Books with author Peter Conn

Peter Connolly's book brings to life the people and events of a crucial period in the history of the world. Spanning a hundred years that culminate in the fall of Masada in 73 AD, Connolly reconstructs the daily lives--domestic, religious, and military--of the Jewish people in Judea, Galilee, and Jerusalem, mostly under the reign of the great King Herod. The book's fascinating illustrations, based on exhaustive up-to-date research, recreate minute details with stunning precision. The volume features a tour of the geography of the eastern Mediterranean and a review of archaeological excavations and discoveries in the region. For young adults interested in Jewish history, the ancient world, and the beginnings of Christianity, this book offers thorough information with unique clarity.

In such matters, thebest of machinery is of less consequence than the human nature by whichthe machinery is to be worked. Impartiality, not only real, butconspicuous and unmistakable, is the prime requisite in a court ofarbitration. Its life and health can be sustained only in an atmosphereof untainted and unsuspected integrity. But in an age which does not yetfully comprehend the damnable villainy of such maxims as "Our country,right or wrong," gross partisanship is not easy to eliminate from humannature. Even austere judges, taken from a Supreme Court, have sometimesshown themselves to be men of like passions with ourselves.

"The dull blast of a horn signalled the end of the fourth watch. The smoldering embers of a thousand campfires, fanned by the cool morning breeze, glowed in the half-light. The night sentries relaxed at their posts waiting to be relieved. Soon soldiers were emerging from their tents yawning and shivering as they kicked over the embers and added wood to cook their breakfast." Thus begins a typical day in the life of a Roman soldier. But the tedious chores of his everyday life are clear reflections of what the Roman Empire was experiencing and how all of its citizens lived. Peter Connolly utilizes the latest historical evidence from excavations of major fortifications to create a detailed and fascinating portrait of typical Roman forts and of the soldiers who maintained them along Hadrian's Wall and other Roman boundaries for more than 350 years. He begins with the actual construction of roads and forts, using cross-sections and cutaways that show the actual building techniques the Romans used. Next he turns to the soldiers and the forts they maintained. We look into their barracks to see how they slept, cooked their food, what they did for relaxation, how the plumbing worked, and how they prepared for battle. Finally, Connolly looks past the forts to the villages that sprang up around them as merchants, wives, children, and other campfollowers settled and built the towns that, in some cases, still flourish today. The meticulous and well-researched drawings and maps for which Connolly is known will attract young readers and keep them enthralled. And his skills as an archeologist and storyteller enable him to present the latest discoveries, conclusions, and speculations in a highly entertaining and easy-to-understand text. The history of early Rome from the viewpoint of the everyday soldier is made immediate and familiar in this newest volume in Oxford's Rebuilding the Past series. It will make a fine addition to school, classroom, or home library.

When Peter Connolly's superb retelling of the stories of Homer first appeared in 1988, the critics raved. Publishers Weekly called it a "robust work...richly gratifying for one and all." The Philadelphia Inquirer said, "I started reading Odysseus and could not stop.... A wonderful book for older children." Stunningly illustrated, the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey are interspersed with accurate and fascinating historical information about the world at the time of the Trojan Wars. There are maps, photographs, and detailed reconstructions of places and buildings in the text, such as Old Nestor's palace at Pylos, and of course the city of Troy itself. And Connolly includes a wealth of archaeological evidence of the everyday life of the period: clothing, domestic life, religious rites, shipbuilding and armor-making. The hardback edition of The Legend of Odysseus is the cornerstone of the entire Rebuilding the Past series. Now this acclaimed book is available in paperback, making its accessible and entertaining history even more appealing.

With the ingenuity of a detective, Peter Connolly has brilliantly reconstructed the life of a Roman soldier -- who lived less than a hundred years after the death of Christ -- by using a vast array of archaeological material, including tombstones and original Roman documents written on papyrus found in the sands of Egypt and Syria. The soldier's name was Tiberius Claudius Maximus and he served under the emperor Trajan, in his great wars in Central Europe and the Middle East. Maximus was decorated three times for bravery and became famous for hunting down Rome's great enemy, Decebalus (leader of the Dacians, whose lands covered all of what is now Romania). These two volumes trace the soldier's career from the day he entered the Seventh Legion on the Danube frontier in Central Europe, in about 85 AD, to the day he retired as a cavalry officer in Mesopotamia some thirty years later. They provide a unique portrait of the life of an ordinary man who lived during one of the most extraordinary periods of Western history. In addition to the text, a huge amount of information is conveyed in the richly detailed illustrations that have become the trademark of Peter Connolly's work. PETER CONNOLLY has written and illustrated many books for children about the Ancient World, including the award-winning Legend of Odysseus. He is an honorary research fellow of the Institute of Archaeology in London. Also in the series: The Fighting Ship by Bernard Brett The Legend of Odysseus by Peter Connolly The Footsoldier by Martin Windrow and Richard Hook The Horse Soldier by Martin Windrow and Richard Hook

The year is 1819. You are a 14-year-old boy named Thomas Nickerson, living in Nantucket. It is one of the most important centres of the American whaling industry. You want to fulfill your boyhood dream of becoming a whaler by joining your friends aboard the whaling ship Essex. The Essex is bound for the Pacific Ocean, and a place in history. But you have no idea of the horrors whale attacks, shipwreck, cannibalism that lie ahead... The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach placing readers at the centre of the narrative history encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters, aiding their understanding of what life would have been like on the whaling ship Essex. Informative captions, a complete glossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers.