Description

Embark on a captivating exploration into the rise and fall of the rich and colourful Maya civilisation with Blue Peter Award winning author David Long.

Largely forgotten for centuries, the ancient Maya were incredible. Their cities across Central and South America featured astonishing pyramids and palaces, while they were also successful farmers and highly creative artists. The Maya were the first people in the Americas to learn how to read and write, and they invented things like rubber, chocolate and chewing gum. They had a deep understanding of astronomy, mathematics and timekeeping, though they also had some horrible, bloodthirsty traditions such as making human sacrifices. Find out what life as an Ancient Maya was actually like while also investigating why this mysterious civilisation was close to dying out when the region was conquered by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century.

Publisher Review

“Accompanying the author’s text, which is concise and accessible but packed with rich vocabulary, once again are the clear diagrams and illustrations of Stefano Tambellini which add enormously to the reader’s sense of scale of the buildings and settlements … a really super title to include on any class bookshelf where the Maya are being explored.” – Mrs Sydney’s Famous World’s Smallest Library, blog

“David Long excels at telling intriguing stories from the past” – The Independent on David Long