A veteran Egyptologist, Romer is the author of several books on the subject and presenter of the BBC documentary series Ancient Lives. This is the second of at least three volumes reassessing the "history" of "ancient Egypt," a concept he warns is an unreliable construct of 19th-century Eurocentric scholarship "largely based on translations of randomly surviving fragments of non-historical texts." As with the previous era, there is a paucity of solid evidence for this succeeding period, 2625–1640 BCE. Rather than producing a chronological historical narrative, Romer interprets the surviving monuments and material culture to trace the evolution of Egyptian society with a focus on the pharaonic court. Most striking is Romer's revisionist interpretation of the so-called First Intermediate Period (2200–2050 BCE) between the Old and Middle Kingdoms not as an age of chaos, but one of local authority and relative prosperity freed from the intensive resource demands of the defunct Memphite court. VERDICT This engaging recasting of ancient Egyptian civilization will provide an eye-opening text for both specialists and nonspecialists who will no doubt eagerly await the next installment of this iconoclastic study.—Edward K. Werner, formerly with St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., FL