Customer Reviews

Mysteries of the Past (Deluxe Ed)

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The 320-pages of READER'S DIGEST - THE WORLD'S LAST MYSTERIES contain twin columns of text and well over 200 mostly-color photos and illustrations. First published in 1974, concise and far-ranging, this oversized, glossy-stock volume is recommended for all interested in ancient history. One highlight is a "Gazetteer" which contains a few paragraphs each on dozens of sites.

Related item:
Reader's Digest MYSTERIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD is a 3-disc exploration of Europe and the Mediterranean, the Orient and the Americas.


CONTENTS--

IN SEARCH OF FABLED LANDS
1.) Voyage to Atlantis; 2.) The search for El Dorado, land of gold; 3.) The land of the Queen of Sheba; 4.) Who really discovered the New World?

AGE OF THE MEGALITHS
1.) Strange stories of western Europe; 2.) Soul-statues of Corsica; 3.) The secrets of Stonehenge; 4.) The giants of Easter Island

CITIES OF MYSTERY
1.) Teotihuacán, city of the gods; 2.) The lost empire of the Indus Valley; 3.) The silent stories of Tiahuanaco; 4.) The world's first cities; 5.) The last refuge of the Incas

SECRETS OF THE PYRAMIDS
1.) The men who built the Tower of Babel; 2.) Pyramids in the Americas; 3.) Inside the pyramids of the pharoahs

VANISHED PEOPLES, FORGOTTEN PLACES
1.) When the Sahara was green; 2.) The Scythians, fierce horsemen of the steppes; 3.) Zimbabwe, Africa's lost civilisation; 4.) Splendour in the jungle of Angkor; 5.) The Olmecs, a race of precursors; 6.) The magnificent realm of the Mayas; 7.) Enigmatic messages of the Nazcas; 8.) Did a black hole hit Siberia?

GAZETTEER OF MYSTERIOUS SITES AROUND THE WORLD
ALBANIA: Maliq; ALGERIA: Abalessa; BAHRAIN: Quala'at al Bahrain; BRAZIL: Pacoval; CANADA: Fort Chimo; CANARY ISLANDS: Hierro Island; CAROLINE ISLANDS: Nanmatol; CHINA: Shih-chai-shan; COLOMBIA: San Agustin; EGYPT: Avaris-Tanis; ETHIOPIA: Chabbé, Melka Contourea, Tiya; FRANCE: Douarnene, Forest of Fountainbleu, Lebous, Le Mas-d'azil, Provins; GALAPAGOS ISLANDS; GREECE: Andikithiria (sic. "antikythira"), Mycenae; INDIA:New Delhi; IRAN: Shahdad; IRAQ: Tell es-Sawwan; ISRAEL: Gethsemane; ITALY: Grimaldi Caves, Modena, St. Peter's Basilica. Sardinia, Sybaris, Val Camonica; JAPAN: Takamatsuzuka; JORDAN: Petra; LEBANON: Ba'albek; MALI: Arli; NAMIBIA: Maak Shelter; PERU: Chan Chan; POLAND: Biskupin; ROMANIA: Cascioarele, Tartaria; SAUDI ARABIA: Mada'in Salih; SPAIN: Elche, Santiago de Compostela; SUDAN: Merowe; SWITZERLAND: Augst; SYRIA: Tell Mardik, Tell Mureybut; THAILAND: Ban Chieng; TURKEY: Hattusas, Mount Ararat, Nemrut Dağı; UK: Bratyton, Craig Phadrig, Mousa, Silbury Hill, Skara Brae; USA: Monks' Mound, Puuloa; USSR: Issik, Karmir-Blur, Maikop; YUGOSLAVIA: Bay of Dubrovnik, Popovo Polje

I found this book on my grandmother's bookshelf, and I couldn't put it down. It nows stays with me. The authors bring scientific reasoning to bear on some of the most enduring past mysteries - Who first crossed the oceans, where did homer's heroes come from, how has climate affected history, etc. - and give incredibly intriguing answers. Alas, many of them are not the latest science anymore, but many of these mysteries still remain unsolved and the arguments in the book still remain valid. All in all, it's worth reading simply for the intellectual joy of the speculations offered, regardless of their outdated status.

The book that goes with this ISBN was actually published by the American Heritage Publishing Co. of New York and is labeled Book Trade Distribution by Simon and Schuster. It is the regular, not the deluxe edition. The authors are Casson, Claiborne, Fagan and Karp. The editor is Thorndike. It is possible that another edition also was given this ISBN. Sometimes the ISBN's aren't very distinctive.

My own definition of ANCIENT HISTORY is:

"that which took place in human life and culture BEFORE writing and record-keeping began."

By that definition, archaelogy and anthropology are the TRUE ancient history of man.

And this book, IMO, is the best introduction to ANCIENT HISTORY that you can bestow upon a bright and curious young mind. [or even a bright and curious older mind that has never really been exposed to the subject material!]