In Search of the Trojan War, Updated edition

In Search of the Trojan War, Updated edition
by Michael Wood

In Search of the Trojan War, Updated edition
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Book Summary Information

Author: Michael Wood
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-05-13
ISBN: 0520215990
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: University of California Press

Book Reviews of In Search of the Trojan War, Updated edition

Book Review: Excellent View Into the Dawn of Western Culture
Summary: 5 Stars

In this excellent book, Michael Wood covers the history of the modern search for the Troy of Homer's Iliad, and makes a strong case for the Trojan War being a historical occurrence, with most of the details in the Iliad being likewise historical.

About half the book is devoted to the major archeological digs at Hisarlik, a site in northwest Turkey, that is the likely site of Troy. Wood puts the discoveries at these digs in a broad context, both geographically and economically, for example in terms of archeological discoveries about contemporaneous sites in Greece and Crete and their implications about trade and warfare, and historically, in terms of the development of the archeologists' own theories over the last century and a half. He also pinpoints which archeological layer is most likely the city that was sacked by the Greeks - specifically, a layer called Troy VI, with n grand, imposing city wall surrounding a stately central city of broad avenues.

What I found most interesting, though, was the discussion of historical accounts from the various major powers of the day - the linear B tablets from the Greek city states, the diplomatic archives of the Hittite empire in what is now Turkey, and accounts from the Egypt of Rameses II and III. To me, these really brought to life the late bronze age civilization of the Eastern Mediterranean - arguably a higher civilization than the early iron age civilization that followed.

Overall, this book does a terrific job of not only showing when and how the Trojan War actually occurred, but also why, in terms of the dynamics between the 'great powers' of the day.

Summary of In Search of the Trojan War, Updated edition

Tales of Troy and its heroes--Achilles and Hector, Paris and the legendary beauty Helen--have fired the human imagination for 3,000 years. With In Search of the Trojan War, Michael Wood brings vividly to life the legend and lore of the Heroic Age in an archaeological adventure that sifts through the myths and speculation to provide a fresh view of the riches and the reality of ancient Troy.
This gripping story shows why the legend of Troy forms the bedrock of Western culture and why its past is a paradigm of human history. Wood's meticulous scholarly sleuthing yields fascinating evidence about the continuity and development of human civilization in the Aegean and Asia Minor. With its 50 feet of debris resulting from constant rebuilding, human destruction, earthquake, and abandonment, the mound of Troy contains the beginnings and ends of new races and civilizations.
This edition includes a new preface, a new final chapter, and an addendum to the bibliography that take account of dramatic new developments in the search for Troy with the rediscovery, in Moscow, of the so-called Jewels of Helen and the re-excavation of the site of Troy, which began in 1988 and is yielding new evidence about the historical city.

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