Looking for a book.

[shereen]

Can anyone recommend any books for a beginner that would teach about the Ancient world? Culture, philosophy, history etc.

Thanks
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[Chalky.]

The bible? I heard it's pretty accurate.

[Rogerborg]

[shereen]

[Chalky.]

[Chalky.]

[swampy]

[Commuter_Tim]

[Rowey]

I would recommend Bill Bryson's - A Short History of Nearly Everything.

It describes the most ancient time of the big bang, the formation of the ancient universe, galaxy and the formation of the ancient earth, the ancient formation of life and every important scientific thought, find and notion from ancient times to present.

Very good read.
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[Quornholio]

Conditions of the Working Class in England - Friedrich Engels.
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[Bunny Lingus]

If you just want an overview, you could do a lot worse than the Readers Digest Illustrated History of the World series. I picked up two for £0.59p. They are surprisingly accurate & the content is exceptionally easy on the eye. I rate Readers Digest. My mum had their Repair Manual & I was always reading it.
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[deadwolf]

Wikipedia. It might not have the comfortable feel and heft of a real book but you can get a pretty good overview of ancient history and make lots of connections between events. Be wary of getting distracted and going on a Wiki Walk, though.

Could also have a gander on Jstor or w/e, see if any free articles there are what you're looking for. Also check if any recommended books are available on Google Books.

Seconding Bill Bryson's history of nearly everything. Enjoyed reading it, very accessible.
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[BrownTrousers]

[chickenstrip]

It might help if you say why you're looking for this. Is it for college/university? Or just for your own enjoyment/expanding your general knowledge?

As has been gently hinted at ( ), you have a huge subject base to wade through if you want to know everything about every time and place in the ancient world.

Are you looking for similarities between different cultures, e.g Roman and Greek mythology/government/entertainment/military etc, for comparison purposes?

So you have those two. You have Mayan, Egyptian, Persian, Romano and ancient British, Continental European - the list is endless. That's more than a lifetime's worth of study

Oh, and though it won't give you much on the subject you're asking about, I also recommend Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything - very readable. Though it isn't funny like A Walk In The Woods - that was ROFL funny.

[shereen]

[R_Josh]

[Hetzer]

Bertrand Russell's 'History of Western Philosophy' covers a fair bit of everything from ancient Greece to 1940.
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[Poseidon]

Guns, Germs and Steel, whilst being a little bit courseworky core text in its style, it does give a decent bit of insight into human development since the last ice-age, and how the dominant societies got to be on top (looking beyond the "'cos blacks is dumber than whites, jews put themselves on top" tripe you often hear bandied around). It's an easy read too for something that is recommended reading on a few university modules (not that I think you'd need easy reading, it's just that some texts are very nuts and bolts in their style and are a very dry read).
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[shereen]

[chickenstrip]

Robert Graves used to be the author to read for Greek mythology etc. Don't know if anyone else has superceded that now.

Homer might be useful reading too - The Iliad and The Odyssey.

So that much might cover most of what you need on mythology, plus some useful hints on culture, as this was clearly an important aspect of ancient Greek civilisation.

Many other original Greek authors and scholars from ancient times have texts that have survived to modern times as you probably know - often part of what gave us modern science and politics.

As to other contemporary sources, 'fraid I can't help, but good luck in your search. Sounds like an interesting course.

[R_Josh]

[andyscooter]

read the title as looking for a BONK
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[sensi5446]

check out the british history podcast , loads of episodes to listen to but its all base in britain .

[Bunny Lingus]

Cool! - Homer - Iliad, Virgil - Aeneid. Greco-Roman art, literature, philosophy, hefty chunks of battlefield trawling... Jealous much
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