This was the 'text book' used by my pre-history class a few semesters ago. I loved it! I found myself reading more than what was assigned and looking up a ton of side information.
I enjoyed the way the book was written, organized, and the information and pictures that were included for each site.

Please read my review at Celtic Scholar's Reviews and Opinions

T. Douglas Price is Weinstein Professor of European Archaeology Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Honorary Professor in the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Aarhus, and is the author of Images of the Past, Europe’s First Farmers and Principles of Archaeology. Europe Before Rome is a site by site exploration of a number of stone, bronze and iron age sites throughout Europe.

Europe Before Rome begins with a history lesson on early hominids leading up to the prehistoric period and into the stone age. Price uses a number of sites for specific evidence, explaining some of the importance of these sites, but never going into too much detail. After this introductory chapter, there are main chapters on “The Creative Explosion,” “The First Farmers,” “Bronze Age Warriors” and “Centers of Power, Weapons of Iron”; photos are provided, as well as diagrams where possible.

Ultimately, Europe Before Rome is more of a text book on these many different sites. Price reveals the important discoveries of many of the sites, but not really in any detail on what affect these artifacts have had on history and their importance.

Originally written on March 14, 2013 ©Alex C. Telander.

For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.

Very informative and lots of great photos! Solid overview of prehistoric archaeology in europe, and I like that it was structured by sites. My only quibble is that sometimes the author gets a little too bogged down in the details for a book meant for general audiences- I would have preferred more overarching analysis and less lists of finds at sites.
Also useful if, like me, you want to plan a road trip around europe based on prehistoric archaeological sites.

This book was much more than the tagline "A site-by-site tour..." suggests. Each period is prefaced by an archaeological and anthropological introduction and capped by a "thoughts" section which ties all of the organic remnants and potherds together into a story of human cultural developments. Further, it is more than a "these are the steps leading to Rome as a culmination of everything before" sort of history worship: the author celebrates the human achievement of each culture in its place in time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in prehistory and the story of Europe before (and slightly contemporaneous with) Greece and Rome.

T. Douglas Price is Weinstein Professor of European Archaeology Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Honorary Professor in the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Aarhus, and is the author of Images of the Past, Europe’s First Farmers and Principles of Archaeology. Europe Before Rome is a site by site exploration of a number of stone, bronze and iron age sites throughout Europe.

Europe Before Rome begins with a history lesson on early hominids leading up to the prehistoric period and into the stone age. Price uses a number of sites for specific evidence, explaining some of the importance of these sites, but never going into too much detail. After this introductory chapter, there are main chapters on “The Creative Explosion,” “The First Farmers,” “Bronze Age Warriors” and “Centers of Power, Weapons of Iron”; photos are provided, as well as diagrams where possible.

Ultimately, Europe Before Rome is more of a text book on these many different sites. Price reveals the important discoveries of many of the sites, but not really in any detail on what affect these artifacts have had on history and their importance.

Originally written on March 14, 2013 ©Alex C. Telander.

For more reviews, check out the BookBanter site.