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Ancient Iraq. By GEORGES ROUX. Third edition. London: PENGUIN BOOKS, 1992. Pp. xxii + 547; plates. L9.99, CDN$16.99, $13 (paper).
This new edition of a work that first appeared in 1964 is one of the relatively few attempts to encapsulate the history of ancient Mesopotamia in a single volume. Some changes from earlier editions worthy of note are: easier-to-read larger format, with about one line per paper less than the previous editions; illustrations inserted at appropriate points throughout the text and a few changed plates; and extensive revision of the treatment of the "prehistoric" evidence and of the Old Babylonian and Mari material. Signs of revision are evident throughout, but in many places, both by the wording of the text and by the works cited, it is clear that no substantive revision beyond the second (or even the first) edition has been made. Its engaging and lively style makes this book attractive, but, as a work of history, it has some serious problems.
Conceptually, it is a bit of a muddle. This is due, in part, to the fact that it originated as a series of popular articles written by the author while in Basra during the 1950s and published in Iraq Petroleum....