The World of the Ancient Maya

by John S. Henderson

"General overview of the ancient Maya begins with summary discussions of the history of Maya studies, the environment and geography of the Maya world, and the European invasion. Text is devoted primarily to a synthesis of the history of Maya cultural traditions based primarily on archaeological data and complemented by epigraphic and ethnohistorical information"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Native American, Ancient History

329 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 1981

Reviews

[Todd Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

“The World of the Ancient Maya” is an overview of the diversity and scope of the Mayan civilization, but has the fatal flaw that it is merely a dry collection of facts and has no connecting narrative. You’d think it might be difficult to write a mind-numbingly boring book about a people whose priests used to cut their sacrificial victims chests open and tear out the beating heart as an offering to their gods, but Henderson has done just that.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complex and nuanced history on an academic level. If you want a thumbnail sketch or just a survey of Mayan history read something else. This book is dry and dense and packed with settlement info that contrasts the regions and time periods throughout Mayan world. It moves quick most of the time but also makes extremely detailed explanations that might not interest you. But for me, it was awesome. I did have to read re-read quite a bit though.

[Nick Tredennick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too dry, not enough of the culture and society. Mostly dry facts about settlements.

[Michael Tarpinian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hated it. Perhaps it is impossible to tell a story based on archeology alone. This was a mass of disjointed information.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ancient world of the Mayans was definitely an interesting book, but it was not a read for the casual reader that was looking for stories antidotes, and in different things about the Mayans. It was more of a historic book from the level of a college course. There were lots of things that I found out about the Mayans such as their farming, their temples and things like that but overall, it was a very dull book to read, although it did give me a introduction to Mayan society and the things that they did within their society and the different breakdowns of rulers of the Mayan and the cities and geographics and everything and talked about some of their Artwork, but needed pictures to coincide with some of what was written.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive scholarly study on the Maya that would be great for students of the culture and history of the region and its people. The introductory and concluding essays were extremely good and captured a remarkable level of nuance in quite readable sizes. However, the main body of the text is a little dry and too detailed to be a real page-turner. I'd recommend this to those who are solidly interested in the Maya but not to someone seeking a basic introduction.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but incredibly dense. Without some grounding in Mesoamerican history (something I lack) then the benefit you'll be able to draw for Henderson might be limited.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am lucky enough to have a first edition printing of this book (paperback form) from 1981 which I purchased for a mere .25 cents at a used book sale. This book is written in academic form, with plenty of 'white space' for one to make notes along the way. It is densely informative and can be a bit dry (as most academic books are in my opinion) but it is still interesting nonetheless.

[Aznable · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a review of our archeological and an anthropological knowledge of the ancient Maya, it serves more to highlight the lack of information that we have and the historical nuance of complex societies rather than present definitive research, which I found refreshingly honest. The discussion was much more focused on population, pottery styles, evidence of trade, and other hard evidence as opposed to broad strokes on culture and lifestyle.

As an audiobook Ms. May does a crisp and understandable reading, but tends to keep a flat, narrative tone that is appropriate for a non-fiction, albeit harder to listen to. Conceding that non-fiction history is a challenge for audiobooks, I've listened to historical non-fiction books that were more engaging than this.

In conclusion, this book is very informative and a great review on history, but is rather unapproachable to a broader audience.

[Jeff Rudisel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, but not very engrossing.
Reads a bit like a huge list of facts.
It's hard to make a book truly fascinating without some engrossing personal narrative, but the fragmentary nature and almost complete dearth of documentation due to the destruction of almost all Mayan books by the European conquerors, makes personal narrative of any particular Mayans very difficult to come by.
Still, glad that I read it and gained some good knowledge of the civilization and area and period.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer my history books to read more like stories than this. This is pretty dry and wanders all over the place getting to you to how experts KNOW everything. Honestly I don't care how they know it, just tell me what's up.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This textbook is rather dry but extremely informative.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit dated, but otherwise informative.

[Dan G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this discussion less stimulating than many others (Coe, Sharer).

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes long and dry, but always kept my interest.
I also learned a lot about the Maya that I did not know.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Text book information not a fun read but good info.