Customer Reviews (3)

The book was impeccable !!!
I purchased the book (USED LIKE NEW) for my daughter who recently started college.When we received the book we were amazed to see the book was NEW. The person who used it before kept it impeccable. We saved a lot of money purchasing it from Amazon and we got a NEW book!!!

Color illustrations would bee an improvement
This is costume history on the broad line, as the title says. It gives a good overwiev and as a work of reference, not a specialised deepstudy in a short period or a single item, it is a satisfaying book. An improvement could however bee made in the illustrations, I do appreciate the correctness of stating that some pictures are "reedrawn from ..." I have seen other books were it was not stated although I knew it must have been done, but I would have prefered reproductions of the original pictures, and at least some of the illustrations to bee in color. I presume it was a matter of cost. But the book is not inexpensive as it is and there might bee others besides me who would seriuosly consider paying more if the illustrations were informative as to the colors as well. I have had the possibility to see the earlier edition (1960-thies) as well and compare them a bit and even if I can understand the wish to bee serious. There are a few alterations I wish they had not made.Had it for instance been such a problem to keep a photograp of an reconstruction of an ancient egyptian dress when it was so clearly stated that it was a reconstruction? And why on earth eliminate almost everyone of the of the patterns taken from existing pieces of costume. Yeas some of them have been mesured and published in other books as stated in the introduction, but what would have been wrong with the possibility to compare unless there were serious errors in their making? I could not spot any.

Best Resource for Actors and Costumers
This new edition of one of the best costume history books I've ever seen is very welcome.This edition has all of the power of the original with an added preface and a further, more detailed chapter on 20th Century dress. I have learned more about period details which have helped me as an actorfrom this book than from many classes.A necessary and pleasurableresource for the actor, costumer, designer and history buff.Worth themoney! ... Read more

Product Description
Urban history starts in ancient Mesopotamia.In this volume Marc Van de Mieroop examines the evolution of the very earliest cities which, for millennia, inspired the rest of the ancient world.The author argues that the city determined every aspect of Mesopotamian civilization, and the political and social structure, economy, literature, and arts of Mesopotamian culture cannot be understood without acknowledging their urban background. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fascinating, though scholarly
In this book, Professor Van De Mieroop looks at the Mesopotamian city, from earliest Sumer to the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Included in this work are chapters covering everything politics, organization of neighborhoods (districts might be a better word), clans, economics, and more. The author's grasp of the subject is obviously profound, and any student of Mesopotamia can gather a great deal of information from this book. On the downside, though, the book was obviously written for an academic audience, rather than for general readers. This means that the book is often dry and verbose. However, that said, it is a fascinating work, one with a great deal to offer anyone interested in the Mesopotamian city.

An instant classic!
This book is a long overdue survey of the urban experience in the first literate society. This work goes beyond the 'origin of cities', to tell ushow they worked, and what really went on! Informative and accessible, Iwould recommend this book to anyone with an interest in ancient history. ... Read more

Product Description
Clothing was hardly a practical necessity in North Africa and what is today the Middle East. Often a luxury item in these warm, humid climates, it became more essential as people's lives improved socially and economically. But even then, the drapery was light and tended to accent the body's shape rather than conceal it. The first part of this profusely illustrated and scrupulously researched text examines the evolution in apparel worn by Egyptian royalty, priests, musicians, manual workers, the military, and foreigners (as depicted by Egyptian artists). Two additional sections consider clothing worn in ancient Mesopotamia and Persia, focusing largely on Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian styles. Over 250 illustrations, drawn in the artistic style of the period, are accompanied by flat patterns showing the cut of the garment, thus enabling today's costumers to accurately reconstruct this apparel. A comprehensive archive that will not only be of immense value to fashion historians and students of costume design, this volume will also fascinate anyone interested in the development of artistic representation. Unabridged republication of the 2nd edition of Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian & Persian Costume and Decoration, published by Adam & Charles Black, London, 1954. Introduction. Over 250 illustrations.
... Read more

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This book offers readers a beautiful blend of history and mythology - providing a new approach to exploring the Ancient Mesopotamians. This book retells a selection of important myths, using dramatic illustrations and supplementing them with historical and cultural information, including realistic maps and diagrams. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

By a 7 Year old
This book is a lot more than great.Not only does it have stories but it has facts of long ago too.Maps too that are good.This book is divided into sections.Each one begins with a myth.Then it teaches history.The pictures are extremely good.I say this book is a 5 which means really good. ... Read more

