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Wonders of the World
Stonehenge
This is the first book to approach Stonehenge without any theoretical position. It describes what is known and believed about the monument's construction from c. 3000 BCE onwards.
The Middle Ages were content with the story of it having been brought by Merlin from Ireland. The post Reformation antiquaries gave us the conception of Stonehenge as a historical monument. It played a significant role in the imagination of writers and artists. Then the Victorians invented prehistory and Darwin himself came to measure it. In 1918 it passed into public ownership and 1926 saw the first forced entry by Druids.The Earth Mysteries Movement now sees the stones as part of a greater web of ley lines and other phenomena. Archaeologists, united in their disdain for that, remain divided on many other points. And perhaps the most fraught issue now is conservation as the henge stands between two thundering main roads. This rich and provocative book explores all this in presenting a monument whose history is as fascinating as its secret.
The Middle Ages were content with the story of it having been brought by Merlin from Ireland. The post Reformation antiquaries gave us the conception of Stonehenge as a historical monument. It played a significant role in the imagination of writers and artists. Then the Victorians invented prehistory and Darwin himself came to measure it. In 1918 it passed into public ownership and 1926 saw the first forced entry by Druids.The Earth Mysteries Movement now sees the stones as part of a greater web of ley lines and other phenomena. Archaeologists, united in their disdain for that, remain divided on many other points. And perhaps the most fraught issue now is conservation as the henge stands between two thundering main roads. This rich and provocative book explores all this in presenting a monument whose history is as fascinating as its secret.
242 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 9, 2020
A great introduction to the history of this outstanding monument. Not an indepth read of epic detail but as a brief guide it succeeds admirably. An intereseting bibliography that encourages the reader to explore the writings of the antiquarians of 1693 onwards is worth it alone.
June 16, 2024
This is all about Stonehenge. Historiography, lots of Druids, some Romans, archaeology, astro-archaeology, tourism, and more I just skimmed over. I found this very dry. It got a bit more interest from me when we hit the archaeology (20th century) and tourism (21st century) sections, but overall, I just found this very dry.
April 6, 2018
Possibly the best history book I have ever read! I had been looking at it on the shelf at work for years, wondering whether to buy it or not, and then I did, and what a gem it turned out to be.
I visited Stonehenge when I was a boy, passing through the area several times on our way to holidays in Cornwall, and we stopped off once to walk around (as much as we could). Probably not much more than a fifteen minute stop, but enough to have planted the seed of fascination with this world renowned historical site.
The book itself is not long, just over 200 pages, but it packs in a lot of information, is well illustrated, very readable, quite often funny, and really enjoyable to read. The fact that the exact time of the construction of Stonehenge, those responsible for doing so and its actual purpose is impossible to accurately verify is pretty much by the by. It is more that it has as good as always been there. The book follows its connection with people, the emergence of archaeology as a science, the many theories about its origins, political and social movements that have kept it in the public consciousness, its life in the work of artists (giving often invaluable evidence as to how it had looked before some of the stones fell in 1797 and 1900), the emergence of modern scientific ways of analysing the past, and the (rather ironic in my view) mess that has become the current care of the site, and access to it for the general public, in the more recent times in which it has existed.
History is all well and good when it tells us about people and events, but sometimes the inexplicable is just as, if not more, intriguing, even if only as a reminder that we many never know all there is to know. Which keeps us grounded.
I visited Stonehenge when I was a boy, passing through the area several times on our way to holidays in Cornwall, and we stopped off once to walk around (as much as we could). Probably not much more than a fifteen minute stop, but enough to have planted the seed of fascination with this world renowned historical site.
The book itself is not long, just over 200 pages, but it packs in a lot of information, is well illustrated, very readable, quite often funny, and really enjoyable to read. The fact that the exact time of the construction of Stonehenge, those responsible for doing so and its actual purpose is impossible to accurately verify is pretty much by the by. It is more that it has as good as always been there. The book follows its connection with people, the emergence of archaeology as a science, the many theories about its origins, political and social movements that have kept it in the public consciousness, its life in the work of artists (giving often invaluable evidence as to how it had looked before some of the stones fell in 1797 and 1900), the emergence of modern scientific ways of analysing the past, and the (rather ironic in my view) mess that has become the current care of the site, and access to it for the general public, in the more recent times in which it has existed.
History is all well and good when it tells us about people and events, but sometimes the inexplicable is just as, if not more, intriguing, even if only as a reminder that we many never know all there is to know. Which keeps us grounded.
