Publisher's Weekly Review
Johnson takes a compelling jaunt into the world of archaeology to distinguish the prized artifacts from the debris, highlighting the hard and often thankless work of archaeologists. Reader Huber does a fantastic job of capturing Johnson's witty, conversational prose, which both informs and entertains listeners. She adequately narrates the technical details and information with a balanced mixture of emphasis and pacing, and she embraces the author's quirky asides narrating with the perfect amount of confident sass and exuberance. She comes across as the authentic voice of the text. A Harper hardcover. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Science reporter Johnson (This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All, 2010, etc.) explores the work of archaeologists.In her latest endeavor, the author, who makes a habit of looking into atypical subjects and then writing about them with brio and dash, takes on the discipline of archaeology, which is on a bit of a hot streak, thanks to technological advances, war, commercial development, violent weather and warming temperatures, all doing their parts to reveal our past. On her journeys, Johnson attended a field-training schoolon St. Eustatius in the Caribbeanwhere she received a glimmering of how backbreaking, tedious work can be imbued with high suspense. Throughout, she demonstrates a learned hand in her minibiographies of various practitioners of the disciplinee.g., Joan Connelly of New York University, who told the author, "Good archaeology fills in the blanks of history. It tells the losers' story. It teases out the history that falls between the cracks." Much like Mary Roach, another sharp writer who often tackles a single topic, Johnson casts her net widely, from the Caribbean to Stony Brook and Fishkill, New York, to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey to Agios Georgios, a small village in Greece. However, she's also mesmerized by the smaller-scale elements: gorgeous blue beads from the wreck of an old galleon, the never-ending steam of lectures and conferences ("The audience at an archaeology lecture is ancient. I watched them stream in, drawn to slides of artifacts and talk of ruins: snowy-haired, with canes and sensible shoes. They listened with hunger") and the pure, magical allure of the lost: "significant sites that are so humble in appearance, or buried, or otherwise hidden." An engrossing examination of how archaeologists re-create much of human history, piece by painstaking piece. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Johnson (This Book Is Overdue!) follows archaeologists into the field to discover why they work in a discipline that promises little monetary reward, no job stability, and dangerous working conditions. She interviews archaeologists who specialize in a wide variety of time periods, geographical locations, and areas of their field. She attends conferences, visits sites, and endures the hardships of excavation (including killer bee attacks, sites where no water is available, and contentious natives). She considers what archaeology is and why it is important, while discovering what drives the people who do the work. The narrative is as much about the author's experiences in the field as it is about the scientists she followed. Well read by Hillary Huber, this book will appeal to amateur archaeologists and generalists who want to know what the professionals do. VERDICT Recommended to anyone with an interest in archaeology. ["Well suited to anyone contemplating archaeology as a career, those curious about what the profession is like, lovers of history and science, and readers who enjoy and are grateful for the lure of prehistory and discovery as a mental process," read the starred review of the Harper hc, LJ 11/1/14.]-Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Lib., Providence (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
