The Maya

The Lost Worlds and Mysterious Civilizations series could easily have played for the drama or the mystery. Instead, it delivers solid overviews about some of the most speculated-upon places in history. The Maya brings into focus an advanced civilization that mysteriously disappeared. Readers will learn much about the archaeology, which continues to uncover secrets, and the speculation that continues about the Mayans' fate. The series as a whole neatly links its topics with modern culture and explains why these places still grab the imagination. Historical engravings, paintings, and photos make up the illustrations, while the back matter is ample.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist

In 1839, American explorer and diplomat John Lloyd Stephens entered the jungles of southern Mexico where he saw the great ruins of abandoned cities filled with pyramids, palaces, and carved stones. Stephens had rediscovered the world of the ancient Maya, a civilization that had flourished within the foreboding jungles of Mesoamerica. This civilization built towering buildings, domesticated maize, studied the heavens to understand the regular movements of celestial bodies, and developed their own system of mathematics, but this advanced society mysterious declined nearly a thousand years before Stephens arrived. Customs, religious beliefs, human sacrifices, and other cultural traits are all explored in The Maya, a new title about the most advanced of the pre-Columbian American civilizations. Excerpted from The Maya by Shane Mountjoy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.