Knossos: The Palace of Minos: A Survey of the Minoan Civilization

by Sosso Lagiadou-Platonos

The Palace of Minos - A Survey of the Minoan Civilization. Includes Mythology, Archeology, History, Museum, and Excavations.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel, Archaeology

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Abigail]

Discovered on the bookshelves of the friend for whom I am currently cat-sitting, this brief guide to the ruins of the palace of Knossos is the sort of thing one buys on site, and is oriented toward the tourist, rather than the scholar. My friend visited Crete during her recent trip to Greece (lucky, lucky woman!), and I can only assume that she used this beautifully-produced book, with its glossy, color photos and diagram of the site, as her guide.

The brief historical introduction, which outlines Cretan (pre)history from the Neolithic (6000-2600 BC) through the various stages of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization (2600-1100 BC), offers little information that a student of Greek antiquity would not already possess. The gorgeous photographs however, and detailed "tour" of the ruins, make for a charming hour of browsing. Having read a great deal about this ancient civilization, whose unusual art and (apparent) social organization has sparked quite a few interesting theories, I have always wanted to visit Crete, and see the palace of Knossos (not to mention that of Phaestos, Malia and Zakros). Gazing at the pictures in this book only increased that longing.

[Cem Yüksel]

Although the aim of being touristic guideline (the one I read is an old version without print date so not sure whether it is 2008 version) is mentioned at the introduction of the book , there are so many missed on great Minoan civilisation being the inspiration of Mediterranean Cultures later by its zenith around 2100-2600 BC. The culture developed after probable migration from Anatolia far before Bronze age is also a good example of strategical geophraphy , trade nurturing culture, richness brought by diverse cultures.

[SusanwithaGoodBook]

I loved our tour of these ruins on the island of Crete, so this was wonderful to read the history in more detail and look at the lovely photos.

[William Razavi]

Like all such guidebooks in translation the text can be a little spotty, but in this case the text is informative and more or less up to date in its archaeological analyses and doesn’t indulge in as much of the mythical hagiography that makes books like this sometimes range from blandness to ridiculous propagandizing. The maps/plans are excellent and combined with the photographs form the real draw here. As an introduction to the Knossos site this is excellent and a great launching point into reading more about Minoan art, archaeology and history.