in 7500 B.C. South America. There was the Polynesian boat trip from hell with Loa. The weird pagan medicine man to the monks enduring a Viking attack in, presumably, Ireland circa 900 A.D. My indifference to this vignette and its attendant reenactments is extra surprising considering I am a bit obsessed with the bog sacrifices. Our journey back into time to China circa 1200 A.D. was something else, what with Too much about catapults that I simply skimmed in that chapter, which, alas, led me back to far faster than I liked. The brutality of the Aztec Empire when Spain arrived in the 1500s is well-documented, but I think there was a lot of drama that Sam missed exploring in favor of setting up the storyline to introduce an extremely boring (to read about) Aztec ballgame called ullamaliztli, the lengthy description of and Sam's experience with I largely skipped.
I am always grateful when authors take chances and try new ways of communicating, especially when they have successfully mastered a certain formula. Sam Kean gets an extra half star because of this. He did not have to create characters and give them personalities and plotlines. He did not have to go and eat disgusting things and talk to crazy backwoodsmen from Mississippi who introduce him to a whole new pyramid scheme. He could have just done it straight down the middle - pulling out interesting stories and framing them in his quietly quirky way. But, no. He ventured into the land of Bryson Auel lovechildren, and, for that, I tip my cap to him. I look forward to seeing what Sam Kean comes up with next.
I'm a big fan of "popular science" books - books written for the layman (often by the layman) that highlight all the interesting bits of man's quest for understanding of the natural world and leave out the yawn-inducing technical jargon. In this genre, to my thinking, no writer has ever outshone Sam Kean. I came across The Disappearing Spoon (all about the Periodic Table of the Elements - fascinating!) at the Pacific Science Center when my now-young-adult-daughter was but a mite, and I've eagerly awaited and lustily devoured every book he's written since. From the secrets encoded in our DNA to the marvelous mysteries of the human brain, from the surprisingly riveting journey of the gases that comprise the air we breath to the dastardly deeds done in the name of science, Sam Kean has consistently expanded my appreciation of the natural world and often left me wide-eyed in wonder. He also writes and narrates an amazing podcast - one of my very favorites - "The Disappearing Spoon Podcast" with the tagline: "A topsy-turvy, sciencey history podcast where footnotes become the real story." I am a top-tier Patreon subscriber to this podcast and have traveled to hear him share aloud more astounding stories he's uncovered in his studies. So, all this to say, as the kids might nowadays: I stan Sam Kean.
In spring of 2025, it seemed that every living author I love had a new book coming out. That is a very sweet place for a reader to be. More than any other new release, I was looking forward to this offering from Sam Kean. Archaeology is so fascinating, and who better than Sam to bring those dusty bones to life? Maybe Ezekiel, but no one else. And ... I liked it. At times I did not particularly like it. At other times, I loved it. And so now, over a week after finishing it, I have decided that I liked it.
The thing is, it is a departure from his normal formula, and I was not expecting that. Imagine if Bill Bryson and Jean M. Auel had a child, and you might get a little closer to how this book unfolded. Surprisingly, Sam tries his hand at fiction by creating vignettes of ancient peoples (ranging from 75,000 years ago in Africa to a mere 500 years ago in Mexico) in order to bring those dry bones to life with narrative flair. That's the X chromosome from Jean M. Auel. He intersperses these vignettes with stories of his adventures with practitioners of "experimental archaeology" - basically a bunch of D&D/SCA-level nerds (this is not a diss - I resemble that remark and would most likely thrive in their world, as my D&D-playing daughter keeps assuring me) who get way into recreating historical weaponry, food, textiles, technology, medicines, etc. and probably were highly gratified that Sam Kean came to visit them. This is the Y-chromosome from Bill Bryson, who, if he reads this book, will probably be kicking himself that he did not think of this idea first.
In his introduction to his first time-traveling foray back to the cradle of Homo sapiens, Kean notes that "these ancestors of ours [were] every bit as intelligent as us today, and every bit as prone to folly" (p. 9). This observation frames the rest of the stories and explorations and recreations in Dinner with King Tut as Kean shows us how strikingly sophisticated ancients could be with rudimentary tools and scattered settlements and also how achingly human they were full of pride, envy, greed, lust, anger, etc. So, there was so much to like in this new book.