December 29, 2014
Really interesting. How artists, antiquarians, arceologists, pop groups, arcitects, everyone saw the prehistoric monument through the years.
November 8, 2023
she stone on my henge till I acknowledge the fundamental impenetrability of the past
Read
July 22, 2023Got a recommendation recently for Rosemary Hill's podcast on Stonehenge, which was always going to face the insurmountable barrier of its being a podcast, but did remind me that I'd had this for 15 years and never got round to it. Yes, that does mean that I'm missing recent developments - but with ructions still ongoing over what to do with the A303, the news picks up neatly from the last chapter. And Hill's great move here is that rather than adding to the megalith-sized pile of books keen to tell the reader exactly who built Stonehenge and why, she instead gets the surprisingly few agreed facts out of the way in 15 pages, before offering less a history of the monument than a history of the histories people have attached to it. Antiquaries, architects, archaeologists, astronomers, Aquarians - each takes their turn, generally with some ill-tempered shoving of the others, most of them attempting to drive off the Druids who, like raccoons of the noosphere, have firmly taken up residence in the world's conception of Stonehenge and resist all attempts to drive them away with an implement so uninspiring as the broom of mere facts. Not that they were the daftest suggestion, as Hill makes clear - yes, maybe Inigo Jones was engaged in the process of establishing architecture as a respectable profession, but even so, the Romans? Seriously? Mostly she tries to keep her tone fair and measured, but occasionally - and legitimately - she can't resist a dig: "To form a considered view of the astronomical arguments requires an understanding of both archaeology and astronomy, as well as a good grasp of physics and more than a passing familiarity with statistics and probability theory. Nobody who leapt into the fray in the 1960s and 1970s had all of these qualifications and some of them had none." Along the way, the term 'henge' picks up a definition which technically excludes this most famous example, a classic move to rank alongside the one where bears can no longer be said to hibernate. It would be a rare reader who, after all the quarrels and speculation, couldn't feel at least a twinge of sympathy for Daniel Defoe's thoughts on regarding another stone circle "with mildly irritated bafflement: 'all that can be learn'd from them is, that here they are,' he remarked, and moved on." Still, it feels somehow key to Britain that we should have spent centuries engaged in abstruse bickering over something which is very old, a bit of a mess, not actually that impressive if considered coldly, and yet still generally acknowledged to be terribly important.
December 2, 2017
A beautiful, delightful, and simultaneously robust little book about the history of thought surrounding Stonehenge! This is the first book I've ever read about Stonehenge (guidebook circa 1990 notwithstanding), and it was an excellent and fascinating introduction to one of the oldest, most mysterious human places on our planet, full of interesting history and fun anecdotes. I particularly appreciated the author's occasional use of dry humor - I found myself frequently unable to resist sharing paragraphs I found most notable or amusing. One tip: Make sure you've got Merriam-Webster handy! This is definitely a book you'll put down feeling smarter for having read it. It's left me wishing to visit Stonehenge and the surrounding areas again someday, wishing I could touch the stones or simply walk among our ancient history once more.
September 3, 2018
The information and research that went into this book is wonderful. It’s presentation was so boring.
February 6, 2017
Imagine my surprise when I opened this book for the first time in a few years and discovered a glossy, unused postcard of Stonehenge I’d bought at the visitor centre the same day I bought the book. There was also a strip of UK postage stamps displaying National Trust properties. The stamps were for international postage only. I think I’d used it as a bookmark for the rest of the trip.
Now the book, and the unexpected extras, remain telling souvenirs of my 2012 visit to Stonehenge. My first had been in high summer – the day after the summer equinox of 2010. This time it was overcast, rain imminent October, an altogether cooler time to walk the perimeter of pre-historic UK’s most famous icon.
In this small paperback, Rosemary Hill gives a brief history of the monument as has been revealed by investigation and scholarship. In addition, there is the history of society’s understanding and appreciation – and use of Stonehenge through the centuries preceding our own.
This is a fascinating insight into how, in the not so distant past, Stonehenge came to represent different things to different people – in some cases with vastly different agendas. The antiquarians and romantics, the Nuevo-Druids and finally the archaeologists have all had a hand in shaping the public perception of Stonehenge.
