The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

I bought this book when it was recommended by the lecturer of a 6 week "senior college" course. It's useful enough, a compilation of articles by experts on their respective wonders, plus why a list and why 7, along with some also-rans. The book is academic and could be thought dry, but considering that it's coming from the world of archeo-historians, its pretty readable. And it has good illustrations. I'm not sure the writings, even though they come from experts, reflect the latest thinking.

Ok book, but dull in the presentation of the facts

My loves the book

It breaks down each of the seven wonders of the world in detail and incorporates ancient historians' writings on the appearance of each when they stood more completely than they do today! Brings to light many aspects of each wonder that the average person doesn't know!

Outstanding book which thoroughly details the historical evidence for each of these monuments of the ancient world.

Thank you

The Seven Wonders is a great book to introduce anyone to the wonders of the ancient world. I have always been fascinated with history and the technologies of the ancients. This book brings together true architectural wonders. Each of the seven is given its own chapter to fully describe the structure and its history. I was shocked to read that the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was found over 1,800 years after its construction in fairly good shape but was destroyed on purpose! Another oddity was that the Colossus of Rhodes lay where it fell for almost 900 years without anyone ever repairing it. Imagine the Statue of Liberty lying broken in New York for nine centuries and you have a good example for the Colossus which was similar in size and structure. The Seven Wonders is not just the story of seven things but the story of mankind!

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos at Alexandria.More than just an answer to a trivia question these constructions were the fruit of that pre Roman Greek period when the western world flirted with genuine greatness, when Aristarcus measured the circumfrance of the Earth and Archimedes created a calculus of sorts...developments that, were they logically followed up may well have put us on the moon fifteen centuries earlier than we actually arrived there.Though now all but the Great Pyramid are lost, this book does the best to revive them and permit the reader to see what they may have been like.In some cases, the job is harder. For example, the Colossus of Rhodes fell over twenty two centuries ago and its remains were carted off into oblivion fourteen centuries ago.In other cases, the reader is left grieving over the what might have beens. One great example of this is with the Mausoleum which was actually dismantled down to its foundations in the fifteen hundreds. Sadly they even found and removed the actual burial itself. What wonders were lost in that plunder we truly can never know.In still other cases we are left wondering how honest the ancients were with us about the supposed wonder itself. A great example of this are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for which responsible scholarship suggests that they were not as grand as reported.But as with all things we have to appreciate what remains...for six of the wonders perhaps just the memories and for the seventh, the oldest of them all, the Great Pyramid itself.

Why seven wonders? And why this seven in particular? When was the list compiled? Which of the seven can still be seen and which may not have ever existed? The answers are all to be found in this delightful little book. Illustrated throughout, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is made up of a series of short essays, all written by leading experts in their fields. The academics, who wear their scholarship lightly, try to debunk the many myths and legends, which have grown up around each of the seven wonders. Their objective is to discover, through analysis of the archaeological remains whenever possible, what each of the seven originally looked like, why it was built and what made it so impressive.A thoroughly enjoyable and very informative read.