Like plenty of my friends and acquaintances, I dabble in history, both by reading and perusing the YouTubes for credible historians, archeologists, and similar scholars. Therefore, Raven DaSilva's channel, "Dig It with Raven" comes up periodically in my feed as a recommendation. She has good content, delivered in an entertaining, forthright manner. So one of those recommendations was her announcement of publication of her first book for popular audiences, "The Other Ancient Civilisations: Decoding Archaeology’s Less Celebrated Cultures."
The premise of the book is to provide a survey of ancient civilizations that are either lesser known or otherwise not as widely taught as the usual suspects (e.g. Greece, Rome, Egypt, Babylon, Persia). The various civilizations are spread across the six inhabited continents. I was familiar with about a half dozen of the selected societies from other readings, classes, and YouTube rabbit holes.
The format of each chapter begins with a brief fictional vignette of a "day in the life" of an inhabitant of the civilization, then a deeper dive into the known history, timeframe, significance and artifacts. MAny of the selected civilizations were either influential on or assimilated into later, better-known cultures, so their existence echoes on within those nations. I did learn a good amount from the chapters, particularly of a few North and South American and African civilizations that I had little or no knowledge of.
This is a very accessible read, and I'd even consider the writing level suitable for "young adult" readers, especially ones who show an interest in history. I grouse that history is poorly taught, and not made interesting or relevant. I think this is one of oversights of the educational system. My own personal interests in history were spurred by parents who stopped at every historical marker on family road trips, museum visits, and personal reading.
Anyway, DaSilva does a serviceable job of presenting the information in a lively, concise manner. I think this may be an offshoot of how she presents on her YouTube channel, so language is somewhat conversational and direct. Likewise, the chapters are modest in length (twelve to fifteen pages). This isn't a collection of long dissertations on each civilization, but a survey, and perhaps a jumping-off point for further research by a curious reader.
I'm happy that I picked up the book. The Other Half also read it and enjoyed the chapters, and we were able to share some impressions of what we learned. As I mentioned before, it is reasonably well written, and in accessible language that will suit a wide variety of readers. And it shines some light across time and continents to a handful of peoples that may not be well known, but deserve their own bit of attention.
Regarding my personal YouTube habits, here are a few channels I peruse, in no particular order:
HistoryMarche: Important (and lesser known) battles of history - never tire of little red and blue squares murdering one another.
Esoterica: Arcana, history, and religion. Discovered by an algorithm suggestion on the Satanic Panic. Great Black Metal and alchemy-themed merch.
Crecganford: Ancient mythology and religious history. Best enjoyed with a cup of tea.
Dan Davis History: Prehistory and a lot of European Bronze Age content.
The Prehistory Guys: Summaries of archeological research. Charming British chaps.
Kings and Generals: More battle reconstructions, from ancient to modern.
History with Kayleigh: Archeology and human evolution.
Miniminuteman: Prehistory, archeology, and debunking rants. Passionately against pseudoscience and pseudoarcheology. The source of my awesome 'vampire burial' sweatshirt.
Stephan Milo: Prehistory, archeology, and human evolution. Guy from Sheffield transplanted to the PNW.
OK, that's more than a few - anyway, enjoy.
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