Customer Reviews

Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A Compendium

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AMELIA PEABODY'S EGYPT: A COMPENDIUM is a collection of articles about Egypt and Victorian culture, 19th century Egyptian history, early archeology, and a comprehensive listing of places and people (both fictional and historical) that are listed in the growing collection of Amelia Peabody historical mysteries. The compendium also includes a huge number of period photographs and etchings that depict Egypt and archeological digs as they existed in the time when Emerson and Amelia were digging, solving mysteries, and confounding the German/Turkish invaders.

Readers looking for a detailed history of Victorian Egypt should probably look elsewhere for their primary material but will want to consider adding the compendium as a secondary source. But fans of the Elizabeth Peters mystery series can hardly go wrong with this fascinating look at the culture and history of Egyptology.

Recommendation--if you're a Peters fan, print out this review and leave it where present-giving significant others will find it. Underline the words 'MUST HAVE.' Alternately, buy it for yourself. The pictures alone are worth the price and then some. It's a treasure.

Egyptologists and readers of the long running Peabody series (mid 1970s) will appreciate this volume that provides deep insight into the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a period of archeological activity that shed a light on the country's glorious heritage. The compilation takes the audience on tours of Cairo at the turn of the previous century and even more incredibly, a deep look while accompanying some of the archeologists at their digs into ancient tombs and temples.

This is not a Peabody novel, but instead a marvelous glimpse at the history of Egypt with an emphasis on the Age of Archeology and the past it uncovered. The tome contains six hundred photographs and illustrations, a deep glossary, and several intriguing essays and commentaries from experts in the field. With the success of the recent Mummy movies and the long bestselling run of field archeologist Peabody and family, the well written, fascinating AMELIA PEABODY'S EGYPT A COMPENDIUM is a delight that brings to life the distant past and relatively recent past in a county with a rich heritage of many millenniums. Elizabeth Peters caps her great writing career with this tome that will fascinate her fans and those who cherish Egyptology.

Harriet Klausner

I bought this book as soon as I was able to get my hands on it, as I have been a devout follower of the Emmersons since Crocodile on the Sandbank. I was so pleased to find a compendium of the people, places and foreign words/terms that I have come across in the series. Some people and places, when alluded to in sequals, left me at a loss as I had forgetten them. No need to worry about any of that anymore as now we just refer to this fine book.
In the section about the people of the series, I was delighted to find pictures of Ramses and his mother as children as well as Cyrus VanderGelt and others. It was so much fun to compare those pictures with the mental faces I had given them.
The various religions, dress codes, social mores and delightful pictures of the area, allow us to know Egypt of the Emmersons better.
This book is made to be perused and paged through for enjoyment and elucidation not just once, but many times. I am sure that loyal, long-time fans as well as new readers will find this book a great help and very much fun as well as help when reading and re-reading the Amelia Peabody Emmerson books.

Being a huge fan of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody series, I had to buy the Compendium. From the very first, as I read the so called lost journal pages of Emerson and his view of his first meeting with Amelia I was hooked. I had always been interested in ancient history and thanks to the Peabody series I have gotten to enjoy the golden age of Egyptology and the men and women who helped to uncover Egypt's ancient past almost as if I were a part of it. For Ms. Peters to publish the Compendium as Amelia's just seems so right. I look forward to all the future Peabody books and any others that Ms. Peters writes - under whichever of her many names that she might use.

I bought this as a gift for a young lady who shares my interest in Egyptology and has several of the Amelia Peabody novels. This book is aimed toward people, places and events in the novel series. I glanced through the text, then spent hours reading the descriptions which accompany vintage photographs from The Early Days (i.e. pre-Zahi Hawass) Egyptology discoveries. I have to order another copy to give as a gift, after all, it isn't proper to give a 'used' item as a gift...

If you love Amelia, you'll enjoy this reference text about Egypt. This an excellent reference from the historical side--I understand more about Amelia's comments regarding Gordon now as well as understanding Amelia better--the way she treated Ramses when he was young, etc. Peters really did have Amelia reflect the changing views in England over time about women, children, Egypt, etc. The book also has a thumbnail but good summary of Islam as a religion.

The only quibble I have with the book is that if the reader is not a complete Amelia fanatic who has read every book, they may get confused between fiction and historical fact. For example, in some paragraphs, a completely factual discussion about anthropology in Egypt suddenly has a one-sentence fictitious reference--only an avid reader might pick up the sudden difference. All in all, though, a really good, interesting book.

This compendium gives a wonderful insight into the Egypt of the Peabody-Emerson's era. It's filled with images, details, essays on culture, fashion, even child rearing in the Victorian era. An absolute "must have" for any Peabodyphiles out there.

this is ellen in atlanta, - this book is a MUST for Peters fans!
Gorgeously done and the old photos are great!
the bone to pick is there are NO pictures of the Emersons, or Armana House in the book. No mention of the twin children of Ramses and Nefret, etc.
Just that Amelia at 87 still goes during the season for a bit - no other word on the fates of the others... a sequel Mrs. Peters?

This book was actually purchased as a gift for a friend who bought me the book for a gift not long before. If you love Amelia P. Emmerson (and if you have read E. Peters books, you do) this book is awesome! It is fun to read and see exactly how she pictured the fictional characters, and where they tie in to the real historical figures. She did such a wonderful job keeping the books historically acurate, careful not to change history. This book is worth EVERY penny and a must have for every Amelia devotee!!

What an informative and delightful addition to the Amelia Peabody Saga. And to begin it with the long lost thoughts and musings of Emerson himself!
Those of us intrigued by all things Egyptological, Victorian/Edwardian and the Great War, cannot be but pleased by
the presentation of so much interesting information, combined with an abundance of antique imagery. Now we can see the
Shepherds Hotel terrace of Ms. Peters verbal depiction, as well as the streets and lanes of Cairo and the other views and vistas
of the Emerson Era.
And was it fun or what, "locating" the pictures used in the
People of the Journals section? Toddler Amelia in spats!
The youthful Emerson brothers, including an airbrushed
indication of Radcliff's famous cleft. And who would have
thought Enid Debenham was such a fox!

But the very best image is of,( whom else?) Ramses, in a
sailor suit, eating an apple (or is it a sweet?) while
reading undoubtedly, the Koptische Grammatik mit Chrestomathie.