British Museum

Neil MacGregor's radio series 'A History of the World in 100 Objects' has been a unique event that has set a benchmark for public service broadcasting in the UK and across the world. This book will be the tie-in to that event, reproducing the scripts describing the objects that made us who we are.

"Step into the world of ancient Rome and meet its emperors, gods, soldiers, and gladiators. Who were Rome's most famous emperors? What was everyday life like for a soldier in the Roman army? How did the citizens of ancient Rome live? Did gladiators really fight to the death in the mighty Colosseum? Find out the answers to all these questions, and many more, in Eyewitness Ancient Rome. Photographs of real artefacts and detailed illustrations will help...

Examines, in text and photographs, the symbolic and material meaning of money, from shekels, shells, and beads to gold, silver, checks, and credit cards. Also discusses how coins and banknotes are made, the value of money during wartime, and how to collect coins. Full-color photos by the British Museum. An attractive 'Eyewitness Book' with striking photos and a logically organized text describing what money is, the first coins, paper money, how money...

Text and photographs examine the creation, importance, erosion, mining, and uses of rocks and minerals.

The Nile River literally created civilization in Egypt. The Nile's waters made it possible for people to live and grow food, and to travel and trade with one another. Egypt's birds and animals living along the Nile Valley became the models for its gods and goddesses, and hidden in the vast deserts and mountain ranges that protected Egypt from invasion were rich natural resources of metals, stone, gems and minerals that became the basis of Egypt's...

Postcards are often bought quickly and disposed of without much thought. Artists' postcards, however, from the 1960s onwards, are a significant part of the history of contemporary art. The ready familiarity of a tourist postcard means it has rich potential to be subverted, with recognizable images appropriated or manipulated for political, satirical, revolutionary or playful intent. The only requirement is that it fits through a letterbox and, unlike...

This work explores the lives of the ordinary people of Pompeii and Herculaneum the two cities on the Bay of Naples that were buried by the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The plaster-cast bodies of the victims are the most vivid shocking reminders of the horrific event that made Pompeii famous, but who were these men, women and children so cruelly frozen in time? Exploring striking new discoveries and over 200 sensational...