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A Brief History of Stonehenge
This is a complete new history of the world's greatest stone circle. Britain's leading expert on stone circles turns his attention to the greatest example of them all - Stonehenge. Every aspect of Stonehenge is re-considered in Aubrey Burl's new analysis. He explains for the first time how the outlying Heel Stone long predates Stonehenge itself, serving as a trackway marker in the prehistoric Harroway. He uncovers new evidence that the Welsh bluestones were brought to Stonehenge by glaciation rather than by man. And he reveals just how far the design of Stonehenge was influenced by Breton styles and by Breton cults of the dead. Meticulously research sets the record straight on the matter of Stonehenge's astronomical alignments. Although the existence of a sightline to the midsummer sunrise is well known, the alignment and the viewing-position are different from popular belief. And the existence of an earlier alignment to the moon and a later one to the midwinter sunset has been largely unrealized. One almost unexplained puzzle remains. The site of Stonehenge lies at the heart of a vast six-mile wide graveyard, but before it was built there appears to have been a mysterious gap two miles across on that site. Burl argues that earlier totem-pole style constructions served a ceremonial purpose for the living - to celebrate success in the hunt.
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 24, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 25, 2011
Stonehenge is one of the most compelling landmarks on Earth, unique and instantly recognizable. We don’t know much about its builders, why they built it, or indeed even how they built it. We have lots of archaeological evidence and plenty of theories, but unlike their Egyptian contemporaries, the Neolithic builders of Stonehenge neglected to leave behind any writing explaining why they erected a bunch of stones on Salisbury Plain.
Aubrey Burl, it turns out, is a leading expert on Stonehenge and indeed stone circles throughout Britain. I didn’t know this before I started reading the book, but it’s obvious within the first few pages that Burl knows what he’s talking about. This is a man who has spent his lifetime absorbing all he can about Stonehenge, from the history of its exploration and excavation to the archaeological investigation into the culture that constructed it. If you’re going to learn about Stonehenge, you should learn from the best.
So don’t let my somewhat lukewarm rating deter you from this book: it isn’t bad, just not as enchanting as I was hoping. If I were in a different mood, not so distracted by school and the siren song of other books on my shelf, this might be a book I could really get into. As it is, Burl’s A Brief History of Stonehenge is actually an Incredibly Detailled History of Stonehenge. And he includes measurements. Oh, so many measurements—in metric and Imperial units! I confess that I prefer my popular history books to be more narrative and less descriptive; if I wanted to know the dimensions of Stonehenge, I would look them up in Wikipedia.
This seems like an excellent starting place, however, for anyone looking to do research into Stonehenge. It’s written by a foremost expert, and it is supersaturated with information. Burl takes us through each of the theorized “phases” of Stonehenge’s construction, from a basic circle in 3000 BC to the later sarsen trilithons that give Stonehenge its unforgettable appearance. He pays particular attention to the controversy surrounding the bluestones—the general name given to all the non-indigenous stones found at the monument. Burl himself subscribes to a theory that the stones were deposited there by glaciers and used by the builders out of convenience, but he acknowledges that others believe the stones were quarried and transported to the site (what a feat, if that’s the case).
I cannot fault this book for its accuracy or its commitment to providing a truly stunning history of Stonehenge. This isn’t a book I intentionally sought out—I inherited it from a friend who moved away, but I figured, hey, I can learn more about Stonehenge—and I’m not sure what else the market has to offer for histories of the monument, though I suspect there are plenty. All I can say is that this seems like a useful book; it’s definitely a thorough book, and indeed it’s the detail that made it difficult for me to enjoy it at this time.
Aubrey Burl, it turns out, is a leading expert on Stonehenge and indeed stone circles throughout Britain. I didn’t know this before I started reading the book, but it’s obvious within the first few pages that Burl knows what he’s talking about. This is a man who has spent his lifetime absorbing all he can about Stonehenge, from the history of its exploration and excavation to the archaeological investigation into the culture that constructed it. If you’re going to learn about Stonehenge, you should learn from the best.
