Best-Selling Archaeology Books of All Time
Archaeology, while considered a niche field to some, is an enrapturing subject. Its allure lies in its ability to reveal hidden secrets of ancient civilizations and to shed light upon the rise of humanity. Several archaeology books have revolutionized our ideas of civilizations and mankind over the years. This blog covers a few Best-Selling Archaeology Books that shed light on some of the major discoveries in this niche area.
1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed: Revised and Updated
Eric H. Cline
This widely celebrated book by archaeology buffs is a bold reassessment of the cause of the collapse of the Late Bronze Age. Through brilliant story-telling, Eric Cline revisits the gripping story of how the thriving economies and cultures of the bronze age stretching from Greece to Egypt, suddenly came crashing down. Cline goes into detail about how multiple interconnected failures brought about this end ranging from invasions and revolts to multiple natural disasters. 1177 B.C. is a book that sheds light upon the complexities that were the birth and death of these flourishing civilizations and is a Must-Read Archaeology Book.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Jared Diamond.
Diamond’s transdisciplinary non-fiction book attempts to explore the broad patterns of human history and explores the factors that influenced the rise and fall of civilizations. He draws on areas of anthropology, archaeology, and ecology to examine how geographic and environmental conditions of civilization and the time like availability of resources, the domestication of plants and animals, and diseases have shaped the course of human history. Guns, Germs, and Steel have earned widespread acclaim and sparked discussions about the roots of inequality and the forces that have shaped the modern world.
The Discoverers
Daniel J. Boorstin
“The Discoverers” is a narrative that traces the history of human discovery and advancements from the explorations of the ancient world to scientific and technological advances. The meticulous research Boorstin has put into this narrative comes to life as one starts to read the book. Boorstin captures in vivid detail, the journeys and lives of pioneers- explorers, scientists and modern thinkers who expanded humanity’s understanding of the world and human life. This is one of the top reads for archaeology buffs.
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
Toby Wilkinson
Wilkinson’s bestseller delves into the epic of perhaps one of the greatest civilizations this world has seen. Recollected by one of the world’s most renowned Egyptologists, the story delves into details of the Egyptian civilization from its birth as a nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire, the book recounts three thousand years of drama and splendour. The story is filled with extraordinary feats and historic achievements like the building of the pyramids, the conquest of Nubia, Akhenaten’s religious revolution, and more. One of the many brilliant narratives on ancient Egyptian history, carrying deep insights and detailed overviews of a plethora of societal conditions.
