In Search of Immortals

by Howard Reid

Book Overview

Everyone knows that the ancient Egyptians were great mummifiers, and their sarcophagi and bandage-wrapped corpses are familiar images to us all. Yet across the vast sweep of history, we find many... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312280068
• ISBN13: 9780312280062
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

This book fills a gap but opens another.

Reid's work is precious because deals with mummification subject transversal approach. It doesn't focus on a particular civilization burial custom, but analyzes mummification methods and rituals of several ethnic groups around the world. From this point of view the Author filled a gap (at least in mass market books).On the other hand I must point out that I expected (melius, hoped for) something more technical. Reid travelled a lot and saw mummies, things and places as well as read about them so, in his writing spent (in my opinion) too much time describing his journey experiences for a book of this kind: as pages increase, this book looks more and more a diary (even though a pleasant diary). Moreover, too many conjectures steal pages that could be used for physical descriptions of mummies instead only mentioned.In the end I can say that was a pleasure reading this book, so interesting and well written. A MUST that leaves you with more lust for knowledge (good thing) and the hope that someone, likely Reid himself, will write on this subject with more data beside personal thought. Soon.