Reviews

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw

dostojevskijs's review against another edition

4.0

For a book that has to cover several thousands of years, Shaw has really managed to summarize the elements of the different Egyptian periods in a few that is easy to follow while making sure to cover everything that needs to be covered. Of course, it covers most things in a very brief way; and occasionally focusing on things I'm not entirely sure are the things that should be focused on... but I also realise that there are books written specifically about those things. As a go-to introduction that covers most of the basics... this has been my bible for the last few months. Except people probably take better care of their bibles than I've cared for this one... but hey, that's just proof it's been passionately read.

pqlibrarian's review against another edition

3.0

This has been described to me as one of the best texts for ancient Egyptian history, but it's very tedious. Not easy to read, but full of information.

evastrange's review

The chapter on the Ptolemaic period is lamentably short and uninformative.

christineinkentucky's review against another edition

3.0

A text book with pretty pictures....again another book I felt needed to have a teacher come with it.

ericpharand's review against another edition

10%. Too dry.  Focused on archaeology.

alexctelander's review against another edition

3.0

The Oxford University Press, as many of you scholars already know, is famed for producing inimitable compendiums and texts that anyone interested in history or literature simply must own. And the have done it again with The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. While the book is pretty small for encompassing an entire civilization of dynasties, gods, beliefs, and thousands of years of ancient happenings, it nevertheless somehow manages to do the job. With tons of black and white photos, as well as many colored plates, together with an interesting and detailed text. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt tells the reader much more than they can ever hope to know about the most mysterious of ancient civilizations.

Originally published on October 21st, 2002.

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