{"title":"Archaeology","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-last-dynasty-ancient-egypt-from-alexander-the-great-to-cleopatra-by-toby-wilkinson-pre-order","title":"The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra by Toby Wilkinson","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA truly splendid read, richly detailed and powered by an unfailing gift for storytelling’ John Guy\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'Superb and gripping' Simon Sebag Montefiore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA definitive and thrilling new account of the last great dynasty of ancient Egypt, from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt, he overthrew the hated Persian overlords and was welcomed as a saviour. He repaid them by showing due reverence to their long-held traditions.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter his death, as the Greek empire broke up and his closest advisers squabbled over the spoils, a Macedonian general named Ptolemy seized the Egyptian throne, ushering in a new dynasty that would last for 300 years. What followed was as dramatic and compelling as any period in Egyptian history. The unique blend of Greek and Egyptian cultures led to an unprecedented flowering of learning, as the new city of Alexandria became home to the Great Library, the largest in the ancient world, that attracted the brightest minds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWars, incest, double-dealing, foreign empires and huge wealth all followed, but the rise of the Roman empire would eventually bring the Ptolemaic era crashing to a close. Helped by the latest archaeological discoveries and using original papyrus documents, Toby Wilkinson uncovers a story that can only now be fully told. From courtly life to the role of women, from international trade to the tensions between native Egyptians and incoming Greeks, all aspects of life are here.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFilled with surprising insights, vivid descriptions and larger-than-life characters, and written in the author’s compelling narrative style, The Last Dynasty will appeal to all lovers of history, archaeology, art and culture.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePaperback | Extent: 384 pages\u003cbr\u003ePublication: 25 Sept 2025, Bloomsbury\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781526664679\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David's Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56027610874238,"sku":null,"price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/0892\/5225\/files\/9781526664679.jpg?v=1754042112"},{"product_id":"how-to-build-stonehenge-by-mike-pitts","title":"How to Build Stonehenge by Mike Pitts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDraws on a lifetime’s study and a decade of new research to address the first question that every visitor asks: how was Stonehenge built? Icon of the New Stone Age, sculptural and engineering marvel, symbol of national pride: there is nothing quite like Stonehenge. These great sarsen and bluestone slabs, arranged with simple, graphic genius, attract visitors from across the world. The monument stands silent in the face of the questions its unlikely existence raises: who built it? Why? How? There has been endless speculation about why Stonehenge was built, inspiring theories ranging from the academically credible to the improbable, but far less investigation into how.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the millennia since its creation, pieces of Stonehenge have been knocked over by heavy machinery, found their way to Florida (and back again), and been exposed to radioactive sodium, but the seemingly impossible endeavour of raising the stones with Neolithic technology has remained inexplicable – until now. In the past decade ground-breaking discoveries, made possible by cutting-edge scientific techniques, have traced the precise provenance of the bluestones in Wales, but can we plot their journeys to the Salisbury Plain? And how might teams of labourers lacking machinery or even pack animals have dragged them 150 miles to the site? How did they carve joints into the sarsen boulders, among the hardest stones in the world, and then raise them into place? Mike Pitts draws on a lifetime’s study to answer these questions, revealing how Stonehenge stood not in austere isolation, as we see it today, but as part of a wider world, the focus of a megalithic cosmology of belief, ritual and creativity. With 109 illustrations\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eHardback\u003cbr\u003ePublication: 17 Feb 2022, Thames \u0026amp; Hudson\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9780500024195\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eExtent: 256 pages\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David's Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57172354761086,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0753\/0892\/5225\/files\/9780500024195.webp?v=1774529202"},{"product_id":"digging-up-britain-a-new-history-in-ten-extraordinary-discoveries-by-mike-pitts","title":"Digging Up Britain: A New History in Ten Extraordinary Discoveries by Mike Pitts","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBritain has long been fascinated with its own history and identity, as an island nation besieged by invaders from beyond the seas: the Romans, Vikings and Normans. The long saga of prehistory is often forgotten – but our understanding of our past is changing. Mike Pitts presents ten astounding archaeological discoveries that shed new light on those who came before us, and radically altered the way we think about our history.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHis compelling, sometimes teasing, archaeological odyssey illustrates the diversity, complexity and sheer strangeness of the lives that represent Britain’s past. 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