Bunker Archaeology Paperback – 9 Jan. 2009

As an architect, "Bunker Archaeology" from Paul Virilio is and will always be a great influence on my work (such as architecture pratice and architecture theory).Fantastic photos and a compreensive study make it a must-have for those interested in concrete "ghost" bunker buildings.

Well presented, fascinating images and overall very interesting. Its slightly unusual format and design also makes the book a nice object in its own right.

very interesting

All time classic arrived on time.

Where to begin? I feel cheated. Mr Virilio's concept of what a book on the archaeology of bunkers - with specific reference to the Atlantic Wall - should and should not contain is curious. I felt as if I was rereading Bachelard's "Poetics of Space" rather than the hard facts about the archaeological implications of these monolithic structures. Which is essentially what this book is, with some brooding photos thrown in.As a BA archaeology student back in the 90's I studied the Atlantic Wall and associated structures in some detail: it was the subject of my thesis. A regular visitor to the library at the Imperial War Museum, London, this was never on my reading list. I was curious when I first saw this title on Amazon: had I missed a crucial book on the subject? No, absolutely not - this was clear after only a few pages.This book was written not by an archaeologist or historian, but by an architect - someone for whom detail should be second nature - and yet not a single diagram has a scale (there are 10 of them) - not one photograph either, nor a north arrow: absolutely bread and butter stuff for any self respecting archaeological publication. Equally, his photo captions could not give less information: in most cases he gives little more information than "Command post in the Bay of Biscay". No information on whether the structures were built for the Heer, Navy or Luftwaffe - and of course nothing on their specific histories in WW2. The 3 maps reproduced are so small and of such poor quality that they add absolutely nothing to the work.Only generic names for structures are used which is really annoying for one trying to visualize the various typologies.If you ever wondered what the differences between a Wiederstandnest and a Stützpunkt were or wanted to know who built them, this is not the book for you. If you want to read a rambling philosophical book rather than an archaeology book then you will love it and consider it money well spent.Personally I find the title very misleading. I wanted a reference on the subject. Instead I got a great example of how not to write a book on an archaeological theme - I really cannot recommend to this to anyone