Check out this Amazon review of Britain BC: Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans

I am neither a pre-historian nor archaeologist and I knew nothing about British pre-history before reading this book. Pryor writes engagingly, intelligently and broadly, and I found this a hugely fascinating and insightful book. The book is structured as a chronological... See more

I am neither a pre-historian nor archaeologist and I knew nothing about British pre-history before reading this book. Pryor writes engagingly, intelligently and broadly, and I found this a hugely fascinating and insightful book. The book is structured as a chronological survey of pre-Roman Britain, working chapter by chapter through the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Within each chapter is an extremely interesting overview of the archaeological evidence, giving you a sense of how archaeology is conducted, how it has changed over time, and what debates are current in British pre-history. In presenting his historical analysis, Pryor also covers a wide range of topics, including social and family structures, communications within the British Isles and with other places, domestic life, agriculture, technology, economics, population growth, culture and religion. Running through it all is Pryor's clearly expressed and persuasively argued view that our pre-history is important and we should take more care to preserve and understand it. His afterword - arguing that we should stop regarding British history as starting with the Romans, and pay more attention to the achievements of pre-historic Britons - is especially powerful, particularly when you have read everything that comes before it.

If I had to offer any criticism at all it would be that Pryor seems to me a little too hasty to ascribe ritual, and spirituality in general, as the motive behind the construction of pre-historic sites, and too quick to dismiss more mundane explanations. This may well be justified by the evidence in ways too complex to explain in a book of this nature, but when I read him say things like 'ritual seems to be the only logical explanation remaining' or 'knowing as we do the central importance of ritual in their lives' (these are not quotes but me paraphrasing) I found myself less than fully persuaded. But this is a very minor quibble that does not detract from the overall impression of the book.

A note on the Kindle edition: as Amazon makes clear, the illustrations are not included. There were times when this was problematic. It was often difficult to visualise mentally an elaborate pre-historic site from Pryor's (detailed) verbal description alone and access to the illustrations would have been helpful. Only late in the book are there a couple of times when the text actually says 'as you can see from the picture...' and clearly this was frustrating. Ideally the publisher should put out a revised edition with the illustrations. Since I doubt they will, you should consider buying this in hard copy.