Minoan Crete: An Introduction. L. VANCE WATROUS,. 2021. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. xv + 231 pp. $105.00 (hardcover), ISBN 978-1-10842-450-9. $34.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-10844-049-3 .

Minoan Crete: An Introduction. L. VANCE WATROUS. 2021. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. xv + 231 pp. $105.00 (hardcover), ISBN 978-1-10842-450-9. $34.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-10844-049-3.

Dedicated to the people of Crete, this compact book is in many ways a summary of L. Vance Watrous's years of dedication to the island and its archaeology. He uses his vast knowledge of Crete to introduce Minoan culture to students and lay readers. The book is divided into nine chronologically organized chapters, with the insertion of thematic chapters on trade, religion, and art. In its general aims and format, it falls in the decades-long tradition of similar introductions to Minoan Crete, from John Pendlebury's The Archaeology of Crete (1939) to Stylianos Alexiou's Minoan Civilization (1969) and James Walter Graham's Minoan Crete (1974), to name a few. Watrous focuses explicitly on “Crete in its Eastern Mediterranean context” (p. 2). His intent is not simply to present current knowledge of Minoan Crete but to show how Minoan culture abounded with creative readaptations of Near Eastern or Egyptian ideas.

It is this intent—to demonstrate the importance of Crete's broader context to its cultural achievements—that extends this book's appeal to more advanced readers of archaeology. The informed reader will recognize that the central issue...