Review - 30 seconds to understand... Ancient Greece

The “30-second to understand...” collection offers advisable popular works. Each theme of any topic can be dealt with in 3 seconds, 30 seconds or 3 minutes, whichever the reader pleases, an extra picture sheet is added to each topic.

30-SECOND TO UNDERSTAND THE 50 MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS OF ANCIENT GREECE
Matthew Nicolls (Dir.)
Publisher Lvy Press

Ancient Greece, a very popular topic, really matches up to this collection. The history and the heritage of this civilization are explained in 7 chapters, entitled "The Greek world", "People and society", "Mythology and religion", "Literature", “Language and knowledge”, “Architecture and buildings”, "Arts”.

Ancient Greece is apparently well known yet numerous questions come to mind : what was life really like in a city-state? Who could vote in an election in Athens? What kind of plays did people see in a theatre? How much impact did gods and myths have on the lives of the Ancient Greeks? Why were neighbouring city-states so often at war? etc.

Greek world specialists, historians, linguists, archaeologists and philosophers were involved in the writing of this opus. The editorial management was handled by Matthew Nicolls, Professor of Classics at Reading university (England).

As an Ancient Greek Art specialist, I liked this popularized book, rich and smart, which should appeal to all kinds of readers. In addition, its size allows it to be carried easily. A clever choice for a holiday reading, for young and not so young readers!

Under the direction of Matthew Nicolls. Illustrations: Nicky Ackland-Snow.
30-Second Ancient Greece. The 50 most important achievements of a timeless civilization, each explained in half a minute, publisher Ivy Press, 2018.
160 pages. Size 15 cm x 19,5 cm. Retail price inclusive of VAT: 9.99 £. Available at your bookseller’s or on the publisher’s website.

ArkéoTopia’s recommendations

Contents page 5/5
The theme division is smart and balanced. Most themes related to Ancient Greece are covered. The references on each page are also really valuable.
Illustrations 4/5
The illustrations are varied and coherent. Readers will appreciate the illustrator’s neat and attractive work. However the professionals may wonder why there are no photo credits quoted.
Resources 5/5
Everything has been designed to enable the readers to get their bearings from a temporal, geographic or linguistic point of view. Chronologies, maps and glossaries have been included. The bibliography is brief and well thought out.
Relevance to archaeologie 2/5
It is mostly a historical work. There are no references to actual archaeology, neither in the texts nor in the images. One or two reference books on archaeology and/or art history would have been welcome in the bibliography.
Adaptation to the target audience 5/5
The dynamic lay-out and reliable information provide an enjoyable reading to both neophytes and specialists. It is however not intended for the toddlers.

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