The Sea Kings of Crete by James Baikie

I'm on vacation so I don't intend to record extended reviews at the moment, but I would like to record the books I'm most fortunate to read.

This first one, an early 20th century books, tells the broad outline of the discovery of Minoan civilization on Crete and its connections with other peoples of the Mediterranean, primarily Mycenae on the Peloponnese and ancient Egypt.

Baikie writes of Sir Arthur Evans' career and key discoveries with due deference.  He establishes a chronology of Minoan history as best could be done at the time of publication, primarily by comparisons of pottery to the better-established chronologies of ancient Egypt.

As always I was fascinated by the connections between distinct cultures, with Minoan interactions as far reaching as Spain, Italy, Asia Minor, the Levant and Egypt.