Secrets of Lost Empires: Reconstructing the Glories of Ages Past

Michael Barnes

Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated, Apr 1, 1997 - Architecture - 224 pages

How were the great civilizations of the past able to build Stonehenge, the Pyramids, Egyptian obelisks, the Colosseum, and the Inca monuments -- without modern technology? That's the question that Nova and the BBC set out to answer. Recruiting engineers, architects, archaeologists, stonemasons, and other assorted craftsmen, they attempted to re-create these five wonders of ages past. With one stipulation: only resources available in the respective eras were to be used. This remarkable undertaking was captured vividly in the acclaimed TV series, "Secrets of Lost Empires". Eye-popping photographs capture these problems:
-- moving a 40-ton stone across the countryside before standing it upright and placing another stone on top.
-- building an amphitheater cover with timber, canvas, and rope.
-- making a grass suspension bridge over a canyon in the Andes.

Through riveting storytelling and revealing photos documenting the workers' frustration, humor, relief, and wonder, a deep sense of admiration for the skill of ancient minds and hands emerges.

What people are saying

Review: Secrets of Lost Empires: Reconstructing the Glories of Ages Past

User Review  - Evelyn - Goodreads

The premise was interesting, the writing adequate, the technical explanations helpful. Somewhat disorganized; at times the flow did not make sense, with clumps of background information and clumps of narrative about the building.

About the author

Barnes is a full time writer.

Mark Lehner is Research Associate at The Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, and the Harvard Semitic Museum. He has been Director of the Giza Plateau Mapping Project since 1984.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Secrets of Lost Empires: Reconstructing the Glories of Ages Past
• Editor: Michael Barnes
• Contributors: Michael Barnes, Robin Brightwell, Mark Lehner
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated, 1997
• ISBN: 080699584X, 9780806995847
• Length: 224 pages
• Subjects: Architecture / Methods & Materials; Technology & Engineering / Civil / General; Technology & Engineering / Structural; Travel / Museums, Tours, Points of Interest