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.