Stepping-Stones: A Journey through the Ice Age Caves of the Dordogne

What numbskull decided to leave out the color plates for the e-book edition? A book on this topic demands profuse illustration.Was it the same numbskull who formatted only some of the links to work? This is careless and sloppy, and limits the usefulness and convenience of an e-book.It was probably the same fool who built the index with no page numbers or locations.Is this really a professional book publisher?Though this book is not only informative but also illuminating, the exclusion of relevant illustrations make it a ripoff.The author's writing style is often irritating, with too many distracting incomplete sentences and an overabundance of gushing exclamations.

Thus book is advertised as “The next best thing to actually seeing the prehistoric cave art of southern Franc[e] . . ." but the 8 color prints have been stripped from the Kindle edition.

Amazon should fix the Kindle version to include the color plates. Rating is for the book, not the Kindle version.

I have been lucky enough to visit the caves discussed in this book, and it was eye-opening to read the artistic and historical evidence here that was in so much more detail than the guide could provide on the hour tour. And only 80 people a day can hope to hear and see inside the cave .The author has a unique perspective on these sites, the age of their art, why they crawled into these dark, small passages, and drew pictures that come as alive as animation in flickering LED light. The latest debates about our human predecessors and their skills are discussed in full (and you can skip the scholarship) but what remains is the story of how important exploring, searching, imagining, and mapping our environment began long before we became “civiized.”

I bought this book as a companion to a recent (September 2013) visit to the Dordogne region. I knew about "cave art" but I did not know much more than the very basics. After reading this book I knew a whole lot more. In addition to describing the major caves in Les Eysies/Vezere Valley and the prehistorical/cultural context for the cave art, this book helped me appreciate the complexity of expression and "humanity" of the art in a quite modern sense. On a practical level, the book helped me plan a very nice two-day itinerary in Les Eysies/Vezere Valley. A big plus, when we toured the Font-de-Gaume cave our guide spoke no English - and I speak nearly no French - but since I had just re-read that chapter I was actually able to follow the guide's descriptions well enough.For what it's worth, this book is one of the few English language books that is on sale in *all* of the museum shops in the region.And, for anyone thinking of visiting the region it is absolutely awesome to stand in places with 50,000 years or more of human history under foot.

The author does an excellent job of conveying a sense of several particular caves in France, their art and the fascination it can hold. All without creating fiction. With this as an introduction, one will have a real framework in which to incorporate more narrow and fact-list types of work on the subject.Even more significantly, Desdemaines-Hugon is insightful and profound without projecting personal or cultural interpretations on the imagery or it's location (inside caves). Throughout the book, while questions and reflections flow, interpretations are notably absent. She consistently demonstrates a method of experiencing the place and the art with unassuming openess. Then in the last 3 pages she makes a concise and well supported statement, concluding, "What moves us today, whether for aesthetic or mystical reasons also touched these Paleolithic artists...Stylistic conventions, techniques, cultural motivations may vary over time, but . . . Beauty is spiritual." Some may disagree with that statement on the surface, but keep in mind I jumped from the middle to the end of 3 important pages. I recommend reading this book just for the broader implications of that idea and its fleshed out argument, as well as to enable one to avoid approaching Paleolithic art without a conceptual box in hand, looking for pieces that fit.

This must be a very difficult subject to write a book about because after several tries I haven't found one yet that hasn't been, as another reviewer said, overwhelmingly "dry or New Age". Having said that I think this is the best yet for someone like me who doesn't have an academic background in the field. It is certainly well written and eminently readable for the layman as an overview of the subject, but In the end it is disappointing.The real question the reader wants answered is "why" and, apparently so far, that answer is simply unknown. But that doesn't stop other authors from profoundly speculating.Thankfully this book does not focus on that type of guessing game. Ms. Desdemaines-Hugon does a very good job of sticking to what it is and not why it is.The problem however, it seems to me, based on what is actually known this is a subject for a book of illustrations, not page after page after page of text. If you haven't seen at least a copy the painting a glowing description of the "Mona Lisa", no matter how accurate, is a rather useless and frustrating experience. I found myself simultaneously ( and for the most part unsuccessfully ) searching other sources for some visual confirmation of the authors rapturous opinions.Bottom line, good but not great.

This is a beautiful book and I wish I could give it 5 stars but the Kindle version appears to be missing some images which is unfortunate. The writing is so eloquent and the attention to detail of the author is palpable. You feel like you're standing next to her in the caves as she describes the incredible artwork. If you're at all interested in prehistoric art then this is a must-read.

I didn't start reading this until the return window had closed. This is a book about cave art, and none of the color figures are included in the kindle version, so you don't get to see any of it! I'm very sorry I didn't notice this until it was too late. It makes the book more or less pointless.

I haven't had the opportunity to read much of this book but as I have looked at various maps and images I have been very pleased. I had worried that as an e-book I would only get the text so I am pleased that this isn't so.

I am travelling to see the cave paintings and this book will be coming with me. A great introduction to the caves and I think will help my understanding of the art in the caves.