I was really looking forward to this book having waited over 6 months to get as it had had a few good reviews that I had seen and I hoped it would increase my knowledge of Ramesses who is the biblical villain of the hebrews.
If the physical weight of the paper back version, that I got, is anything to go by then I really could not have held the hardback version, because this was far too heavy and made reading hard, indeed I could only hold it for a few moments before having to put it down which meant it took me longer than I would take to read a book of this type. Half of this weight I estimate was due to copious notes at the end of each chapter, which I never read and thought that it was an exercise of the author to prove that they had done their research!
I did find that the writer to my mind was trying too hard to prove that they knew their stuff as the saying goes and this was again another reason why it took me so long to read through it. The author often meanders into things, before returning back from the end of the cul-de-sac to the interesting bit. They did this so often that I found myself not really reading things and skipping forward to the next section or chapter.
For all the negatives in the book, there are perhaps more positives than those and this certainly one of the best books that I have read about Ramesses. With some skill the author manages to avoid the traps that many others have fallen into in the past and has managed to get closer to Ramesses the person rather than the image. He let's Ramesses have his own voice, no matter how boastful that would seem to some by using the information both on the temples and monuments, but also in the various letters that Ramesses sent. By setting the back ground for these and then letting them speak you do gain the understanding that far from egotistical (although Ramesses could be that) Ramesses was only doing what others had done in the past and because he lived longer than most others had done there was more of it everywhere. Another understanding you get is that no ruler of that period could show any sign of weakness to another and there was a lot of oneupmanship going on between them. I also thought reading through these that Ramesses had a great sense of humour.
There are many things in the book that keep you interested and some that I wasn't fully aware of and some that I wished he'd gone into more depth about.
My over all conclusion to this book, is that it worthwhile getting and it is a welcome addition to my library. Did I learn anything new? I am not so sure about that, then I have a lot of books including Pharaoh Triumphant, The Life and Times of Ramesses 11 by K.A. Kitchen which I love and is really a must have book. As this book is now 41 years old and our knowledge has more than doubled since then Professor Brand has done a very good job in updating things and while not quite the successor to the previous book, certainly one that sits comfortably beside it.
Professor Brand states in his book that Ramesses 11 divides opinions and I think that this book might be the same with many who read it. Having thought about it I would say I am more in favour than otherwise, just next time Professor don't try too hard.
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