Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9411290061
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Edited by Goran Burenhult. HarperCollins. $40.
Volume Two of the Illustrated History of Mankind successfully spans the gulf between academic archaeologists and laypersons with lesser interests in archaeology and anthropology. Broken into 10 chapters, the lavishly illustrated book deals with 10 separate archaeological traditions, or interlinked stages within the same area and human culture. The relationships between separate traditions, the appearances of similar and often related cultural signatures and the resulting phenomena of parallel cultural developments are addressed.
The narrative assumes a minimum of previous knowledge regarding history and prehistory. Concise chronological charts in several chapters nearly make the text optional.
The book chronicles the contemporaneous evolution of human cultures worldwide, embracing the period in prehistory when man made the transition from simple hunting and gathering to in-place agriculture. This period arguably marks the beginnings of civilization. The megalith builders of western Europe, including Stonehenge, are covered in detail. The rise of agriculture and animal husbandry is painstakingly charted with the first plant and animal domestications by man dated and located.
"People of the Stone Age" is an excellent opportunity for people to extend their knowledge of early man without having to enroll in academic course work.
- PETE DAVIS
The Road from the Past: Traveling through History in France.
By Ina Caro. Nan A. Talese, Doubleday. $27.50.
Historian and inveterate traveler, Ina Caro takes an innovative approach to understanding and appreciating the growth of the country we call France today. Beginning with the Romans in Provence and continuing north to Paris, she chronicles the changes in people and the arts throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the 17th century. Because she proceeds in chronological order, she illuminates the past in a logical, easy-to-follow way, making any other approach seem destined to confuse, not to enlighten.
What a wonderful guide Caro is. Knowledgeable without being pedantic, she presents aesthetic wonders of architecture, outstanding rulers and helpful hints, which combine to make her book a tour de force indeed. Her prejudices appear throughout, and she advises travelers to avoid places (such as Versailles) where they may be rudely treated for others of equal renown where they will be graciously welcomed. This gal pulls no punches.
What fun it would be to take this book and to drive throughout France according to the route the author describes. Even she, however, refuses to have a car in Paris, so the last section gives practical advice for reaching the wonders found in Ile de France by public transportation.
With "The Road from the Past" in hand to provide facts and wit, even a novice traveler would surely find such a voyage both instructive and entertaining, in short, a bon voyage.
- LYNN ECKMAN
Fine Lines.
By Jim Lehrer. Random House. $20.
This sixth in PBS newsman Jim Lehrer's series of mystery novels featuring the One-Eyed Mack, lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, may be the best.
The cast is all here: Jackie, the One-Eyed Mack's wife and entrepreneur-owner of the wildly successful chain of JackieMart drive-through grocery stores; Gov. Buffalo Joe "The Chip" Hayman, a repository of cliches and master of getting the buck stopped on someone else's desk; and C. Harry Hayes, the Mack's one-eared friend with the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation.
The murders of several lesser lights in the Oklahoma Legislature, a body not known for its luster in any event, brings Mack back into the sleuthing game. The title refers to the frequent difficulty in politics, as in other areas of life, of clearly distinguishing right from wrong. That theme adds a dimension to "Fine Lines" without detracting from the fondly satiric humor that characterizes the One-Eyed Mack series.
- GEOFF SEAMANS
Pete Davis is a columnist for the Lexington News-Gazette.
Lynn Eckman is a retired teacher.
Geoff Seamans is an associate editor of this newspaper's|
editorial page.
by CNB