Customer Reviews

Stonehenge Complete, Revised Edition

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This is a terrific book about Stonehenge! Mr. Chippindale has created a wonderfully informative and readable book about one of the most famous archaeological monuments in the world.

This book takes the famous quote from Jacquetta Hawkes "Every age has the Stonehenge it deserves and - desires", and illustrates it by giving an overview of all the various paradigms that have been used to explain Stonehenge. Instead of giving the reader dreadfully boring and mind-numbing details about Stonehenge and the research into it, he gives us a brief description of what is physically there at Stonehenge, then he outlines what each succesive era has thought of Stonehenge since its "re-descovery" in the 12th century A.D.

All the theories, from Geoffrey of Monmouth and Merlin to the current fad of UFOs and extraterrestrials are explored. Mr. Chippindale lists sources, so that if you are interested in any particular theoretical perspective you are welcome to explore further.

Mr. Chippindale is a well-respected archaeologist and the editor of one of the pre-eminent archaeological journals, "Antiquity". He does state that he firmly is in the camp of the archaeologist, as far as explaining the origin and history of Stonehenge. However, that does not prevent him from presenting many of the other competing paradigms of Stonehenge's origin.

The book is richly illustrated throughout with photographs going back over 100 years, plus drawings and paintings that date back at least to the 16th century. The paintings of Stonehenge also help illustrate what the artist thought of this monument.

It was also quite fascinating to read about the various ideas for "preserving Stonehenge" over the last 150 years. There have been many different ideas about how this monument should be presented, and even now there is controversy about the way Stonehenge is presented to the public.

In this book you get to meet many interesting characters who left their mark on Stonehenge and its interpretation, from John Aubrey, William Cunnington, Inigo Jones, Colin Renfrew to modern new age researchers. They and their concepts are all presented here.

I strongly recommend this book as a start for anyone interested in learning more about Stonehenge. It is written with a sense of humor, and in a very readable style. You can then branch out to read more in-depth studies of the various theories and paradigms that you are interested in.

The book's title says it all; if you have ever searched for a comprehensive book on this ancient, beautiful monument, this is your book. Christopher Chippindale takes you on a wonderful, sometimes odd, journey through the history of Stonehenge. I didn't realize how far behind the times I was in Stonehenge theory until I read Mr.Chippindale's book; for example, if you are still under the impression, (as I was), that Stonehenge is a calculator for astronomical phenemenon, (solstices, equinoxes, lunar phases, etc), Chippindale shows that, if anything, aside from possible solar alignments, the old Hawkins' theory of every stone being aligned to some celestial event is now out. And the modern day "Druid" revivalists get a few pokes-in-the-eye too! A fun and fascinating read; the photographs and artwork are wonderful. Highly recommended!

We all get a weird idea sometime. Once I had it in my head to build a new Stonehenge out of concrete. It was a silly idea but at that time I needed a good guide with many photos and descriptions. I came across this book several years ago. It has been a wonderful book to even just peruse through. There is a concise history of the site, going back to woodhenge and even before. The author discusses the difficulty in the transportation of the massive saracen stones. Even if you have a mild interest in this subject I cannot think of a better book to have than this one. It is a true gem.

Thank you for reading my review.