Greek Temples (Watts Library) [Paperback]

Don Nardo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-In Temples, Nardo discusses the Parthenon in Athens and, in Amphitheaters, the Colosseum in Rome as examples of how each type of structure was erected. Each book provides a brief cultural context; a history of the development of the building type; and a history of the particular structure, including how it was built, what it was used for, and what happened after the society that created it lost prominence. Temples also discusses how classical Greek architecture influenced modern builders. The writing is informative and engaging and not oversimplified. The illustrations are mainly clear, high-quality, full-color photographs; captions and sidebars add interesting facts not mentioned in the text. Glossary terms are both set in bold and defined in context; but some of them are too simple for the intended audience. These titles provide material not otherwise offered at this level in stand-alone volumes, and present it so that readers will understand the importance of the structures to the cultures that created them and to modern people. Useful for reports.
Lynda S. Poling, Long Beach Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Reviewed with Don Nardo's Roman Amphitheaters.

Gr. 5-7. In these books in the Famous Structures series, Nardo has written numerous fine books for older students on ancient civilizations. Here, he makes the information clear and understandable to a younger audience. Much of the vocabulary is necessarily technical (entablature, metopes, chorobates), but the explanations are succinct and reinforced by a glossary and illustrations. The books explain how amphitheaters and temples were constructed and how they probably looked at the time. Nardo does a good job of placing the structures within the context of their societies and covers what has happened to the buildings over the years, including the effect of natural events (the eruption of Mount Vesuvius) and of man-made ones, such as the explosion at the Parthenon during a war between the Greeks and the Turks in 1687. An attractive, spacious design with crisp color photographs and reproductions of artwork also helps make the information accessible. Back matter includes a time line, a glossary, references for further information, and an author's note on sources. Susan Dove Lempke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Franklin Watts (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531162257
• ISBN-13: 978-0531162255
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,250,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Nardo is a historian and award-winning writer who specializes in the ancient world, especially the civilizations of Greece and Rome. He began as a actor and worked with the National Shakespeare Company before turning to writing screenplays and teleplays and, soon afterward, devoting much of his time to historical research and writing. In the past two decades, he has published nearly two hundred volumes on diverse historical topics. And having earned numerous favorable reviews, he is widely recognized as the country's leading writer of historical works for young adults. He is also versed in various other subjects and as a result is frequently asked by publishers to write books on a number of scientific and literary topics.

Mr. Nardo also composes and arranges orchestral music, having started composing in his early teens. Over the years he has turned out more than eighty musical works, including 2 symphonies, 4 string quartets, several concertos, a film score, incidental music for stage productions, and several commissions, the most recent a double concerto for violin and Portuguese guitar written for two noted musicians. He is also the resident composer and arranger for the Amadis Orchestra, based in Connecticut. For more information, see his official web site at www.nardopublishing.com and his more extensive biography at Wikipedia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars an exciting book to read, March 19, 2006

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Stephen Joske (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Greek Temples (Watts Library) (Paperback)

This book tells you all about ancient greek temples and has loads of imformation including the names of all the three types of columns.I think this book would be good for younger people wanting to learn about ancient Greece. It has lots of good pictures of ancient greek temples and also tells you how they built them. Its well worth having a look at Don Nardo's other books on Greece as well, particularly his edited book "Ancient Greece" for older students.