Swift history

In Snapshots of the Past (Altimira Press/Sage, $14.95, ISBN 0 7619 9109 3), archaeologist Brian Fagan takes us round the world from the cannibals (maybe) of Mancos Canyon, Colorado, to the life of the common people in ancient Egypt. Based on his columns in Archaeology, the couple of pages on each topic, whether it’s the impact of feminism on prehistory or the threatened site of the Elizabethan Rose theatre, are a good read.