Book Report: In Search of the Trojan War

1. by Michael Wood, 272 pgs. © 1985, Facts on File Publications

2. I got this book at the Cudahy Public Library.
3. This book is a non-fiction book.
4. This book covers the Trojan War and man's subsequent search for the famed city of Troy.
5. Because of the way this book is set up, it covers mor than just one time period, but its main focus is approximately 1300-1250 B.C.
6. This book covers events taking place on the northwestern coast of Asia Minor.
7. Some of the people who searched for Troy were Heinrich Schliemann, Frank Calvert, and Arthur Evans.
8. Events described in the book are Homer's description of the Trojan War and also Schliemann and others excavating the land in search of Troy.
9. No historical movements are traced.
10. No social life is pictured.
11. The only economic problems were that Frank Calvert did not have the kind of money necessary to do as thorough an excavation at the site he believed to be the Troy described by Homer.
12. No political theories are discussed.
13. The Trojan War is described from Homer's Iliad.
14. This book contributed much to my understanding of history; until reading this book I had simply accepted the story of the Trojan War. But after reading this story, a number of questions came up to me, such as: Did Homer really know what he was singing about? and What caused this war, and what really happened there? In essense, this book helped me to realize that I should not always just accept what I am told to be true but to examine all the sources and make a decision for myself.

15. This book starts out by telling parts of Homer's story of the city of Troy and what happened there. It goes on to tell how many men throughout history, including Cyriac of Ancona, Mehmet II, and even Alexander the Great, searched for the famous city.It then tells how Frank Calvert is claimed to be the discoverer of Troy, and how he did excavations there, finding a temple dedicated to Athena, and coming within yards of a bastilion believed to be part of the city which gained the city its fame (there were at least 9 different Troys built upon that place, one on top of each other; the one believed to be the "recipient" of the war was Troy VI). The story then tells how Heinrich Schliemann searched for Troy. He owes his fame to Frank Calvert, because until he heard of Calvert's excavations he had been digging in a different area, coming up with nothing. He would later deny having been inspired by Calvert. Schliemann came to unearth many artifacts although they seemed to be too ancient to fit Homer's description of the city. It turned out that this was because of where he was digging; parts of the city had been destroyed long ago when another city was being built there.
    The book then goes on to explore the possible reasons for the fall of Troy, ranging from invasions from the Myceneans to the legendary 'Sea Peoples' to an earthquake. Reviewing all the possible reasons, the author lets the reader choose which one they think best fits the facts, and there ends the book.
16. After reading this book I found that I didn't like it because it was too hard to understand. It wasn't the terms used or the events described so much as the way it was written that was hard to understand. Because of this, I would probably not recommend this to a friend, unless that friend was really interested in finding the truth about Troy and the Trojan War.