Product Description

The seven wonders of the ancient world have long been hotly debated, from the question of which great works comprise the seven, to whether some of them even existed. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World brings together several lively, detailed and engrossing discussions by noted authorities on each of the famed seven wonders.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #632065 in Books
• Published on: 1990-04-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Review
"...authoritative and readable. If you are interested in the canonical seven, this is the book for you." -- Archaeology - Jan/Feb 2000

The chapters in this book describe the seven wonders of the ancient world - the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Hanging Gardens at Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos (Lighthouse) at Alexandria. Their history, location, purpose, building and description are provided along with many illustrations and drawings. The last chapter gives a list of other monuments which could be considered wonders, and tells why the actual seven wonders of the ancient world were chosen. Recommended reading for all interested in history.
–Frankie's Bibliography

The chapters in this book describe the seven wonders of the ancient world - the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Hanging Gardens at Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos (Lighthouse) at Alexandria. Their history, location, purpose, building and description are provided along with many illustrations and drawings. The last chapter gives a list of other monuments which could be considered wonders, and tells why the actual seven wonders of the ancient world were chosen. Recommended reading for all interested in history.
–Frankies Bibliography

The essays on each Wonder are authoritative and readable. If you are interested in the canonical seven, this is the book for you.
–Archaeology, Jan/Feb 2000

About the Author
Peter Clayton was formerly Managing Editor of British Museums Publications and Martin Price is Deputy Keeper in the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum.

Customer Reviews

One of the Most Complete Ever
The Seven Wonders of The Ancient World is one of the most complete and illustrative books that I have ever read on the subject. Each chapter explains in detail one of these seven ancient monuments, starting with it's history, location, purpose, building and description; and ending in how they came to be no more or the way the sites still stand in our day. The pictures included within the text also tell us, besides the description of the monument, a little bit about the way that archaeology reconstructed the pieces to the puzzling appearance of some of these monuments and the way archaeologists interpreted ancient accounts of people that lived to see these wonders in their heyday. The book also contains two chapters in which the authors describe others lists of seven wonders and the way the lists that we know today came to be chosen. The task of the authors in putting together in one book all the information of these seven wonders is a remarkable work of scholarship given to the fact that six of these seven monuments no longer exist and the great number of different accounts that do and shouldn't, but don't exist. This is a must-read book for all of those interested in archaeology, history or ancient civilizations.

Competent Presentation of the Seven Ancient Wonders
Clayton's "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" as a compilation of seven essays by classics scholars describing variously the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos at Alexandria, the Mausoleum, the Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus. Although the illustrations are wonderful and the essays very thorough, they vary in terms of driness - some very witty and some less so. Nevertheless each of them seems to get all their facts right, and there is always an interesting follow-up to explain the present fate of each "wonder".

great reading in history
The chapters in this book describe the seven wonders of the ancient world - the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Hanging Gardens at Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos (Lighthouse) at Alexandria. Their history, location, purpose, building and description are provided along with many illustrations and drawings. The last chapter gives a list of other monuments which could be considered wonders, and tells why the actual seven wonders of the ancient world were chosen. Recommended reading for all interested in history.