Pretty good book with just a few dubious word choices. Illustrations are (1) actually useful maps, (2) background-less photos of ancient artifacts meant to serve as illustrations of the text (3) photos with background of contemporary scenes, e.g., abandoned ruins, non-extinct wildlife, current inhabitants. The ancient artifact choices are really rather good. The quality of the photos and of the paper is excellent. 64 pages, 9 chapters of varying length, and a one-page timeline at the end. ( )