So don’t let my somewhat lukewarm rating deter you from this book: it isn’t bad, just not as enchanting as I was hoping. If I were in a different mood, not so distracted by school and the siren song of other books on my shelf, this might be a book I could really get into. As it is, Burl’s A Brief History of Stonehenge is actually an Incredibly Detailled History of Stonehenge. And he includes measurements. Oh, so many measurements—in metric and Imperial units! I confess that I prefer my popular history books to be more narrative and less descriptive; if I wanted to know the dimensions of Stonehenge, I would look them up in Wikipedia.
This seems like an excellent starting place, however, for anyone looking to do research into Stonehenge. It’s written by a foremost expert, and it is supersaturated with information. Burl takes us through each of the theorized “phases” of Stonehenge’s construction, from a basic circle in 3000 BC to the later sarsen trilithons that give Stonehenge its unforgettable appearance. He pays particular attention to the controversy surrounding the bluestones—the general name given to all the non-indigenous stones found at the monument. Burl himself subscribes to a theory that the stones were deposited there by glaciers and used by the builders out of convenience, but he acknowledges that others believe the stones were quarried and transported to the site (what a feat, if that’s the case).
I cannot fault this book for its accuracy or its commitment to providing a truly stunning history of Stonehenge. This isn’t a book I intentionally sought out—I inherited it from a friend who moved away, but I figured, hey, I can learn more about Stonehenge—and I’m not sure what else the market has to offer for histories of the monument, though I suspect there are plenty. All I can say is that this seems like a useful book; it’s definitely a thorough book, and indeed it’s the detail that made it difficult for me to enjoy it at this time.
April 17, 2019
You can not fault Aubrey Burl’s tenacity in tracking down and logging every piece of evidence about Stonehenge. However, this is probably the biggest downfall of this book. Where there is very little conjecture or presumption, there is also not enough feeling and heart.
The first half of the book spends far too much time detailing precise measurements and mathematics for a lay-person with a passing interest, such as myself. By the time it gets interesting and starts dealing with the myths and facts of which we have some knowledge, you are weighed down with a sarsen-weight of overly-explained information.
If you are a Stonehenge scholar, then you’ll love this whole of this book. For all others - start at chapter 7.
The first half of the book spends far too much time detailing precise measurements and mathematics for a lay-person with a passing interest, such as myself. By the time it gets interesting and starts dealing with the myths and facts of which we have some knowledge, you are weighed down with a sarsen-weight of overly-explained information.
If you are a Stonehenge scholar, then you’ll love this whole of this book. For all others - start at chapter 7.
May 3, 2020
The author passed away while I was reading this. A fascinating, science based overview of the site, not without poetry in the descriptions.
I'll re-post the obituary from the Quietus
https://thequietus.com/articles/28150...
I'll re-post the obituary from the Quietus
https://thequietus.com/articles/28150...
February 14, 2025
3.5.. the chapters in the first half i found incredibly difficult to follow. burl seemed to write so windingly, skipping between topics in a way that didn't make a lot of sense to me. but stonehenge is so wonderful and burl is so passionate about it that by the chapter about the actual sarsens, he brought it all together a bit more. i got physical chills a couple times reading about the stone circle. incredible. i went there once as a child and i'm very excited to go back again. i think it will be a spiritual experience. rounding up to 4 stars because i did cry reading the last paragraphs, sat in my car on the mountain while deafening rain crashed down.
September 25, 2016
Just finished reading this, found it very interesting overall, with some convincing theories, especially regarding the movement of the Bluestone's from Wales.....and the origin of the design from Breton. Well worth a read.
July 13, 2023
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/a-brief-history-of-stonehenge-by-aubrey-burl/
I’ve long been fascinated by megalithic monuments in general, and Stonehenge is a very special case, one of the most elaborate stone circles of northwestern Europe. We visited in 2016; it’s pretty crowded these days.
