What do you think?
Landscapes of Legend
Cities of Splendor: The Facts and the Fables
Cities of Splendor looks at some of the stories associated with some of the great cities of the world, both ancient and modern: Rome, Mexico City, Mecca, Bodh Gaya, Babylon, and Jerusalem.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1999
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
March 31, 2019
One of six volumes in the Landscapes of Legend series - which presents young readers with the connections between mythology and geography - Cities of Splendor contains six tales from around the world, each one focused on a particular city or settlement. Preceding every selection is a brief introduction, addressing the cultural and geographic background of the tale in question.
Here is the story of The Founding of Rome, in which twin brothers Romulus and Remus are raised by a she-wolf; and the creation of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, in the middle of Texcoco lake, in At the Place of the Cactus. The significance of the cities of Mecca and Medina, in Islam, is explained in Flight to Medina; while the importance of Bodh Gaya, in the Buddhist tradition, is laid out in Under the Spreading Tree. In How Marduk Saved the World, the ancient Babylonian myth concerning Marduk's battle with Tiamat, and the founding of Babylon, is told. Finally, the tale of the building of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem can be found in King Solomon Builds the Temple.
Like the other entries in Bevan's series, from Sacred Skies to Mighty Mountains , the stories in this collection of legends and myths are greatly simplified. But like these other books, they are also engaging, and accompanied by Diana Mayo's appealing illustrations. Sadly, this is the last of this six-book series that I could locate. It looks like the final entry, The Waters Of Life , will have to wait for another time. All in all, Bevan's is a wonderful set of books to use with younger elementary-school children, in highlighting the idea that geography and mythology are often intimately connected. For that alone, I recommend them!
Here is the story of The Founding of Rome, in which twin brothers Romulus and Remus are raised by a she-wolf; and the creation of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, in the middle of Texcoco lake, in At the Place of the Cactus. The significance of the cities of Mecca and Medina, in Islam, is explained in Flight to Medina; while the importance of Bodh Gaya, in the Buddhist tradition, is laid out in Under the Spreading Tree. In How Marduk Saved the World, the ancient Babylonian myth concerning Marduk's battle with Tiamat, and the founding of Babylon, is told. Finally, the tale of the building of the ancient Temple of Jerusalem can be found in King Solomon Builds the Temple.
Like the other entries in Bevan's series, from Sacred Skies to Mighty Mountains , the stories in this collection of legends and myths are greatly simplified. But like these other books, they are also engaging, and accompanied by Diana Mayo's appealing illustrations. Sadly, this is the last of this six-book series that I could locate. It looks like the final entry, The Waters Of Life , will have to wait for another time. All in all, Bevan's is a wonderful set of books to use with younger elementary-school children, in highlighting the idea that geography and mythology are often intimately connected. For that alone, I recommend them!
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review