Product Description
This English translation of Glassner’s Chroniques Mésopotamiennes (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1993) collects all chronicle literature of ancient Mesopotamia from the early second millenium to Seleucid times. The volume, which incorporates revisions and additions by the author and a transcription of the cuneiform, includes every example of Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian historiographic literature, and magisterial essays on the genre and on Mesopotamian historiography in general. ... Read more

Product Description
This book does not aim to give an exhaustive survey of the history of algebra up to early modern times but merely to present some significant steps in solving equations and, wherever applicable, to link these developments to the extension of the number system. Various examples of problems, with their typical solution methods, are analyzed, and sometimes translated completely. Indeed, it is another aim of this book to ease the reader's access to modern editions of old mathematical texts, or even to the original texts; to this end, some of the problems discussed in the text have been reproduced in the appendices in their original language (Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, French, German, Provençal, and Italian) with explicative notes. ... Read more

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Celebrates a wealth of erotic material from one of the world's earliest literate civilisations. ... Read more

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In 1914 the British expedition to Mesopotamia set out with the modest ambition of protecting the oil concession in Southern Persia but, after numerous misfortunes, ended up capturing Baghdad and Northern Towns in Iraq.

Initially the mission was successful in seizing Basra but the British under Generals Nixon and Townshend, found themselves drawn North, becoming besieged by the Turks at Kut.After various failed relief attempts the British surrendered and the prisoners suffered appalling indignities and hardship, culminating in a death march to Turkey.

In 1917 General Maude was appointed CinC but, as usual in Iraq, policy kept changing.Hopes that the Russians would come into the war were dashed by the Revolution.Operations were further frustrated by the hottest of summers.Fighting against the Turks continued right up to the Armistice.The conduct of the Campaign was subject to a Commission of Inquiry which was highly critical of numerous individuals and the administrative arrangements. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Amazing history
The story of the First World War in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, is one of the most interesting, and oft-ignored, stories.During the first world war the British established an expiditionary force in the Gulf of Arabia, much as was done in 1991 and 2003 by the American army, and they struck northwest for Baghdad.The capture of Baghdad was regarded as a side-show, like Gallipoli, but it was also a strike against the Ottoman Empire.From Baghdad the rail lines stretched towards Syria and Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

In 1915 the British general launched his attack up the Tigris and quickly became bogged down at Kut.His surrender the next year was a great defeat for British arms and an embarrasment.It was a harrowing battle and siege and is one of the great stories of the war.

This is a well written book, fascinating military history full of drama.

Seth J. Frantzman

The most unusual battles during WWI
This book provides a look at one of WWI's most interesting, and certainly most unusual, campaigns - in terms of geography, action, and personalities.In addition, the writing style flows effortlessly.The author, Ron Wilcox, has also thankfully included orders of battle, numerous maps, and several photographs.A fascinating look at WWI's most forgotten campaign - outstanding!

Despite the fact that Iraq/Mesopotamia is largely a desert, Britain's Mesopotamian campaign largely involved fighting on rivers and through large flooded areas.Like many great historic rivers, the Tigris has annual floods which submerge broad swathes of land during the flood season.And given the abhorrent, near non-existent state of roads and railways the rivers Tigris and Euphrates provided the only practicable transport route throughout southern Mesopotamia.Thus, we find British and Indian soldiers launching canoe-based attacks against Turkish positions built-up above the flooded ground.And we also see the repeated use of river craft for fire support on shore (which is very reminiscent of the American Civil War campaigns on the Mississippi and Cumberland rivers).

Besides the novelty of many of the attack and defense methods (which would have been suicidal in most other WWI theatres), the leadership in this campaign was quite extraordinary.Notwithstanding his forced surrender at Kut el-Amarna in early 1916, General Townshend was nothing short of a miracle worker.Time and time again from early 1915 Townshend and his mostly Indian troops won victory after victory pushing the Turkish troops ever further upriver.Townshend probably made more rapid progress in mileage than any other British commander during the war, and what's more, he did it on a logistical shoestring.(A similar effort made today by British or American forces would probably require 40-50x as much logistical support.)

As his successes mounted, the Indian Gov't and the War Committee gave the Mesopotamian force increasingly ambitious goals.The minarets of legendary Baghdad sounded their siren call to the politician's imagination - imagine the regional prestige to be won by capturing the greatest city in the Middle East away from the Turks!Unfortunately, conditions on the ground were manifestly unsuitable for such an effort.Food and ammunition were limited.But by far the worst issue were the unspeakable medical conditions - like something right out of the Middle Ages.Sick lists almost always exceeded the number of those fit and able to fight.

