Stonehenge Complete: Everything Important, Interesting or Odd That Has Been Written or Painted, Discovered or Imagined, About the Most Extraordinary Ancient Building in the World

by Christopher Chippindale

Hardcover, 1983

Status

Available

Call number

936.2319

Collection

Publication

Cornell University Press (1983), Edition: Stated First Edition, 296 pages

Description

For the fourth edition of this classic account, Christopher Chippindale has revised and expanded the story to include the most up-to-date theories and discoveries.People have puzzled over Stonehenge for centuries, speculating and dreaming about it, drawing and painting it, trying to make sense of it. Here is the story of the one real Stonehenge, as well as the many unreal Stonehenges that archaeologists, tourists, mystics, astronomers, artists, poets, and visionaries have made out of it.New studies in the last decade have revolutionized our knowledge of the complex sequence of structures that make its celebrated profile, in particular indicating that the monument is decidedly older than was once thought. Moreover, as Chippindale shows, we know now that the main alignment at Stonehenge was not in fact on midsummer sunrise but rather on midwinter sunset.… (more)

Media reviews

Stonehenge Starship
This is a good read, well illustrated, well researched, and comprehensive. ... My only problem with it is that I found the index confusing, and key terms had so many marginally relevant entries that I sometimes found it quicker to use the web.

User reviews

LibraryThing member philae_02
Chippindale's work was full of fabulous interpretations of this famous prehistoric site. Chippindale tries to keep an unbiased approach to all the theories (both viable and unviable) and even argues his own. For instance, he argues that the north-east/south-west alignment of Stonehenge was not
Show More
necessarily for the midsummer solstice--as many people would believe. He argues that it was designed for the midwinter solstice due to the reverent structure of the inner blue horseshoe. The inner blue horseshoe's stones gradually get larger when reaching the sacred space--which he concludes as when one walks in the site from the north-east towards the sacred space to the south-west--in the same direction as the midwinter sunset. He continues further to compare Stonehenge to Newgrange (another prehistoric site in eastern Ireland), which is aligned with the midwinter sunrise (instead of sunset; but midwinter solstice regardless).

Chippindale makes more speculations as to what he believes Stonehenge's original purpose and construction method was. But he doesn't "force" his own beliefs on his readers. The writing is in an easy to understand language, and is full of colorful and helpful illustrations. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know the basics of this fabulous and mystical site.
Show Less
LibraryThing member catseyegreen
The author himself admits that this is not everything about Stonehenge but he does dig pretty deep. There is not much about the prehistoric peoples who built the structure, instead the author mostly explores the modern culture about Stonehenge starting with the medieval era and progressing up to
Show More
modern times. There is some amazing artwork included as well as some very diverse items like the program of a play put on at Stonehenge and advertising that featured the sarsens.

read 8/6/2023
Show Less

Language

Original publication date

1983

Physical description

296 p.; 10.2 inches

ISBN

0801416396 / 9780801416392

Local notes

Discarded from Berkeley Public Library
Page: 0.615 seconds