Amelia Peabody's Egypt: A Compendium (ISBN 0060538112) Book Reviews 1-11 Sorted By Most Recent, at VeryWellSaid.com

Perfect Companion to the Peabody Books

This is a coffee table book filled with interesting essays to complement Elizabeth Peter's delightful Amelia Peabody Emerson mysteries about a family of archaeologists in Victorian and Edwardian Egypt.

The essays cover the history of Egyptology, the British in Egypt, and Islam, as well as housekeeping with servants, feminism, fashion, music, schooling, technological advances and popular fiction in the period. The book is also filled with engravings and photographs, including several pictorial essays.

These are fascinating. One features Shepheards, the Cairo hotel frequented by the British community during the period, which was burned in a demonstration in 1952.

There are also several lengthy reference lists, of (apparently all the) people mentioned in the Peabody books (both fictional and real), foreign words, Egyptology terms, and more. One essay is by Barbara Mertz (the Egyptologist behind the pen name of Elizabeth Peters) herself, another by Barbara Michaels (the pen name used by the prolific author for her romances). The design is by Dennis Forbes, editor of the popular Egyptology journal "KMT".

Interestingly, anyone not familiar with the Peabody books would find very little to indicate that Peabody/Emersons are fictional. Except for a list of the Peabody books, and opposite it a note on the copyright page "Peabody, Amelia (Fictitious character)" everything else implies that the intrepid Egyptologists were real and active during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, which is a nice touch.

There's also a useful list of further reading covering the various topics brought up in the essays.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-11-18 13:09:39 EST)

03-23-08

(NA)

Perfect Companion to the Peabody Books

This is a coffee table book filled with interesting essays to complement Elizabeth Peter's delightful Amelia Peabody Emerson mysteries about a family of archaeologists in Victorian and Edwardian Egypt.

The essays cover the history of Egyptology, the British in Egypt, and Islam, as well as housekeeping with servants, feminism, fashion, music, schooling, technological advances and popular fiction in the period. The book is also filled with engravings and photographs, including several pictorial essays.

These are fascinating. One features Shepheards, the Cairo hotel frequented by the British community during the period, which was burned in a demonstration in 1952.

There are also several reference lists, of people mentioned in the Peabody books (both fictional and real), foreign words, Egyptology terms, and more. One essay is by Barbara Mertz (the Egyptologist behind the pen name of Elizabeth Peters) herself, another by Barbara Michaels (the pen name used by the prolific author for her romances). The design is by Dennis Forbes, editor of the popular Egyptology journal "KMT".

Interestingly, anyone not familiar with the Peabody books would find very little to indicate that Peabody/Emersons are fictional. Except for a list of the Peabody books, and opposite it a note on the copyright page "Peabody, Amelia (Fictitious character)" everything else implies that the intrepid Egyptologists were real and active during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, which is a nice touch.

There's also a useful list of further reading covering the various topics brought up in the essays.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-03-25 10:51:12 EST)

11-21-07

(NA)

Great Reference

I read Amelia Peabody's Egypt with great enjoyment. The pictures depicting the Egypt of the Emerson books was delightful. I just finished the Ape who Guards the Balance and caught myself turning to AP's Egypt to fill out the pictures of Cairo and the Valley of the Kings. I found the descriptions and articles added a new dimension to my enjoyment of the book. I especially enjoyed the pages attributed to Emerson and the added postscript of when and where they were found hidden in a wall tomb.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-03-24 10:59:51 EST)

09-17-07

(NA)

Fact and fiction, for Peabody fans

This is a wonderful book for the fans of Amelia Peadbody Emerson, or any of the other characters in thed Peabody series. The are short biogs of the most frequently listed real people, and a 'who's who' of the books; many photos of the period and places and people; articles on many aspects of Egyptology relating mainly to the books; plus quite a large number of related subjects.

If one is reading the series, but has not read them all up to the publishing date of this (2003), it may be advisable to be a little careful in one or two places, as there are a (very) few details that give away part of the plots - so I was pleased I had read all of them before I read this.

If the plots don't worry you, this won't be a problem.

A very well presented, enormously educational book, which is more than able to be read for fun. Highly recommended.

MNWThe Mummy Case (Amelia Peabody Mysteries)Tomb of the Golden Bird (Amelia Peabody Mysteries)Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, Book 1)

(Review Data Last Updated: 2007-11-21 11:50:35 EST)

10-02-05

2\2

I came, I saw, I kept it...

I bought this as a gift for a young lady who shares my interest in Egyptology and has several of the Amelia Peabody novels. This book is aimed toward people, places and events in the novel series. I glanced through the text, then spent hours reading the descriptions which accompany vintage photographs from The Early Days (i.e. pre-Zahi Hawass) Egyptology discoveries. I have to order another copy to give as a gift, after all, it isn't proper to give a 'used' item as a gift...

