Footsteps: Nine Archaeological Journeys of Romance and Discovery

by Bruce Norman

Footsteps Norman, Bruce

Genres: Travel, History

279 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Vasilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book that I picked up from a charity shop. It really brought alive the lives and discoveries of a number of (Western) men at the dawn of archaeology. However, I cannot give it 5 stars because there are some issues with neo-colonialism. The writer does acknowledge that quite often those discoveries let to pillaging and exploitation, but I find it somewhat uneasy when I am told that so and so discovered Machu Picchu or Ellora or Great Zimbabwe, when clearly the locals not only knew of their existence but also informed the explorers about (or even guided them to) the ruins. When are we going to realise that our Western lives, our senses and our testimonies are NOT the only things that matter? (end of rant) Apart from that, I found it an excellent effort to reconstruct a certain epoch and I particularly enjoyed the utilisation of extracts from the explorers' books and/or notebooks.

[Gareth Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent atlas of european discoveries where words, often of the explorer’s own, fill in the gaps on nineteenth century maps. Generously illustrated, Bruce Norman’s book may have its origins in a TV series, but there is no sense of that in his unobtrusive but informative prose. He lets the places and their early visitors tell the tale with a lightness of touch.
Inevitably, there will be subsequent discoveries that alter some of his commentary, but this remains, despite the passage of years, a fine book.