Archaeology Magazine - September/October 1981 - 72

THE

BOOKSHELF
Annual

The Golden Days of Greece by
Olivia Coolidge, illustrated
by
Enrico Arno. 211 pages. Thomas Y.
Crowell, New York 1968 $8.95
Any child interested in ancient history
can learn a great deal from The Golden
Days of Greece. The author skillfully
blends fact and anecdote to create a
flowing story line. The major events of
Greek history are presented effortlessly, so that children from the age of
nine on will find their curiosity sparked
to read further.

Review

Children's

The book encompasses the events between 1900 b.c. (the arrival of the
Achaeans), and the death of Alexander
the Great in 323 b.c. Personages such as
Cécrops, Solon, Herodotus, and the excavator of Troy, Heinrich Schliemann
are introduced to the reader. Pericles,
Socrates, Plato, Philip, and Alexander
the Great each receive a separate chapter. Other subjects covered include a
lengthy treatment of the Persian Wars,
an athlete training for the Olympic
games and a chapter on the life of a
Spartan.
Olivia Coolidge studied classics at Oxford University and is the author of
numerous books for children. Her writing style in this particular book is somewhat condescending to the modern
child. Her choice of such words as
"naughty" and the analogy of the behavior of a baby in the description of the
Athenian runner Pheidippides, are
characteristic of a book written in the
i 1960s. Also apparent is the author's
romantic and moralistic attitude toward the Greeks; she only records their
positive values, thereby stilting the
text.
The book includes a glossary of Greek
words and proper names, accompanied
by their pronunciation and definition.
The index is made up almost entirely of
proper names, eliminating quick access
to other subject matter. No bibliography
is included. The illustrations are excellent pen and ink drawings, modestly
scattered throughout the text. A map
shows the area of Greece and the Aegean, and plots the Persian invasion of
Greece.

Books
Today's children demand realism and
a straightforward approach in their
readings. Favorite authors write with
respect for their young readers and palliate nothing. The appeal of The Golden
Days of Greece is limited by its date, a
situation a good editor and revision
could easily remedy.
KIMBERLIN H. BADERTSCHER is the
children's librarian at the Haughvillebranch
of the Indianapolis-MarionCounty Public
Library.
The Mystery of Stonehenge
by
M. Branley, illustrated
Franklyn
by Victor G. Ambrus. 47 pages.
Thomas Y. Crowell, New York 1969
$8.79
The megalithic trilithons of Stonehenge
rising in a majestic circle on Salisbury
Plain indeed evoke an air of mystery,
but this book does little to convey this
mystery and is only moderately success*
fui in throwing light on it. It is hard to
escape the feeling that the author
doesn't have quite the necessary grasp
of his subject. For instance, in his introductory remarks he says, "Modern investigators wonder why the Stonehenge
people did not survive - or if they did
survive, why they moved away." Who
says they did either? Cultures change
and there is ample evidence of continuity in the cultures of southern Britain
from the Late Neolithic of Stonehenge
into the historic period. New elements
were added, it is true, for example, Iron
Age Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons,
but they didn't replace those who came
before them but rather blended with
them.
While Branley gives a clear enough
explanation of how radiocarbon dating
works, he errs in stating the half-life of
Carbon- 14 to be 5,760 years when in
fact it is 5,730 years. He is also at fault
in attributing high accuracy to radiocarbon dates, in using uncalibrated
radiocarbon dates as if they referred to
real calendar dates, and in claiming
only a "small pinch" of charcoal is
needed (although techniques developed
since the book was written have corrected this last error for him).
Throughout the text Branley persists
in referring to linear earthen embankments as mounds, although it must be
admitted that this abuse of archaeological terminology is common in popular
American usage. He also claims that
Stonehenge was "most likely built by
men who knew nothing about metals
and metalworking," despite the firm
dating of the later megalithic phases to
the Early Bronze Age, after 2200 b.c.

Archaeology Magazine - September/October 1981

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September/October 1981