Minoan Civilization: A History from Beginning to End (Ancient Civilizations) Paperback – 18 Oct. 2021

A part of Greek history I wasn't aware of. Very different civilization for the time and the girls are very important and influential.

Crete is still an island that contains mystery and draws both holiday makers and researchers into a peaceful reflection. Did King Minaos exist? Was ancient Crete a Matriatchy? This book gives a good overview without assumption.

I knew a little about the Minoan society, but this book has taught me a whole lot more. Worth reading.

good outlineenjoyed it

I love history , and this ticked the right boxes.

With only about 30 pages this tiny book (which sold at the normal price of a full-size paperback) was hardly value for money.

For the first time I began to understand such things as the minatour , the caves of knossos and who was king Minos. Sometimes the boundary between greek history and legend is difficult to appreciate. This book has helped immensely.

I recently took a DNA test that showed that a majority of my ancestry is Minoan, which really surprised me. And yet, seeing images of a nearly bare-breasted goddess brandishing snakes spoke to me on a deep level, so.... All that to say, I wanted to learn more about the Minoans. This was an easy and very informative way to do it.I learned a lot along the way, including the fact that my ancestral culture is, as of now, the oldest known human civilization with evidence of flushing toilets, and the frustrating fact that we still haven't deciphered the Minoans' primary written language, Linear A. Luckily, the book tell us that recently, some advances have been made, so there's hope that one day we'll really get some true insight into this culture, rather than speculation.I was proud to learn that my ancestral culture may have been a matriarchy or a culture in which women were seen as equal to men. Sadly, this is speculation, since, again, we haven't deciphered the Minoans' writing, and the evidence presented here to me could be a sign of all this, but then again, many cultures, including Ancient Greek cultures we're more familiar with, also have powerful depictions of women goddesses and yet, sadly, in real life women were usually treated more like property than anything else. So, who can say? Still, I hold out hope that it's true.The fact that I can even talk about this shows that this book taught me a lot. I really enjoyed this quick, informative read, and I also really appreciate the author's balanced approach, presenting numerous theories and not just making assumptions or ruling things out. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants some basic knowledge about the Minoans.

The Minoan Civilization has always held a fascination for me, I have visited the Palace of Knossos and the archaeological museum in Crete and love it’s history, uniqueness and stylized art.The book was a very interesting read and though concise covered a lot. The Minoans traded extensively and had developed two writing systems. There was one minor discrepancy. The book states that the Minoans had the earliest known flushing toilet in the world. Actually the credit goes to both the Minoans in Crete and the Indus Valley civilization.

Minoan civilization in short version. Very concise and I learned new things. I have been to Crete a few years ago,but I didn’t know about their language.

This is a short (47 pages), well written overview of Minoan civilization. It covers the dates and evidence for when the civilization first appeared, when it peaked, and when it faded away. There is no author listed, so I assume this was a group project.The reader gets a quick tour of what we can be inferred about Minoan culture through their artwork, their architecture and civil engineering (quite advanced), and the artifacts they left behind.For me, the best about this book was discovering the author(s) can write, and do so clearly and in an engaging style. A short book, but I enjoyed it and learned a lot.