(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-01-17 12:07:36 EST)

11-18-04

3\3

A good reference for the Peabody series

If you love Amelia, you'll enjoy this reference text about Egypt. This an excellent reference from the historical side--I understand more about Amelia's comments regarding Gordon now as well as understanding Amelia better--the way she treated Ramses when he was young, etc. Peters really did have Amelia reflect the changing views in England over time about women, children, Egypt, etc. The book also has a thumbnail but good summary of Islam as a religion.

The only quibble I have with the book is that if the reader is not a complete Amelia fanatic who has read every book, they may get confused between fiction and historical fact. For example, in some paragraphs, a completely factual discussion about anthropology in Egypt suddenly has a one-sentence fictitious reference--only an avid reader might pick up the sudden difference. All in all, though, a really good, interesting book.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-01-17 12:07:36 EST)

10-08-04

3\6

This book truly is "Amelia Peabody's Egypt"

I have only read "Falcon at the Portal" and was not very impressed. However this book gives a lot more insight to Elizabeth Peters' characters and their environment of nineteenth and twentieth century environment. We weave reality with literature never really knowing where one starts and the other stops. The book is jam-packed with actual monochrome photos and sketches of famous (at the time) people and landmarks.

Under the section marked "People and Places" Heinrich Schliemann received a whole paragraph. This must make up for the lack of a bibliography and index.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-01-17 12:07:36 EST)

01-03-04

26\45

Delightful and Disappointing at the same time!

The delightful part is the wonderful black and white pictues and drawings that fill this book to the brim. They take up a lot of room and maybe that's a good point.
The disappointing part is that Amelia Peabody fans will find little new about her in this book. The most confusing chapter deals with the history of archaeology in Egypt from the 1800's. You start reading what appears to be a history of the famous players of the era, and then all of a sudden, Emerson and Amelia's discoveries and exploits are mixed in, so anyone who was hoping for a history of who found what where and when will still be wondering at the end of the chapter. There is also a lot of confusion about "real" people and characters who both have their names and photo's interspersed in the text. The last chapter of the book has some childhood pictures of Emerson and Amelia, as well as pictures of real people.
Real Peabody enthusiasts will probably enjoy this book, but I feel sorry for any child who picks this up and writes a report for school!
If you were hoping for material on the parts of the Emerson's lives not covered by the novels, you will be disappointed. There's very little new here, not even any interesting facts about the famous Seth/Sethos and what his life was like between appearances in the novels.
Like the novels, this book is charming. Unlike the novels it is confusing and shallow.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-01-17 12:07:36 EST)

11-13-03

42\42

Great photos, wonderful Victorian-era Egypt details

AMELIA PEABODY'S EGYPT: A COMPENDIUM is a collection of articles about Egypt and Victorian culture, 19th century Egyptian history, early archeology, and a comprehensive listing of places and people (both fictional and historical) that are listed in the growing collection of Amelia Peabody historical mysteries. The compendium also includes a huge number of period photographs and etchings that depict Egypt and archeological digs as they existed in the time when Emerson and Amelia were digging, solving mysteries, and confounding the German/Turkish invaders.

Readers looking for a detailed history of Victorian Egypt should probably look elsewhere for their primary material but will want to consider adding the compendium as a secondary source. But fans of the Elizabeth Peters mystery series can hardly go wrong with this fascinating look at the culture and history of Egyptology.

Recommendation--if you're a Peters fan, print out this review and leave it where present-giving significant others will find it. Underline the words 'MUST HAVE.' Alternately, buy it for yourself. The pictures alone are worth the price and then some. It's a treasure.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-01-17 12:07:36 EST)

11-07-03

43\45

marvelous glimpse at the history of Egypt

Egyptologists and readers of the long running Peabody series (mid 1970s) will appreciate this volume that provides deep insight into the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a period of archeological activity that shed a light on the country's glorious heritage. The compilation takes the audience on tours of Cairo at the turn of the previous century and even more incredibly, a deep look while accompanying some of the archeologists at their digs into ancient tombs and temples.

This is not a Peabody novel, but instead a marvelous glimpse at the history of Egypt with an emphasis on the Age of Archeology and the past it uncovered. The tome contains six hundred photographs and illustrations, a deep glossary, and several intriguing essays and commentaries from experts in the field. With the success of the recent Mummy movies and the long bestselling run of field archeologist Peabody and family, the well written, fascinating AMELIA PEABODY'S EGYPT A COMPENDIUM is a delight that brings to life the distant past and relatively recent past in a county with a rich heritage of many millenniums. Elizabeth Peters caps her great writing career with this tome that will fascinate her fans and those who cherish Egyptology.

Harriet Klausner

(Review Data Last Updated: 2006-01-17 12:07:36 EST)

10-28-03

5\5

A MUST for Peabody fans