Of particular interest to me was the late 20th century developments which saw John Michell’s ‘View over Atlantis’ become a springboard for all sorts of New Age theories and activities involving the prehistoric monument. I have a copy of a later version of Michell’s book – called ‘A New View over Atlantis’ on my bookshelves where it has been dusted off and re-read many times over the years.
While my own academic studies have led me more down conventional, archaeological pathways of understanding of Stonehenge, it was Michell’s book that got me interested in the first instance.
Finally, Hill looks at the competing ideas of how to manage Stonehenge and the surrounding area, and the constantly reviving, reworked plans for the adjacent highway system, visitor centre and carparking.
At the time that Hill’s book was first published, it had all collapsed into an exhausted heap – with more money spent on preparing various studies than on any actual work done. Now, however, as many of the monument’s international admirers will know, the battle for the integrity of the broader prehistoric landscape of Stonehenge has been renewed. For anyone with an interest in the fight, as well as just a love of prehistoric monuments, this book provides plenty of useful material.
Meantime, the stones remain as mute testimony to the ingenuity of their Neolithic creators.
Review by Kerry Hennigan
4 February 2017
Now the book, and the unexpected extras, remain telling souvenirs of my 2012 visit to Stonehenge. My first had been in high summer – the day after the summer equinox of 2010. This time it was overcast, rain imminent October, an altogether cooler time to walk the perimeter of pre-historic UK’s most famous icon.
In this small paperback, Rosemary Hill gives a brief history of the monument as has been revealed by investigation and scholarship. In addition, there is the history of society’s understanding and appreciation – and use of Stonehenge through the centuries preceding our own.
This is a fascinating insight into how, in the not so distant past, Stonehenge came to represent different things to different people – in some cases with vastly different agendas. The antiquarians and romantics, the Nuevo-Druids and finally the archaeologists have all had a hand in shaping the public perception of Stonehenge.
Of particular interest to me was the late 20th century developments which saw John Michell’s ‘View over Atlantis’ become a springboard for all sorts of New Age theories and activities involving the prehistoric monument. I have a copy of a later version of Michell’s book – called ‘A New View over Atlantis’ on my bookshelves where it has been dusted off and re-read many times over the years.
While my own academic studies have led me more down conventional, archaeological pathways of understanding of Stonehenge, it was Michell’s book that got me interested in the first instance.
Finally, Hill looks at the competing ideas of how to manage Stonehenge and the surrounding area, and the constantly reviving, reworked plans for the adjacent highway system, visitor centre and carparking.
At the time that Hill’s book was first published, it had all collapsed into an exhausted heap – with more money spent on preparing various studies than on any actual work done. Now, however, as many of the monument’s international admirers will know, the battle for the integrity of the broader prehistoric landscape of Stonehenge has been renewed. For anyone with an interest in the fight, as well as just a love of prehistoric monuments, this book provides plenty of useful material.
Meantime, the stones remain as mute testimony to the ingenuity of their Neolithic creators.
Review by Kerry Hennigan
4 February 2017
January 24, 2017
3.75 stars
As a Canadian, I really didn't know very much about Stonehenge. I knew what it looked it, and I knew there was no consensus on what it's original purpose was.
This book does a wonderful job of bringing together the site, the stones, and the mythology around them have been treated throughout the years. This book does not offer an explanation of the site and does not attempt to offer a theory about its intent. It simply explores the many thought processes throughout the times from how the site was developed, thoughts from antiquarians and romantics to residents of the area, druids and tourists. I didn't particularly find the chapter on architecture interesting and I'll admit I skimmed that one quite a bit.
Reading this has given me a deeper appreciation for the site. I do want to visit it one day, but maybe only on the solstice. It also explains why it was only a quick stop on a tour I almost went on when I visited across the pond several years ago.
This book is full of interesting facts, thoughts, and findings of Stonehenge. However, what I really enjoyed were the little tidbits surrounding Stonehenge that weren't particularly important, but still enjoyable. My three favorite include:
A line written by architectural historian John Summerson reviewing another book of Stonehenge "as an intelligent book with a ludicrous conclusion". I feel that describes many books I read.
That Henry Browne, who appointed himself the first full-time guardian of Stonehenge. thought Stonehenge was "the last building put up before the Flood".
Lastly, that James Barry, who painted "King Lear Weeping over the Body of Cordelia" is the only artist ever to be expelled from the Royal Academy, but not only that, he was an example of a man with a persecution complex who was also actually persecuted.
As a Canadian, I really didn't know very much about Stonehenge. I knew what it looked it, and I knew there was no consensus on what it's original purpose was.