Aubrey Burl was the doyen of British megalithic studies, publishing his first book on stone circles in the 1970s and inspiring many other enthusiasts. This was his last book, published in 2007 when he was already 81 (he died in the early weeks of the 2020 pandemic, aged 93).
It’s a generally lucid explanation of the archaeological sequence of the development of Stonehenge, which (as you possibly know) went through several evolutions over a period of 1500 years from 3100 to 1600 BC, the massive trilithons coming in around 2500 BC, though built on a smaller but much older alignment of stones from maybe 8000 BC. These are barely imaginable timelines on a human scale. There are a couple of churches across the Dijle valley from here which have been in use since the eleventh century, and the oldest church in Belgium claims to have been founded in 823 AD. Across the border, the Protestant church in Trier was built as the emperor’s throne room in 1700, and the Roman gate of the city still stands. But these are individual buildings, rather than an entire sacred landscape. Burl is very good at giving us a sense of how Stonehenge and its setting would have seemed to the people who built it, and rebuilt it.
He also starts well, with a review of how Stonehenge came to popular attention 300 years ago, and often refers back to earlier writers. There’s one chapter, unfortunately, where the prose becomes rambling and disjointed, and it’s the most controversial chapter, in which Burl insists that the older standing stones (the ‘bluestones’) were not transported to Wiltshire from Wales by prehistoric humans, but by Ice Age glaciers long before. This is not well supported by the known evidence of known glaciation, even according to Burl’s own account.
Another curious lapse is his attempt to demonstrate that there is a prehistoric substratum of words in Welsh, Breton and Cornish which are unrelated to other neighbouring languages. He seems to be completely unaware of two centuries of research into Indo-European, which has demonstrated that quite a lot of the Celtic words that he sees as independent are in fact related to similar words in English and Latin: for example Welsh rhew and Cornish rew, meaning ‘ice’, come from the same root as English ‘freeze’ and Latin pruina, meaning ‘frost’; and more crucially for his argument, Welsh haul and Breton heol, meaning ‘sun’, are definitely related to Latin sol. It’s an odd lacuna on Burl’s part.
Apart from that, I found it a fascinating read.
I’ve long been fascinated by megalithic monuments in general, and Stonehenge is a very special case, one of the most elaborate stone circles of northwestern Europe. We visited in 2016; it’s pretty crowded these days.
Aubrey Burl was the doyen of British megalithic studies, publishing his first book on stone circles in the 1970s and inspiring many other enthusiasts. This was his last book, published in 2007 when he was already 81 (he died in the early weeks of the 2020 pandemic, aged 93).
It’s a generally lucid explanation of the archaeological sequence of the development of Stonehenge, which (as you possibly know) went through several evolutions over a period of 1500 years from 3100 to 1600 BC, the massive trilithons coming in around 2500 BC, though built on a smaller but much older alignment of stones from maybe 8000 BC. These are barely imaginable timelines on a human scale. There are a couple of churches across the Dijle valley from here which have been in use since the eleventh century, and the oldest church in Belgium claims to have been founded in 823 AD. Across the border, the Protestant church in Trier was built as the emperor’s throne room in 1700, and the Roman gate of the city still stands. But these are individual buildings, rather than an entire sacred landscape. Burl is very good at giving us a sense of how Stonehenge and its setting would have seemed to the people who built it, and rebuilt it.
He also starts well, with a review of how Stonehenge came to popular attention 300 years ago, and often refers back to earlier writers. There’s one chapter, unfortunately, where the prose becomes rambling and disjointed, and it’s the most controversial chapter, in which Burl insists that the older standing stones (the ‘bluestones’) were not transported to Wiltshire from Wales by prehistoric humans, but by Ice Age glaciers long before. This is not well supported by the known evidence of known glaciation, even according to Burl’s own account.