But, for me, it was an uneven read. Not slightly uneven, as even the best books are in spots, but quite a roller coaster. My favorite chapters were Turkey (the drama of what happens when one goes rogue in a ruthlessly egalitarian society), Egypt (why did I keep hearing the voice of the sly merchant [genie] from the opening scene of Disney's Aladdin whenever Abukar spoke?), Rome/"Pompeii" (a civilization that truly fascinates me and that I know something about and so was drawn into the narration - also, the Roman feast he described was amazing), California (dang it, I got completely wrapped up in the tragic story of Nadu and Hembem and Nadu's subsequent revenge arc), and Alaska (amazing that human beings ever settled up there and just went to town on eating frozen seal meat and hanging out with sled dogs). So, lots to like there - and those were the spaces this book was unputdownable.
Then, though, THEN there was the slog through Asana's annoying hunting adventure in 7500 B.C. South America. There was the Polynesian boat trip from hell with Loa. The weird pagan medicine man to the monks enduring a Viking attack in, presumably, Ireland circa 900 A.D. My indifference to this vignette and its attendant reenactments is extra surprising considering I am a bit obsessed with the bog sacrifices. Our journey back into time to China circa 1200 A.D. was something else, what with Too much about catapults that I simply skimmed in that chapter, which, alas, led me back to far faster than I liked. The brutality of the Aztec Empire when Spain arrived in the 1500s is well-documented, but I think there was a lot of drama that Sam missed exploring in favor of setting up the storyline to introduce an extremely boring (to read about) Aztec ballgame called ullamaliztli, the lengthy description of and Sam's experience with I largely skipped.
I am always grateful when authors take chances and try new ways of communicating, especially when they have successfully mastered a certain formula. Sam Kean gets an extra half star because of this. He did not have to create characters and give them personalities and plotlines. He did not have to go and eat disgusting things and talk to crazy backwoodsmen from Mississippi who introduce him to a whole new pyramid scheme. He could have just done it straight down the middle - pulling out interesting stories and framing them in his quietly quirky way. But, no. He ventured into the land of Bryson Auel lovechildren, and, for that, I tip my cap to him. I look forward to seeing what Sam Kean comes up with next.
October 28, 2025
this was incredible! ever since I first saw it in the new releases display at a local bookstore I've been excited to read it, constantly checking Libby to see how soon I could check it out. I learned so much about ancient people in such an accessible way. I could have read another 100 chapters of this. I highly recommend if you're curious about the lived experience of ancient people or if your favorite part of reading historical fiction is learning what peoples lives felt like in a given time period
Read
December 5, 2025DNF after reading 25%
August 22, 2025
Dinner with King Tut offers an accessible and often imaginative look into exploratory archaeology, blending science, storytelling, and historical speculation across a wide range of cultures and time periods. The author aims to humanize the past by bringing historical figures and everyday people to life, encouraging readers to think about what it might have felt like to live in vastly different times.
While this narrative approach will appeal to many, I found myself at odds with the frequent assumption of thoughts, emotions, and motivations of people from the past. We can make educated guesses, yes—but there's a fine line between interpretation and invention. As with true crime narratives that speculate on a killer’s mindset without solid evidence, this kind of storytelling can overshadow critical analysis. For me, it undermined the historical rigor and distracted from what could have been a more grounded exploration of archaeology.
That said, the book has its strengths—it’s readable, creative, and clearly driven by a passion for the past. It just wasn’t quite the right fit for my preferences as a reader.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
While this narrative approach will appeal to many, I found myself at odds with the frequent assumption of thoughts, emotions, and motivations of people from the past. We can make educated guesses, yes—but there's a fine line between interpretation and invention. As with true crime narratives that speculate on a killer’s mindset without solid evidence, this kind of storytelling can overshadow critical analysis. For me, it undermined the historical rigor and distracted from what could have been a more grounded exploration of archaeology.
That said, the book has its strengths—it’s readable, creative, and clearly driven by a passion for the past. It just wasn’t quite the right fit for my preferences as a reader.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 18, 2025
3.5ish stars rounded up to 4
There's a lot of cool shit here and I liked Kean's sense of humor, but there were plenty of things that got on my nerves too. I felt like the Viking chapter was a cop out. Why no chapter on Mesopotamia? And even though I didn't mind the fictional vignettes in each chapter, I think maybe he got a little carried away. It was almost like there was more of that than the actual experimental archaeology, which is obviously what I'm more interested in and why I wanted to read the book in the first place.
There's a lot of cool shit here and I liked Kean's sense of humor, but there were plenty of things that got on my nerves too. I felt like the Viking chapter was a cop out. Why no chapter on Mesopotamia? And even though I didn't mind the fictional vignettes in each chapter, I think maybe he got a little carried away. It was almost like there was more of that than the actual experimental archaeology, which is obviously what I'm more interested in and why I wanted to read the book in the first place.
December 8, 2025
No doubt, writing 'Dinner with King Tut' required a lot of research and the creative spirit to pull it off with flair. Descriptions of hands-on experimental archeology are mixed with interludes of imaginative, novelistic, historical fiction.
Its approach to narration enhances the reader's experience of the sounds, smells, and tastes of long gone civilizations. It's really great to read believable descriptions of the dangers, disappointments, and satisfying successes of individuals from the past as a form of magic to improve my acting and pretending skills. For instance, for fun try pretending, maybe for an hour, to be a Spanish conquistador, far from home, in the Aztec world.
As it turns out, Spanish conquistadors were invariably smelly because they rarely bathed. And as you may know, horses and attack dogs were important to them. More aspects about conquistadors along with details of Aztec culture and society are provided. It should be pointed out, Aztec society was exceedingly warlike and their religion involving the Sun required multiple, daily human sacrifices. Also, knowing something about a prominent Aztec ballgame played with the hips helps when pretending to time travel for an hour or two. Oh and keep in mind, the Aztec population came to hate the Spanish conquistadors, especially, because of their association with the extremely nasty small pox disease.
I enjoyed learning that it wasn't slaves but large numbers of skilled, ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids. They were paid with really great tasting beer and wonderfully flavorful sourdough bread with outstanding springy crust which, because of the excellent flavors and nutrition, were consumed by the workers every day for every meal.
The book provides instructional information on how to tan animal hides into leather using the animal's brains as a key ingredient. And because skin art was important to many past cultures, it's worth knowing something about the ancient tattooing tools of the trade and how to make skin ink.
I am appreciative of the information provided about medieval cannons, gunpowder and catapults. In the pretend world, I enjoy being a medieval cannon and catapult master.
Details are provided about ancient murders where these bodies are exceptionally well preserved in bogs. I am now better at pretending how to nap effective obsidian spear tips and knife blades. And thankfully, I now know how to boss an ancient Roman road construction crew. Their roads were really something. Oh, and let there be no doubt, ancient Romans loved their fish sauce.
Read this book to better equip your mind for fun time travel adventures. It's an exceedingly rich form of entertainment, vastly superior to TV.
Its approach to narration enhances the reader's experience of the sounds, smells, and tastes of long gone civilizations. It's really great to read believable descriptions of the dangers, disappointments, and satisfying successes of individuals from the past as a form of magic to improve my acting and pretending skills. For instance, for fun try pretending, maybe for an hour, to be a Spanish conquistador, far from home, in the Aztec world.
As it turns out, Spanish conquistadors were invariably smelly because they rarely bathed. And as you may know, horses and attack dogs were important to them. More aspects about conquistadors along with details of Aztec culture and society are provided. It should be pointed out, Aztec society was exceedingly warlike and their religion involving the Sun required multiple, daily human sacrifices. Also, knowing something about a prominent Aztec ballgame played with the hips helps when pretending to time travel for an hour or two. Oh and keep in mind, the Aztec population came to hate the Spanish conquistadors, especially, because of their association with the extremely nasty small pox disease.
I enjoyed learning that it wasn't slaves but large numbers of skilled, ancient Egyptians who built the pyramids. They were paid with really great tasting beer and wonderfully flavorful sourdough bread with outstanding springy crust which, because of the excellent flavors and nutrition, were consumed by the workers every day for every meal.
The book provides instructional information on how to tan animal hides into leather using the animal's brains as a key ingredient. And because skin art was important to many past cultures, it's worth knowing something about the ancient tattooing tools of the trade and how to make skin ink.
I am appreciative of the information provided about medieval cannons, gunpowder and catapults. In the pretend world, I enjoy being a medieval cannon and catapult master.
Details are provided about ancient murders where these bodies are exceptionally well preserved in bogs. I am now better at pretending how to nap effective obsidian spear tips and knife blades. And thankfully, I now know how to boss an ancient Roman road construction crew. Their roads were really something. Oh, and let there be no doubt, ancient Romans loved their fish sauce.
Read this book to better equip your mind for fun time travel adventures. It's an exceedingly rich form of entertainment, vastly superior to TV.
September 17, 2025
This book provides a unique blend of fiction and nonfiction surrounding the field of experiential archeology. This is the process of trying out ancient cultural cooking, weaponry, entertainment, etc. to determine how ancient cultures used the artifacts uncovered by archaeologists.
The book is organized by time and geography to ancient cultures of the world. Each chapter covers a specific culture by telling a fictional story and then showing how experiential archaeologists explore the use of that culture’s artifacts.
