Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Mummies

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Brier's book Encyclopedia of mummies is, (despite bad reader reviews) a very thought provoking & fascinating book. His book tells us about everything on mummies, from Egyptian to Peruvian, to bog mummies, to Evita & Popes! Yes, it's true, the information is scarce, but there are hundreds of entries in here! I think Brier wanted this to be used similiar as to how you would use a dictionary. Just look up a word, & there it is. I think the fact that he wrote about "fluff & stuff" the candy, movies, books..may be to show us how silly we have been in our knowledge & consideratiion of mummies, they were once people after all. It comes to show that though we've changed our mummy image in popular culture, they basically recieve the same treatment they always have. Brier's entries prove this. The entries are, brief, but he presents the facts vividly enough with his usual flair, that you get a good idea of the subject. I would say that this is a book anyone interested in mummies should have. At the very least for quick reference purposes. An excellent companion to this book, was Discovery Channel's Unwrapped: The Mysterious World of Mummies. You can still see what it was about at discovery.com. I think Brier did an excellent job for the way he choose to present the information & I guarantee his writing methods aren't as 'stiff' as the other guys & you'll learn things you never imagined possible.

Wow, this book is really getting some bad reviews! Well, it seems like people expect it to be some in-depth resource - when in fact it is written in a form of an encyclopedia, as can be deduced from the title. Which means it gives a little bit of info about many things. And I think as an encyclopedia it does an excellent job.

Well this is an encyclopedia of mummies after all and it covers a very broad range of mummie nostagalia from really non-sensical 'stuff' to really interesting facts. The pictures are of an excellent quality and really liven up this somewhat "dead" book...sorry couldn't help it.

The book is entertaining yet it falls short of being an "academic" resource. Don't get me wrong the information is quite good and the bibliography is quite extent but it seems that this encyclopedia is geared more towards a younger audience and would be an excellent stepping stone for a child or teenager who is interested in mummies, both recent and ancient. Another interesting section of the book is the appendix that lists where the mummies are displayed at and how many each collection has and from what time period. So if you ever go on a trip to one of the areas that house the museums where the mummies are it would be an interesting side trip for the family.

I would recommend this encyclopedia for any one who is interested in all things mummies but for the serious student there are other and better works to be found on the subject.

From natural to artifical mummies, from mummies in the movies to those used in advertisements. You get it all in this book. Some complain about to much fluff in the book, but what do you expect from an encyclopedia.

A great overview of all types of mummies. It even covers pop culture. Bob Brier has greater knowledge then most of mummies, he even made one himself!

For some obscure reason this book seems to focus more on mummy candy, mummy clothing, mummy perfume, mummy movies, mummy urban legends, and modern mummy fanatics rather than Predynastic Egyptian mummies, techniques of mummification, use of herbs and scented plants in mummies, Egyptian afterlife beliefs, Hindu, Inca, Messopotamian, prehistoric and other mummies, and countless other much more appropriate topics. This book has no insight whatsoever, it gives no maps or detailed information, the tone is pitiable, and, overall, this is a disaster. Encyclopedia of Mumies gets two stars from me only because it gives halfway-decent data on near-modern mummies.

An exremly sketchy overview of the different types of mummies created by different societies in the past. Also, at one point in the book something is dated as the year zero. There is no such date.