Customer Reviews

Skara Brae: The Story of a Prehistoric Village

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Olivier Dunrae, Skara Brae: The Story of a Prehistoric Village (Harmony House, 1985)

Skara Brae is quite a good book given its age range (I'd place it at 4-5); Dunrae does an excellent job of balancing what we know with what he surmises, and most importantly includes a small piece at the beginning explaining the difference between the two. It might be a bit beyond the target audience, but it's sure to please the parents reading the book with their children. As for the book itself, it's about, well, Skara Brae, the prehistoric fishing village on the coast of one of Scotland's Orkney Islands, from the time the original settlers came till the time of the second discovery of the ruins. Which seems like an awful lot to put into thirty-six pages, but then, fifteen hundred-odd years of Skara Brae's history can be summed up in the word "buried."

Good stuff for youngsters with an interest in digging things up (and what youngster doesn't have an interest in digging things up?). *** ½

She had to have this book for school. So we got it and begrudgingly she said she would read it, but after she had started it, she said it was a very good story and she learned about ancient civilizations as well!