Reviews

The author has done well. The story is part fable, part historical fact, part treatise on religion , community, science, and political structures, that at times seems to trying to be all of its parts at once, but that at it the end is able to weave them all together into a meaningful conclusion. 

The writing, is apparently simple prose and thought bubbles , but it reveals deeper questions and concerns as it searches religion, ideology and science in a fictionalised tale that encompasses serious research into the origins of Western civilisation. 

If I have a caveat, it concerns the role of the “man in the fields”. Is he the symbol of the gradual transition from omnipotent gods to a humanist society which then allows the rise of “kings before gods”, or is he no more than a device to explain the unexplainable?

That aside, Uruk is a worthy contribution to a little known piece of our history.

Brightly descriptive, lively imagery, classic storyline of conflict and
resolution. Plausible unfolding of generative events in the life of
Uruk, a real city in the Euphrates River valley, in the land of Sumer c.
4000 – c. 2500 BC.

The Photographs throughout the book show some of the only known remnants it’s culture, gradually revealed after excavations began in 1850.

What took place? How did they live? They had developed highly advanced
technical skills in agriculture, weaving and pottery, and building,
among others.
Joining the dots, B.A.McLeod makes salient and relevant connections,
describing a totally workable golden age for this prehistoric city.