User Profile

Starts off strong with coverage of the ice ages and the early habitation of Scotland, and finishes well with the coming of the Romans through to the final Pictish kingdoms around 800. The middle, though, suffered from what I think is quite common in popular prehistories: plenty of conjecture, set off by overly frequent use of 'they must have...' and 'no doubt...'. Still enjoyable, but there were times when I wasn't really sure what I was reading.

Mostly enjoyable recounting of the rise of TSOM up to the first big split. Interesting to learn more about the Leeds music scene of the time, and discover that the March Violets were contemporaries. The book does drag after a while as it becomes a bit too 'blow by blow' for my liking, and the endless drug references may be accurate but I found them increasingly tiresome.

Unrelated to the content of the book, it's hard to recommend buying it owing to the ongoing Unbound/Boundless, er, situation.

Tremendous overview of the prehistory of Britain and the discipline of archaeology. Very readable. The descriptions of the seven burials are used as a stepping-off point for discussions of, for example, the development of archaeology from a science that tried to reconcile itself with the Bible (including a recent flood), the different approaches to cultural change through 'invasion', and a well-done discussion of sex and gender in burials. Highly recommended.