Despite his reservations Townshend gave the Baghdad advance his best shot at Ctesiphon, but the Turkish forces were under Nurredin's new management and had also been dramatically reinforced.After being convincingly blocked Townshend planned to retreat downstream to regroup and reinforce this troops.However, he was instructed to remain at Kut and was soon completely surrounded and cut off by Turkish forces.After several months and a failed relief effort Townshend and his troops were forced into a humiliating surrender.But much worse than that, they suffered (and profusely died) of malnutrition, beatings, filth, and neglect at the hands of their Turkish captors.

Almost an entire year passed as the British/Indian force under General Lake was heavily reinforced, resupplied, and provided with sufficient logistical transport to conduct a future sustained campaign of advance.However, Lake was replaced by General Maude before the next advance began, so Maude became the conqueror of Baghdad a year after Townshend's surrender.With the conquest of Baghdad, the terrain completely changed and British/Indian forces were able to spread out pushing the Turks back towards Anatolia proper.Also included is the story about how Dunsterville led a bizarre effort through Bolshevik/Persian territories to secure the Baku oilfields against the Turks. ... Read more

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A vast legacy of powerful creative writing was revealed when nineteenth-century scholars managed to decipher the mysterious wedge-shaped symbols of cuneiform script, inscribed on clay tablets over 5,000 years ago by the ancient Mesopotamians.Strikingly familiar themes emerged, forcing the Victorian world to review its belief in the Bible as the sole source of literal truth.Imagine the impact of the Epic of Gilgamesh -- the saga of a man in search of the secret of eternal life -- which includes scenes of a flood predating the story of Noah and the Ark.In contrast, an alternative version of human origins is described in the Mesopotamian Epic of Creation, while the tale of Etana foreshadows the Greek myth of Ganymede.These and other stories are here retold, based on the latest translations, and illustrated with the works of both contemporary and later artists inspired by the rediscovery of these ancient characters and themes.Not only are the myths a foundation of our Western literary tradition, they are also compelling stories in their own right. ... Read more

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This volume is about the history, literature, ritual, and thought associated with ancient Mesopotamian witchcraft. Chapters include the changing forms and roles of witchcraft beliefs, and the ritual function, form, and development of the Maqlu text (the most important ancient work on the subject). ... Read more

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Pliny wrote of Babylon that "here the creator of the science of astronomy was". Excavations have shown this statement to be true. This book argues that the earliest attempts at the accurate prediction of celestial phenomena are indeed to be found in clay tablets dating to the 8th and 7th centuries BC from both Babylon and from Nineveh. The author carefully situates this astronomy within its cultural context, treating all available material from the relevant period, and also analysing the earlier astrological material and the later well-known ephemerides and related texts. A wholly new approach to cuneiform astral concerns emerges - one in which both celestial divination and the later astronomy are shown to be embedded in a prevailing philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe, and in which the dynamics of the celestial divination industry that surrounded the last Assyrian monarchs account for no less than the first recorded "scientific revolution". This work closely adheres to the original textual sources, and argues for the evolution on the basis of the needs of the ancient scholars and the internal logic of the divinatory and predictive systems employed.To this end, it offers, for the first time, a Mesopotamian contribution to the philosophy, and not only the history, of science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Necessary foundation for future studies
I finally saw David Brown's book on Mesopotamian Planetary
Astronomy-Astrology in a library today.His categorization and
identification of the planet names is very impressive work, requiring
time-consuming investigation.

I was happy to see the original work that he has done.It should clear up a lot of confusion for future scholars dealing with the Babylonian
astrological/astronomical texts.
... Read more

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This is the first systematic attempt to survey in detail the archaeological evidence for the crafts and craftsmanship of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in ancient Mesopotamia (c. 8000-300 BC). P.R.S. Moorey reviews briefly the textual evidence, and goes on to examine in detail a wide range of crafts and materials: stones, both common and ornamental, animal products, ceramics, glazed materials and glass, metals, and building materials. With a comprehensive bibliography, this generously illustrated volume will be a key work of reference for archaeologists and those interested in the early history of crafts and technology, as well as for specialists in the ancient Near East. ... Read more

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Celestial phenomena in ancient Mesopotamia was observed and interpreted as signs from the gods as well as physical phenomena. Relating the various ways the heavens were contemplated and understood, this study traces the emergence of personal astrology from the tradition of celestial divination and how astronomical methodology developed for horoscopes.Its importance lies in its treatment of Babylonian celestial sciences (celestial divination, horoscopy, and astronomy) as subjects relevant to the history of science and culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A knowledgeable guide
Francesca is an amazing instructor at her college, and her years of expertise in the field are truly insightful. The book thoroughly educates and provokes further thought. ... Read more