Leonard Cottrell (1913–1974)

A cultured look through a modern eye at some of the grandest wonders of the ancient world, Leonard Cottrell's 1960 book Wonders of Antiquity benefits from the more refined, essayistic style of his generation. A more recent book discussing the Seven Wonders of the World couldn't fail to be old-hat, gimmicky or written shallowly, but Cottrell takes a hoary old topic and restores that magic and mystery – that wonder – to it.

After discussing the Seven Wonders, Cottrell surprises us further by discussing, with even more élan, buildings and monuments that he believes deserve to be discussed alongside the official 'Seven'. These are not modern buildings (the youngest discussed is from the Middle Ages) and yet the freshness with which the author discusses them is engaging. The Egyptian wonders have an obvious appeal, but perhaps Cottrell's best writing comes in the chapter on Krak des Chevaliers, the Crusader castle. While impressive, this isn't the most obvious candidate for a 'wonder', an evocative, magical place, but in Cottrell's hands we see it as such. Ultimately, Wonders of Antiquity is a fascinating topic delivered by a writer of some calibre, and that's all that's needed to make any title worth reading.… (altro)