The Earliest Cities

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6 Beautiful color illustrations high light this discussion of ancient civilizations that focuses on the development of cities. Social customs are woven into chapter discussions of various towns such as the ``Death Pit'' in Ur and warfare in Mesopotamia. While the scope of the book is quite broad, the actual chapters are brief, none more than a full page con sisting of three or four paragraphs. The format is similar to an illustrated dictionary of ancient civilization, and it allows quick access due to a clear table of con tents and complete index. The book is an exceptional find for students doing reports on this topic. The information is not as abundant as in Ancient Civilizations (Watts, 1983), but the colorful illustrations are more detailed. Kristine Johnson, Parcells Middle School, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.