Ancient Egypt (Cultural Atlas for Young People)
It's the detailed maps, informative full-color photographs and drawings, and the explanations of historical Egyptian locations that will make this book useful. Harris' text is dry, and concentrates on the archaeological sites of various time periods of ancient Egypt, giving far more detail than average grade-school researchers need. Although it touches on subjects such as mummy preparation, pyramid construction, and everyday life in ancient Egypt, the excellent visuals and the descriptions of ruins such as Abu Simbel and the temple at Karnak are the book's strengths. This offering would better serve perspective travelers to Egypt than students doing basic research. For more of an overview, try Robinson's Ancient Egypt (Watts, 1984). Purchase this one where Egyptology is a popular topic, or to supplement more rudimentary texts with archaeological and geographical detail. --Cathryn A. Camper, Minneapolis Public LibraryCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.