The mystique of the pre-Columbian Maya has prompted much speculation about the nature of this sophisticated people. With the breaking of their elaborate hieroglyphic code, Schele and Freidel, Mayan scholars of note, provide a new look at the Maya. Structured on sound scholarly principles, their presentation abounds in notes, references, indexes, and chronologies with profuse line-drawings of temple and other inscriptions. They devote a chapter to each of the major Mayan city-states. What makes this volume more accessible and of greater impact than the average scholarly study are the frequent vignettes of great events, kingly acts, etc., told dramatically, in a fictive but plausible style that allows the ancient Maya at last to speak for themselves. Recommended for informed laypersons, as well as specialist and young adult readers.
- ISBN10 0688112048
- ISBN13 9780688112042
- Publish Date 14 October 1993 (first published 1 September 1990)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
- Imprint William Morrow Paperbacks
- Format Paperback
- Pages 552
- Language English