Briefly Noted
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
by Toby Wilkinson (Random House; $35)
Wilkinson, a Cambridge Egyptologist, offers a comprehensive history of ancient Egypt, from prehistoric climate change to the death of Cleopatra, in 30 B.C. Most modern historians, he argues, have romanticized the grandeur of ancient Egypt, and, as a corrective, he focusses on the brutal subjugation in the Old Kingdom (2575-2125 B.C.) that allowed the Pharaohs to rule as divine authorities for three millennia. So absolute was the monarchy that it wasn't until the Middle Kingdom (2010-1630 B.C.) that average Egyptians even dared to hope for the promise of an afterlife; they were spurred by the lower-ranking nobility, who had sought the privilege for themselves. While the wealth of detail may be hard for the general reader to absorb, Wilkinson successfully combines decades of scholarship with an accessible and personable narrative. ♦
Published in the print edition of the June 6, 2011, issue.
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