Myths of the Archaic State: Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations , by Norman Yoffee. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-521-81837-0 hardback \\pounds45 & US$75; ISBN 0-521-52156-4 paperback \\pounds19.99 & US$34.99, 291 pp.
Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq, by Magnus T. Bernhardsson, 2005. Austin (TX): University of Texas Press; ISBN 0-292-70947-1 hardback \\pounds28.95 & US$34.20; xiii+327 pp., 18 figs.