The Secrets of Stonehenge by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
| The Secrets of Stonehenge by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: An unscientific yet welcome primer for one of the country's standout mysteries. Destined for many a school library or parent's shelf, and deservedly so, yet with room for improvement. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: April 2014 |
| Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books | |
| ISBN: 9781847805201 | |
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I hope you agree with me about the sheer optimism of this book's title. It carries a certain chutzpah to pretend to show all the secrets about a mystical site which remains, even with a lot of evidence, sheer conjecture. Yes we know when the stones were erected, and from where they came under the orders of what kind of prehistoric man, but nothing is guaranteed in the occult world of pagan ritual, prehistoric pantheons and primitive perpetual calendars. This book won't admit to doubt beyond saying some people have different ideas about Stonehenge, but it will succeed in giving a fleeting glimpse to some of the mysteries and oo-er factors that make the site so intriguing for all ages to this day.
The format is simple – a handful of double-page spreads with an impactful cartoon to illustrate it, one paragraph of main text only each time, and a side-bar with further illustrations and extra information. It's definitely more readable than it might have been. The main images are peppered with from one to eight speech balloons to bring the historical characters into the foreground for the young historian. It's very clever how the story of the site has been truncated into just a few windows into the important developments – and especially how the first few are context and background, and don't specifically feature the henge itself.
There's a glossary and timeline to come too, and on the whole the book is all-inclusive, covering the distance the stones had to be moved, and the effort in erecting them, and of course the main, commonly-held belief as to why. I felt the edge I alluded to earlier, however, that the facts cannot be nailed down so easily, to be a problem. If you're dealing in absolutes, go ahead and use them; if you're discussing mere probabilities, then for any age, any subject – say so. Declare your ignorance of the complete fact, the entirety of the secrets. Surely that can inspire just as much as a narrow-minded opinion?
Also I wasn't completely happy with the fullness of the layout. The characters' speech balloons are just naff, especially those of the current visitors to the stones – pictured, of course, practically next to them in a most unrealistic fashion. The full, detailed yet concise diagram of all the rings, sets of stones, and more, is in the side-bar, and not the main body of the pages – I don't think that by swapping them over this loses appeal as a text book and looks like a tourist guide.
All the same however there is more than enough here to raise eyebrows even in the very young, and to get them to at least want to add to the tourism coffers in Wiltshire. Why are some henges with the ditch on the outside and an inner bank, and some the other way round? What is the heel stone, which is only touched on once? What kind of person goes there now – especially those claiming kinship to those who might have used it before our time? This then is a suitable jumping-off point, but it's not the warmest, most enlightening, or most accurately inclusive spark.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
A History of England in 100 Places: From Stonehenge to the Gherkin by John Julius Norwich is a great reference book. This book's creators are certainly diverse - their latest other subject has been The Beatles, of all things. Clearly the Rolling Stones are next, to combine the two.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Secrets of Stonehenge by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom at Amazon.com.
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