Stonehenge - A New Understanding: Solving the Mysteries of the Greatest Stone Age Monument Paperback – Illustrated, 25 Mar. 2014

Easy to read and plenty of explanations

The best book on the topic by far, written by a master of his craft with the deftness of touch to makr it absorbing and even amusing reading

An American edition, with naff cover and US spelling, but don't let that put you off. MPP, doyen of Stonehenge studies, unfolds in a very readable way the state of knowledge at the time of writing, and ruthlessly yet compassionately demolishes the bad science of earlier workers, always acknowledging the imperfections of the process of excavation and subsequent analysis, and how the wrong excavator can inadvertently get the wrong results. Archaeology synthesises many basic disciplines into a holist approach, and this book underlines that firmly. There are many flashes of humour too, such as the pub-barring of one of the hard-digging, hard-drinking 1967 Durrington Walls team. A very satisfying and authoritative addition to my archaeology shelf.

This is a superb review of the latest findings from the Stonehenge region (with the emphasis on "region"), together with an interpretation of these findings, all expressed as a technical report but with every term explained for those unfamiliar with the language. Extremely readable, with interspersed anecdotes and personal experiences and, where appropriate, conflicting views of the evidence.

This book left me in two minds. It is a very good account of the archaeology carried out by the Stonehenge Riverside Project but there was a lot to the book that I really didn't like.The archaeological work is excellent and fascinating, there is no question and I'm not criticising that at all. I just found MPP's writing really let the book down. For a start, he is extremely dismissive of previous archaeologists who studied the site (often some of his contemporaries). It felt more like personal biases creeping in. He's also quick to jump to conclusions that aren't very convincing. I don't know if that's just because the data aren't presented very well or the data say something else, either way his arguments didn't really win me over. The whole "Stonehenge is for the dead, Durrington Walls is for the living" seemed a bit like wishful thinking to me. It left me thinking he was looking for data to fit the theory rather than looking for a theory to fit the data.The section on the origins of the bluestones and sarsens seemed to suffer from the same thing as well. The logic seemed a bit muddled and, again, I don't know if that's a problem of presentation or a problem of the data. Either way, I didn't find his arguments totally convincing. There seemed to be a lot of gaps when it came to what types of bluestone originated where and how they were used and moved around the various different sites they are thought to have occupied. I also thought it was interesting that MPP has a long history with Waun Mawn and yet in the recent BBC documentary it is portrayed as an out-of-the-blue discovery.My big criticism of the book is that it really lacks reference drawings. The book is about the archaeology of a whole landscape and how different sites interact with each other. It needs maps and sketches to make sense. I found it very hard to follow, I was constantly looking at my own OS maps and online maps and diagrams to get a picture of what was being described. It really is a big weakness of the book that it is so poorly illustrated.The last thing is I just don't like MPP's writing style. I found the whole chatty, informal style a bit irritating and a bit patronising. I really don't care about what they were having for tea, his friend's observations of British habits, how people dressed, etc. It's irrelevant and gets annoying quickly. Constantly referring to colleagues by their first names makes it hard to keep track of who's who. I guess this is written for the American market too. The constant use of Americanisms like johns, parking lots, garbage, etc really grated on me. The references are also extremely spartan. A lot of similar books will give you a bit of additional info on the point being discussed in the footnotes but this is purely author, title, date and nothing else.If it wasn't for the quality of the archaeology carried out then I'd give the book just two stars. It could've been so much better. It doesn't make me want to read anything else by MPP.

Interesting book. Lots of new information about a spectacular ancient site. The author has found a great deal about how Stonehenge was used and how it relates to other archaeological sites.

i am interested in neolithic society, and especially stonehenge. it has been difficult to this time to finda solid source of information on the subject. this book is that source. deeply satisfying, and inductiveof questions to provoke more research.

Why is My Mishkan still under My Heelstone?Auger coring 1.2m (4ft) below it too Hard?Your Book does not Mention it, Why?G-D