Stonehenge: 2 (The Landmark Library) Paperback – 4 Mar. 2021

This is one of Francis Pryor's best books. In some previous books there has been a tendency to ramble into anecdotes away from the main topic. Here, by and large he sticks closely to the topic he is writing about and the book benefits greatly from this approach. Dr Pryor provides a tightly written chronological overview of the current archaeological understanding of Stonehenge within its landscape. It is a pleasant straightforward read that I finished in two sessions and felt I had gained a great deal. It has clear colour diagrams of the various phases of the monument and some very attractive reproductions of paintings by Turner, Constable and others. There are some very useful updates from Mike Parker-Pearson's 2012 book which are of interest particularly with reference to the formative stage of Stonehenge. Also it is a very pleasant book to handle and the illustrations have an interesting texture to them A thoroughly good buy.

I love this book , It’s written as all Francis Pryor works are, in an excellent no nonsense idiom, with all the salient facts and more covered . This little book however is beautiful as well as interesting, because it contains some gorgeous illustrations by period painters and illustrators of the henge, including John Piper et al. This is a lovely treat if you are interested in the story of our landscape or indeed as a gift for a friend who likes historical or archaeological topics .

Loved it. Beautifully presented images and text, making the story of Stonehenge clear and readable without patronising or dumbing down concepts - something few archaeologist-writers manage. I've read all of Pryor's books so clearly I enjoy his style, but I think this stands apart as his most focussed and least self-indulgent...no ramblings about his personal past/ hang-ups (enjoyable as they generally are), just a clear aim to outline the significance of this site.

A good read

Brilliant!

Having had a lifelong interest in Stonehenge I was interested to see Francis' book in the knidle library so decided to take a punt. This has to be one of the best books on the subject I have read. It doesn't take you through things stone by stone but rather helps you to fit Stonehnege into the landscape of its time.

If anyone has a little knowledge of Stonehenge and its surroundings, but would like to know the whens, the hows, also the whys, about its formation, then this book is highly recommended.It's easy to read for the layperson without having to cope with archaeological jargon, yet there are plenty of the author's cross references to related literature.

Nice pictures, quite a slender volume actually, with not too much text. It seemed to me like it missed its target market. If it is aimed at the general reader like me, it assumed too much knowledge and rambled off the topic. But it is not a scientific book aimed at specialists. So, in the end what was the point? I want hard facts. Who put the stones up? When? Why? But everything seemed too oblique, almost arch in its presentation. There was nothing to get hold of. Perhaps I just wanted a book aimed at teenagers.Towards the end he says something like: The story of the raising of the Great Stones was covered in Chapter 5. I thought: Was it? So, I went back to chapter 5, but really that chapter does not tell you what you want to know. What Chapter 5 does is present a sort of history of what some people have thought and written about Stonehenge.Much of the book seems taken up with discussions about other things. Like who thought what, which archaeologists did what. Lots of stuff about Sea Henge, Wood Henge, even Foam Henge. Beaker People, Causeways - whatever they are. Sorry, but for me, it missed its mark.