Product Description
A history of the remote island in the Pacific Ocean that was discovered by Dutch sailors on Easter Sunday, 1722, is pieced together by archaeologists and considers the mysteries of an awe-inspiring place filled with giant statues. Original.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 3 reviews)

A Mystery and A Tragedy

Some mysteries may never be solved. Where did the Sumerian language come from? Who built the stones at Carnac and why? Who was buried in the Great Pyramid.

What do the mysterious inscriptions found at Easter Island say? And what were the stone statues for. Those are the mysteries of Easter Island.

The tragedy was what happened to the Easter Islanders. The westerners were not all evil, and the islanders themselves were not all good (e.g., they practiced human sacrifice) but the enslavement, kidnapping, rape etc. of the islanders by western maritime visitors is shocking even today. And the book tells that story too. So it is not just a book about the mysteries of Easter Island but about the almost complete destruction of it by Europeans and I am sad to say Americans.

And the two are related. If slavers had not taken hundreds of islanders to Chile to work as slaves, including the king and prince of the island, perhaps enough of the culture would have survived for western scholars to meet with those who could read the writings of the tablets. Perhaps we would really know why and how the islanders built their mysterious giants.

This book (published by Harry Abrams) is an English translation of one of a series of small, lavishly illustrated French historical guides. One really cannot go wrong with this series, whether in French or in English.

Everyone involved in this Easter Island book did a great job, and they produced a wonderful way for a beginner to learn about some of the strangest archeological sites on our planet.
January 09, 2003

Excellent

This book provides readers with many of the facts of Easter Island. I had heard about the stone statues, but had little knowledge of the history of the island. This book provided quite a bit of information on the history and covered all the theories of the statues and what they might mean and how they got there. An excellent book!
October 11, 2000

The best book to-date about Easter Island

This is a translation of "Des dieux regardent les etoiles -- Les derniers secrets de l'Ile de Paques" ("Gods gaze at the stars -- The last secrets of Easter Island"), Catherine and Michel Orliac's excellent little book about Easter Island. Easter Island and its mysteries -- from its huge statues to its strange hieroglyphics -- have been a magnet for crankery of all types, from the benign to the outrageous. How refreshing, then, it is to see such a delicious book, factual and balanced, with high-quality authentic illustrations on every page, every one of them well chosen and to the point. Almost everything you may ever want to know about Easter Island -- short of a tourist guide -- is there, with full sources and references. How so much information could have been packed in so few pages is a wonder. Complete, attractive and scholarly, this little book will appeal to all, even to the specialists. The illustrations alone are a never-ending source of wonder and delight. Highly recommended.
May 01, 1997

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