"This jauntily written, highly convincing analysis . . . argues that women of prehistory were pivotal in a wide range of culture-building endeavors." — Publishers WeeklyShaped by cartoons and museum dioramas, our vision of Paleolithic times tends to feature fur-clad male hunters fearlessly attacking mammoths while timid women hover fearfully behind a boulder. In fact, recent research has shown that this vision bears little relation to reality.The f...

Shaped by cartoons and museum dioramas, our vision of Paleolithic times tends to feature fur-clad male hunters fearlessly attacking mammoths while timid women hover fearfully behind a boulder. Recent archaeological research has shown that this vision bears little relation to reality. J. M. Adovasio and Olga Soffer, two of the world's leading experts on perishable artifacts such as basketry, cordage, and weaving, present an exciting new look at prehistory. With science writer Jake Page, the...

Involving contributions from archaeology, geology, ethnography, anthropology and prehistory, The World at 18 000 BP: Low Latitudes (second of the two volumes, and originally published in 1990) surveys the world scene 18,000 years ago. Following an introduction (common to the two volumes) on the diversity of human adaptations at the last glacial maximum, Volume 1 covers high latitudes: Europe, Asia and the New World. Volume 2 covers low latitudes: Africa, the Middle East, southern ...

Involving contributions from archaeology, geology, ethnography, anthropology and prehistory, The World at 18 000 BP: High Latitudes (first of the two volumes, and originally published in 1990) surveys the world scene 18,000 years ago. Following an introduction (common to the two volumes) on the diversity of human adaptations at the last glacial maximum, Volume 1 covers high latitudes: Europe, Asia and the New World. Volume 2 covers low latitudes: Africa, the Middle East, southern ...

From the American Side I went to the USSR for the first time in 1982 to attend the 11th meeting of the International Union for Quaternary research (INQUA) held at the Moscow State University. At that time relations between our two countries were anything but congenial and many restrictions were placed on our viewing the archaeological and paleontological collections and labora tory facilities. This was not the ideal climate for the free exchange of ideas needed for meaningful research. How...

"As wide-ranging, imaginative, and revealing as the maps they discuss, these essays . . . track how maps—interpreted broadly—convey time as well as space." —Richard White, Stanford UniversityMaps organize us in space, but they also organize us in time. Looking around the world for the last five hundred years, Time in Maps shows that today's digital maps are only the latest effort to insert a sense of time into the spatial medium of maps. Historians Kären Wi...

This "disturbing yet fascinating" exploration of mass mania through the ages explains the biological and psychological roots of irrationality ( Kirkus Reviews).From time immemorial, contagious narratives have spread through susceptible groups—with enormous, often disastrous, consequences. Inspired by Charles Mackay's nineteenth-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, neurologist and author William Bern...

What would it be like if you were transported back to Athens 420 BCE? This time-traveler's guide is a fascinating way to find out . . .Imagine you were transported back in time to Ancient Greece and you had to start a new life there. What would you see? How would the people around you think and believe? How would you fit in? Where would you live? What would you eat? What work would be available, and what help could you get if you got sick?All these question...

The classic layman's history of the mathematical constant—"A pure delight…. Entirely offbeat, which gives it its charm" ( The Denver Post )."A very readable account."— Science"A cheerful work."— Scientific AmericanThe history of pi, says the author, though a small part of the history of mathematics, is nevertheless a mirror...

"[A] timely book . . . a wonderfully entertaining trip around the board, through 4,000 years of game history." — The Wall Street JournalBoard games have been with us even longer than the written word. But what is it about this pastime that continues to captivate us well into the age of smartphones and instant gratification?In It's All a Game, Tristan Donovan, British journalist and author of Replay: The History of Video Games, opens...

The classic explanation of the craft of history and the vital worth of historians to civilizationIn this volume, English historian Richard Evans offers a defence of the importance of his craft. At a time when fact and historical truth are under unprecedented assault, Evans shows us why history is necessary. Taking us into the historians' workshop to show us just how good history gets written, he demolishes the wilder claims of postmodern historians, who deny the po...

'Has the power to change the way you look at the world' Steven Bartlett'The heir to Oliver Sacks' David BaddielA FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTHGluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger.These are the seven deadly sins, the vices of humankind that define immorality, the roots of all evil in the world. Or so some believe.