Another curious lapse is his attempt to demonstrate that there is a prehistoric substratum of words in Welsh, Breton and Cornish which are unrelated to other neighbouring languages. He seems to be completely unaware of two centuries of research into Indo-European, which has demonstrated that quite a lot of the Celtic words that he sees as independent are in fact related to similar words in English and Latin: for example Welsh rhew and Cornish rew, meaning ‘ice’, come from the same root as English ‘freeze’ and Latin pruina, meaning ‘frost’; and more crucially for his argument, Welsh haul and Breton heol, meaning ‘sun’, are definitely related to Latin sol. It’s an odd lacuna on Burl’s part.
Apart from that, I found it a fascinating read.
March 24, 2024
Uggggghhh. How is that a “brief” history of Stonehenge?
I’m only giving this 2 stars because I did actually retain some knowledge of Stonehenge but my God at what cost. You know how many times I accidentally fell asleep trying to read this book?
It reads like your intermediate course in a university where you should already know the area and pre-history information surrounding 3000 to 2000 BC. Except the author refers to himself weirdly at times, rambles on and on about measurements and theoretical dates which wouldn’t necessarily be bad except there’s barely any good visuals in this book, leaving a person completely unfamiliar with the area at a loss. And worse yet sometimes he tries to joke, or throw in something poetic about Shakespeare in a loose connection to Stonehenge. Plus he repeats information, jumps all over the place with the researchers of Stonehenge’s history referencing one from 1700s and the next 1999 but not even in a cohesive discovery date. He ridicules older analyses of research with strange vehemence and lavishes praise on others that seem to have made several mistakes too. This all comes across and untrustworthy and biased.
I don’t recommend this for the casual learner or budding Stonehenge enthusiast, I’m sure there’s better books out there for that. But if you like weird university professors or can at least understand them then by all means try this out. It’s packed with so much convoluted information you should learn something.
I’m only giving this 2 stars because I did actually retain some knowledge of Stonehenge but my God at what cost. You know how many times I accidentally fell asleep trying to read this book?
It reads like your intermediate course in a university where you should already know the area and pre-history information surrounding 3000 to 2000 BC. Except the author refers to himself weirdly at times, rambles on and on about measurements and theoretical dates which wouldn’t necessarily be bad except there’s barely any good visuals in this book, leaving a person completely unfamiliar with the area at a loss. And worse yet sometimes he tries to joke, or throw in something poetic about Shakespeare in a loose connection to Stonehenge. Plus he repeats information, jumps all over the place with the researchers of Stonehenge’s history referencing one from 1700s and the next 1999 but not even in a cohesive discovery date. He ridicules older analyses of research with strange vehemence and lavishes praise on others that seem to have made several mistakes too. This all comes across and untrustworthy and biased.
I don’t recommend this for the casual learner or budding Stonehenge enthusiast, I’m sure there’s better books out there for that. But if you like weird university professors or can at least understand them then by all means try this out. It’s packed with so much convoluted information you should learn something.
March 12, 2018
This book is packed full of information about Stonehenge. The author has spent so much time studying the monument and other stone circles. Whilst he does speculate on what the archaeological evidence suggests, this book is mainly concerned with details about the monument such as numerous measurements about the stones, the numbering systems and the previous archaeology performed on the site.
I enjoyed the parts where he stated some of the previous beliefs and theories about the site. I would of preferred more about the myths and less about the measurements. Over all I enjoyed learning more about the monument and the author thoroughly knows all the facts about it. Good read for anyone who wants to learn about Stonehenge.
I enjoyed the parts where he stated some of the previous beliefs and theories about the site. I would of preferred more about the myths and less about the measurements. Over all I enjoyed learning more about the monument and the author thoroughly knows all the facts about it. Good read for anyone who wants to learn about Stonehenge.
April 14, 2020
There is a very interesting book in here, but it's hidden under layers of measurements and flowery language that feels like a grade schooler discovering a thesaurus for the first time. It would have been a much more enjoyable read if some of the excess bits were cut down. The author does clearly know his stuff, and this book would make a wonderful resource, but it's not a smooth read.
October 2, 2022
This book appears to me to be written more for the academics rather than the layman. If it was targeted for your average reader it should of started with a story describing how the early people may of constructed Stonehenge and why. The details may not be totally proven, but that can be discussed in the rest of the book. So the rating for archeologist is 5, for the rest of us a 2.
June 30, 2017
Stonehenge: fascinating, mysterious.
This book about Stonehenge: dry, technical.
This book about Stonehenge: dry, technical.
November 29, 2020
Confusingly written. Dull.
August 8, 2022
Very interesting and informative, but a little hard to read in some parts
April 20, 2025
Bought at Stonehenge - an overview of all the scientific details - nothing to compared to the impact of the real thin in its landscape
August 3, 2015
Packed full of information from a leading expert on stone circles, Stonehenge (A Brief History of) somehow manages to be somewhat less than engaging. Perhaps this has to do with the necessary navigation through mystery and reality, fact and fiction, romanticism and mythology. For a site that remains at least somewhat allusive in the big questions (of why and how, who and what), a history must move through a theoretical mythology that shifts from a sort of magical vision of Giants and Merlin towards successive theories born from modern science and archeology. What the author fails to do (for me anyways) is retain some of the magic and mysticism that makes this monument so interesting, even as it is lifted from the pages of an entrenched mythology.
There is a passion that comes out in the final chapter. It is a passion to reclaim the sacred tradition that guides the very grounds on which these stones were once erected. It is a sacred history that is often missed by the throngs and hordes of visitors that come to and throw. As the author insists, the stones were built on a history that is forever moving, a reality that is displayed on the hidden holes and the hidden history that onlookers directly overlook. And yet it is this sacred history that makes the mystery surrounding Stonehenge so compelling.
Life needs a sense of mystery. We should be grateful that the excavation of Stonehenge has left us with even a small glimpse of this on the Salisbury Plain. The back cover suggests that the author "comprehensively debunks" long held myths and mystical notions, thus "opening" our eyes to a greater understanding and admiration. The work and knowledge is helpful here as far as understanding, but I am not certain he manages to completely do justice to our greater admiration. It is not entirely accurate, after all, to suggest that all myth and mysticism has been done away with. Thankfully some of it remains outside of these pages.
There is a passion that comes out in the final chapter. It is a passion to reclaim the sacred tradition that guides the very grounds on which these stones were once erected. It is a sacred history that is often missed by the throngs and hordes of visitors that come to and throw. As the author insists, the stones were built on a history that is forever moving, a reality that is displayed on the hidden holes and the hidden history that onlookers directly overlook. And yet it is this sacred history that makes the mystery surrounding Stonehenge so compelling.
Life needs a sense of mystery. We should be grateful that the excavation of Stonehenge has left us with even a small glimpse of this on the Salisbury Plain. The back cover suggests that the author "comprehensively debunks" long held myths and mystical notions, thus "opening" our eyes to a greater understanding and admiration. The work and knowledge is helpful here as far as understanding, but I am not certain he manages to completely do justice to our greater admiration. It is not entirely accurate, after all, to suggest that all myth and mysticism has been done away with. Thankfully some of it remains outside of these pages.
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June 9, 2012I very much enjoy Burl's accounts of the ancient stone of Britain, and wish I had read this one before I visited Stonehenge a couple of years ago. The book could have been improved with more maps of the stones, though.
August 3, 2016
Counters every thing you think you know about Stonehenge. Great book. They go a little overboard on the locations and measurements, but it is probably written for researchers and not general reading.
October 18, 2011
Maybe it's me and not the book/author but I just found this dull with a capital D.
March 29, 2012
My Official Review can be found here: http://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2...
October 13, 2012
Fascinating and alluring, particularly since my recent trip to see Stonehenge.
November 6, 2012
Contains some interesting information but I found it very dull. I never speed read through a book but this was an exception. I just wanted it to end.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews