2019-12-11
This is the first of the Very Short Introductions I’ve been disappointed with. Perhaps it’s because I wasn’t very familiar with Etruscan history, but I found this book to be meandering and very unstructured.
I was left with the distinct impression that this book was written by someone with a specialty in art history who was trying to fit everything else around that, which means each chapter inevitably veered into the influence of Ancient Greece culture on art and Etruscan tomb paintings.
There were also big statements made without any explanation. At one point it’s clearly stated that Sardinia was really important to the Etruscans – but the island is never mentioned again.
Despite specific chapters, each one inevitably discussed Greek art and tomb paintings, and I never really came away with a sense of history unfolding in a linear and constructive way. I appreciate that there is a sense of mystery about the Etruscans, but this book did little to illuminate it.
Rating: 2/5