I had high hopes for this book, as the subject is a very interesting one. Alas, Ms Hawkes writing style would surely be a boon to insomniacs if it could be condensed and put into a bottle. And quite aside from its potent lethean side effects, it is at times immensely irritating, as in "and now I am going to talk about the next thing I intend to talk about..." Aaargh. And then there is the frustrating defect of much writing from those of academia, the "just-who-in-the-hell-am-I-writing-for?" neurosis: the book seems aimed at a general lay audience, yet esoteric terms and proper nouns are tossed off like so many sparkles on a birthday cake, words familiar only to those with a graduate education in the subject. It reminds me of an old Monty Python skit, about the RAF pilots trying to make sense of their banter.But, the book is nicely illustrated. Whoopie.