I found the fictional stories of the cultures to have interesting characters and plots. Then the author takes specific artifacts from that culture into the modern world to explore them. The factual details of each chapter are interesting to my mind and I often found them bogged down in detail. To me more fiction, and less nonfiction would have provided me with more enjoyment.
The book is organized by time and geography to ancient cultures of the world. Each chapter covers a specific culture by telling a fictional story and then showing how experiential archaeologists explore the use of that culture’s artifacts.
I found the fictional stories of the cultures to have interesting characters and plots. Then the author takes specific artifacts from that culture into the modern world to explore them. The factual details of each chapter are interesting to my mind and I often found them bogged down in detail. To me more fiction, and less nonfiction would have provided me with more enjoyment.
December 18, 2025
2.5 stars
TBH I'm not sure why I finished this book. I liked the profiles of various researchers and Kean's hands on experiences, but his vignettes were excruciating. I think readers who predominantly engage with nonfiction will find them immersive and enriching, but as someone who reads (and writes) a lot of fiction, they were sorely lacking.
As other reviewers have also noted, certain word choice and inclusions/exclusions left me with some questions about how this research was conducted. Since this is a popular science book, it's probably fine, but I'd be very curious to see a review by someone with knowledge and experience in archeology.
TBH I'm not sure why I finished this book. I liked the profiles of various researchers and Kean's hands on experiences, but his vignettes were excruciating. I think readers who predominantly engage with nonfiction will find them immersive and enriching, but as someone who reads (and writes) a lot of fiction, they were sorely lacking.
As other reviewers have also noted, certain word choice and inclusions/exclusions left me with some questions about how this research was conducted. Since this is a popular science book, it's probably fine, but I'd be very curious to see a review by someone with knowledge and experience in archeology.
October 3, 2025
What a a fascinating read! The area of experimental archaeology is very interesting. The author is witty and full of humor, even in talking about his own “prowess “ or lack thereof.
July 27, 2025
ugh i love his books so much. 10/10 author never misses. 4.5/5 book just because i did occasionally get a little bored but im still gonna scroll through his whole website now goodbye
November 9, 2025
Storytelling perfection.
July 30, 2025
It would have been a 4 if it wasn’t for the narratives added to each section. It ended up feeling like filler to me.
Want to read
December 4, 2025This new book got a pretty good writeup at the WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/book...
(Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers)
Excerpt:
"Each chapter of this lively book covers a specific time and place, beginning 75,000 years ago on the African savanna and concluding with 16th-century Mexico. Stops along the way include ancient Egypt, Imperial Rome, Viking Europe and medieval China. Each chapter presents an overview of life during the period and introduces the experimental archaeologists Mr. Kean meets in his travels. (Some, it should be said, aren’t technically archaeologists but are, in the author’s fond description, “screwball enthusiasts.”) ....
On the final page, Mr. Kean sums up the ambition behind these assembled adventures and experiments. “Above all,” he writes, “I hope this book can reveal what unites us today with people from long ago, and help us understand that they were just people, no different than us.” That’s a lofty goal, but one fully in keeping with the empathy Mr. Kean is quick to show not only his historical subjects, but the sometimes quirky researchers he meets in our own era."
Well. This sounded pretty good. Except that my only previous experience with this writer was his "The Disappearing Spoon" (2010), which I didn't like at all. I gave it 2-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
So. Maybe I'll take a look at "Dinner with King Tut" if/when our library gets a copy.
Also listed on the NYers Years Best list: https://www.newyorker.com/best-books-...
(Paywalled. As always, I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers)
Excerpt:
"Each chapter of this lively book covers a specific time and place, beginning 75,000 years ago on the African savanna and concluding with 16th-century Mexico. Stops along the way include ancient Egypt, Imperial Rome, Viking Europe and medieval China. Each chapter presents an overview of life during the period and introduces the experimental archaeologists Mr. Kean meets in his travels. (Some, it should be said, aren’t technically archaeologists but are, in the author’s fond description, “screwball enthusiasts.”) ....
On the final page, Mr. Kean sums up the ambition behind these assembled adventures and experiments. “Above all,” he writes, “I hope this book can reveal what unites us today with people from long ago, and help us understand that they were just people, no different than us.” That’s a lofty goal, but one fully in keeping with the empathy Mr. Kean is quick to show not only his historical subjects, but the sometimes quirky researchers he meets in our own era."
Well. This sounded pretty good. Except that my only previous experience with this writer was his "The Disappearing Spoon" (2010), which I didn't like at all. I gave it 2-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
So. Maybe I'll take a look at "Dinner with King Tut" if/when our library gets a copy.
Also listed on the NYers Years Best list: https://www.newyorker.com/best-books-...
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