Customer Reviews

Masterpieces of the British Museum

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Last week I picked up this nicely bound paperback at the museum for twenty pounds, plus the Value Added Tax of 17.5% (20% after Jan. 1, 2011) making this an expensive book; but the photos are truly striking - much better than the ones I took and the book is informative too. True, it leaves out many objects, due to the thousands of objects they had to choose from in the museum. And we didn't have time to see everything that is on display, so we must go again someday. Amazing collection from around the world and admission is free.

This beautiful book has over 250 excellent color photographs, usually one on each page with a few paragraphs of well written explanation. The 11 chapters are "grouped into sections based on cross-cultural themes, such as rulers, mythical beasts, dress and the human form, the resulting juxtapositions offer intriguing new insights into these widely varied masterpieces." Looking forward to spending more time with this book and MONEY - A HISTORY another recent purchase based on their money exhibit.

Above quote is from the inside cover. You'll also find the director's introduction, table of contents, 4 pages of further reading, a list of British Museum registration numbers, and an index. Edited by L. D. Hill, the research manager.

Undersized and over-priced. The photos are colorful yet two-dimensional; and the written matter is uncompelling.