Equifixated

Barry Cunliffe, the Emeritus Oxford University Professor of European Archaeology, has form where the Scythians are concerned. His wonderfully full, commented bibliography (called Further Reading here) includes numerous examples of what we must now regard as his preparatory studies for this splendid volume under review. It is splendid in several ways, but not least in the number, range, and quality of its illustrations. (It takes six pages to list their sources, and the mere assemblage of them from a heterogeneous multiplicity of origins will have been a Herculean task.) Given all that, the book’s cover price is almost ridiculously low for what is also a beautifully produced hardback, so one can only assume that the publishers are anticipating or hoping for a large volume of sales.

Yet, though very clearly written and argued, this is not exactly a trade book for the general reader,...