Reviews

First published in London in 1988, this study introduces the predominant cultures of the ancient Near East (Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Palestinian, Sumerian, Medean/Persian, Hittite and Hurrian, and Indus Valley). As excavation continues at sites of these first societies, their annals are in need of frequent revision, which this book provides. Saggs has a knack for drawing together the most telling details from the jumble of cultural data and presenting them in such a way that we truly see each culture as it was at its zenith, and its heritage to the world. There is an especially informative look as the cross-cultural development of writing. Though factual material is often repeated, and the author's data or analysis may not always be quite current, this is nonetheless an accurate and lively picture of an area typically neglected by Western educators. History Book Club & Natural Science Book Club alternates.-- Jo-Ann D. Suleiman, Sanad Support Technologies, Rockville, Md .