This book does a wonderful job of bringing together the site, the stones, and the mythology around them have been treated throughout the years. This book does not offer an explanation of the site and does not attempt to offer a theory about its intent. It simply explores the many thought processes throughout the times from how the site was developed, thoughts from antiquarians and romantics to residents of the area, druids and tourists. I didn't particularly find the chapter on architecture interesting and I'll admit I skimmed that one quite a bit.
Reading this has given me a deeper appreciation for the site. I do want to visit it one day, but maybe only on the solstice. It also explains why it was only a quick stop on a tour I almost went on when I visited across the pond several years ago.
This book is full of interesting facts, thoughts, and findings of Stonehenge. However, what I really enjoyed were the little tidbits surrounding Stonehenge that weren't particularly important, but still enjoyable. My three favorite include:
A line written by architectural historian John Summerson reviewing another book of Stonehenge "as an intelligent book with a ludicrous conclusion". I feel that describes many books I read.
That Henry Browne, who appointed himself the first full-time guardian of Stonehenge. thought Stonehenge was "the last building put up before the Flood".
Lastly, that James Barry, who painted "King Lear Weeping over the Body of Cordelia" is the only artist ever to be expelled from the Royal Academy, but not only that, he was an example of a man with a persecution complex who was also actually persecuted.
July 8, 2011
A word of warning - the book makes little attempt to "understand" the stones, their purpose or their overall context.
Instead it plots the way society has treated (or ill-treated) the stones and endeavours to explain the way that they have been studied over the years.
I have to confess my ignorance over the way the stones had been moved and re-aligned over the years, and although I was aware of the modern controversy surrounding access to the henge, my knowledge of it's social history was non-existent.
There are some interesting asides about the "finds" buried both in Stonehenge and other local sites, which help to bring alive the subject matter, rather than simply focusing on the dry academic approach that there is in places.
The book has a helpful guide to a visit at the end, and I know I would get a lot more out of a visit now than before reading it.
Instead it plots the way society has treated (or ill-treated) the stones and endeavours to explain the way that they have been studied over the years.
I have to confess my ignorance over the way the stones had been moved and re-aligned over the years, and although I was aware of the modern controversy surrounding access to the henge, my knowledge of it's social history was non-existent.
There are some interesting asides about the "finds" buried both in Stonehenge and other local sites, which help to bring alive the subject matter, rather than simply focusing on the dry academic approach that there is in places.
The book has a helpful guide to a visit at the end, and I know I would get a lot more out of a visit now than before reading it.
February 17, 2011
Following Rosemary Hill's excellent book on Pugin (God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain) this lacks a certain authority. having said that Stonehenge is a difficult area, even for archaeologists, and it shows here. I have to admit I don't know what to make of this, but for example, I really can't see how a book about Stonehenge can not contain a bibliography of previous research (a list of 'recommended reading hardly substitutes). I learnt nothing new about Stonehenge from reading it, although the 'modern politics' of the site was of passing interest. The illustrations are disappointing, old and rather dull (no colour). It's difficult to recommend it to anyone who is looking for new information, but I guess that it should be on the reading list of die hard Stonehenge enthusiasts.
December 12, 2010
This book was torture. I began reading, thinking I would get an overview of all the different theories of how Stonehenge was built from Druids to Aliens. Instead we get a long essay of British scientists and their efforts to understand how Stonehenge arrived on the Salisbury Plain. I would recommend this book to someone who wanted to fall asleep in 3 minutes, only.
November 10, 2013
A very knowledgeable and interesting history of the history of Stonehenge, from a quick intro to how the site developed, to what the first antiquarians thought it was all the way to the modern struggles of trourist centers and road congestion. A great compliment to reading about the actual archaeology of stonehenge itself.
July 11, 2010
Interesting, especially the stuff about the total mismanagement of the site and the UK government's total inability to recognise that they have a World Class Monument that needs a World Class treatment and management.
August 2, 2014
Excellent. Systematically presents all the research and theories from Roman times to early medieval to recent. Very readable style. Author doesn't ride a personal hobbyhorse; this book's purpose isn't to push a particular theory. Excellent illustrations from different eras.
July 28, 2014
Excellent cultural history of the stones. Sumptuous detail that is absorbing and erudite.
January 20, 2014
good historical overview of the perceptions and attitudes that have marked the scientific and cultural approaches to stonehenge over the last several centuries.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews