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Cappadocia
A comprehensive guide to the Mid-Anatolian Plateau region that includes the Fairy-Towers and the underground cities of Capadocia. Richly illustrated with over 100 color photographs, this guide book covers the history and prehistory of Cappadocia and the surrounding region.
112 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2006
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June 7, 2023
Cappadocia is an ancient region in Central Anatolia, known for its “fairy chimneys” and other wonders carved into its workable soft stone. Beneath the ground there—the salt flats and sand—are a series of underground catacombs, carved and warrened into cities that go so deep that some have still not been discovered.
These sanctuaries have a long and storied history, going back at least to the time of Herodotus. They were used by everyone from the Hittites to the early Christians to the Muslims of the region, and used for purposes as diverse as hiding from persecution and storing goods as they were carried along the Silk Road. With their tombs and dovecotes and religious frescoes painted on their cavern walls, these sites are a dream destination for everyone from religious pilgrims to historians to archeologists.
Jeoffrey Lamec’s book Cappadocia, is a very basic treatment of the place, of its main sights and the historical highlights you should seek out while there. It’s about as deep as a brochure, and can be read in an hour or so, though some of the images are striking enough that you may want to return to them, again and again. This is especially true if you never get the chance to see Cappadocia yourself, which would be a shame.
The book has some problems, chief among them being that it feels like it was written by someone who speaks broken English as a third language. There are sentence fragments, and tortured bits of description that don’t make sense, as well as easily correctable misspellings. Some of this might be excusable in a book report done in a remedial high school history class. In a published book sold by an assumably reputable press (Silk Road Publications) it feels pretty slipshod and egregious.
Still, ridiculous grammatical faux pas and confusing syntax choice aren’t quite enough to mar the beauty of the images. And since I got it used, and on the cheap online, I won’t complain too much. Beware, though, unless they’ve cleaned up these problems in subsequent editions.
These sanctuaries have a long and storied history, going back at least to the time of Herodotus. They were used by everyone from the Hittites to the early Christians to the Muslims of the region, and used for purposes as diverse as hiding from persecution and storing goods as they were carried along the Silk Road. With their tombs and dovecotes and religious frescoes painted on their cavern walls, these sites are a dream destination for everyone from religious pilgrims to historians to archeologists.
Jeoffrey Lamec’s book Cappadocia, is a very basic treatment of the place, of its main sights and the historical highlights you should seek out while there. It’s about as deep as a brochure, and can be read in an hour or so, though some of the images are striking enough that you may want to return to them, again and again. This is especially true if you never get the chance to see Cappadocia yourself, which would be a shame.
The book has some problems, chief among them being that it feels like it was written by someone who speaks broken English as a third language. There are sentence fragments, and tortured bits of description that don’t make sense, as well as easily correctable misspellings. Some of this might be excusable in a book report done in a remedial high school history class. In a published book sold by an assumably reputable press (Silk Road Publications) it feels pretty slipshod and egregious.
Still, ridiculous grammatical faux pas and confusing syntax choice aren’t quite enough to mar the beauty of the images. And since I got it used, and on the cheap online, I won’t complain too much. Beware, though, unless they’ve cleaned up these problems in subsequent editions.
Displaying 1 of 1 review