An Introduction to the Ancient World

by Lukas De Blois, R.J. van der Spek

An Introduction to the Ancient World offers a thorough survey of the history of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome. Covering the social, political, economic and cultural processes that have influenced later western and Near Eastern civilisations, this volume considers subjects such as the administrative structures, economies and religions of the ancient Near East, Athenian democracy, the development of classical Greek literature, the interaction of cultures in the Hellenistic world, the political and administrative system of the Roman Republic and empire, and the coming of Christianity, all within the broad outline of political history. This third edition is thoroughly updated and some chapters are completely rewritten to cover recent historical research. Changes include: An Introduction to the Ancient World provides an easily readable, user-friendly, integrated overview for students of ancient history, classics and archaeology. Lavishly illustrated, clearly and concisely written, and well organised, this fully updated and revised edition will remain a key resource for students beginning to investigate the civilisations of the ancient Mediterranean.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

402 pages, Paperback

Published June 7, 2019

Reviews

[Tes · Rating 4 out of 5]

the amount fo stars this gets depends on my grade tbh

UPDATE: I got a freakin 8.1 so this book is awesome now.

[Linde · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my first year History bachelor.

This book is written by two authors and that is noticeable! I enjoyed the first part about ancient Mesopotamia and the Greeks more than the second part about Rome and the Roman Empire(s). The second part didn’t explore areas and people outside the Roman “world” that much anymore, but merely mentioned them and assumed that you knew who the people were (from). (A bit “Western” focussed, the predecessor of Eurocentrism) The second part was also far more dense than the first part, especially on the subject of politics. That made it very tiring to read the sea of words blobbed on many pages.

The book doesn’t really help you understand the course of history, as it doesn’t give many causes or consequences of events or developments. It leaves you with a lot of information that you’ll have to connect by yourself.

I read this book as a PDF on my laptop. I liked the layout a lot, very clean and simple, though kind to the eye.

If educating yourself on antiquity or leisurely reading about antiquity, I wouldn’t choose this book for the above reason. To completely understand everything mentioned in the book, you will need additional sources and articles by historians about specific developments and events.

[Daan Jellema · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the part I wanted to read (namely everything before the Romans) and thoroughly enjoyed the clear explanation it gave of these civilizations I knew little about. It then connected the pieces of general knowledge the general public has about Greek civilization into one cohesive story. I would definitely recommend this book to my fellow layman history nerds.

[Flora]

slay ! handige tijdlijn en is kort maar krachtig, precies wat je nodig hebt bij zo'n wollig vak

[camille]

Yeah, I’m putting this on here

[Harel Aliev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t glaze Aurelian enough.

[Ali Crist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this entire textbook over this semester so I’m counting it