Minoan Crete: An Introduction

Labyrinthine Marvels : the Minotaur overcome Scholarly, Colourful, Readable, Up to Date, by Expert in Field who loves Crete. Lots of up to date references to more detail as required. Still not cracked Linear A after 70 years.

With up-to-date bibliography. Only problem is that titles in Greek are full of errors - obviously the book has not been proofread by a Greek speaker

A very good up-to-date introduction by someone who is deeply intimate with the island of Crete and its history. My only complaint is that there is not much discussion about the effects of the Thera volcanic eruption.

A well-written, up-to-date book which gives an expert overview of Minoan culture and its principal sites on the Island!

Merely to satisfy my curiosity.

It is a comprehensive read about the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete, Greece. Fascinating, would recommend!

In Minoan Crete: An Introduction, Watrous sets out to create a literal textbook on Minoan civilization. This is something I've waited a very long time to see, and so I was excited to read this book. The pros are solid: Watrous uses up-to-date research from leading names in the field, while still giving due credit to the earlier scholars (like Arthur Evans and Harriet Boyd-Hawes) where their work has withstood the tests of time. He also succeeds in creating an overview of a long-lived yet still little-understood society, and certainly lays a solid foundation for classroom discussions. The cons, on the other hand, surprised me. The maps are all small and poorly labled, often missing points for key locations he discusses in the text, at times making it difficult to orient oneself in the Minoan landscape. The photographs used are at times out of focus or blurry, which is perhaps more an issue with the publisher than the author, but took me by surprise nonetheless. I was also surprised that in chapters discussing both earlier theories and modern ones, there wasn't more explanation of how we moved from one set of ideas to another. I can't stress enough that the information in the text is solidly well researched and valuable, but I also can't say that I wasn't disapointed in the overall presentation. Maybe I'm too picky, and I only have a B.A. in Classics, but I feel like he didn't quite achieve what Kebric did for both ancient Greece and Rome, what Schofield achieved with the Mycenaeans, or what Robins achieved with Egypt. Watrous brough the facts to the table in exemplary style, but he didn't breathe life back into the Minoans. This text itself will not inspire students to continue on in Minoan studies, but in the right hands, maybe some professors will. It's a good start.