Ancient Civilizations

Poor quality.

We used this book as the textbook for Origins Of Civilizations (anthropology course). Well written; very clear and quite readable. I downgraded the book to #3 stars because of the absolutely inadequate maps and illustrations. A major distraction from understanding the text: maps were too small and in black and white - so that detail was difficult to appreciate. With the varied availability of graphics in today's print media, this is a major shortcoming.Graphs, timelines and photographs have the same criticism as they were very difficult to interpret and correlate with the printed matter.This is a major problem and negative.

I loved this book. I found it easy to read and digest the information, but that may be because I have a particular passion for the subject matter. The author wrote in a very informative and instructional way without talking down to his readers. I would heartily recommend the book.

In bad conditions

Needed for class. A bit in depth for an intro class.