Two Men in a Trench: Battlefield Archaeology - The Key to Unlocking the Past Book

Two Men in a Trench is the richly illustrated companion to the sprightly BBC television history programme of the same name. Despite announcing in their introduction that battlefield archaeology is "too exciting for words" Tony Pollard and Neil Oliver--the soi-disant Jamie Olivers of archaeology--provide an articulate and engaging account of their tour of six major British battlefield sites. Closely following the formula (and transcripts) of the series, each chapter begins with an impressively succinct historical outline of the battle in question. The duo then present a detailed investigation of the site, revealing along the way just what a tricky but exciting old business archaeology can be. For example, in Barnet, the scene of a bloody Yorkist victory in 1471, the duo finds that a modern golf course has altered the landscape so dramatically that it is virtually impossible to find any traces of the battle. The hunt for a medieval grave-pit in Shrewsbury also ends in disappointment. However, at Flodden their excavations unearth some quite compelling new material to explain how the English vanquished the Scottish king James IV in 1513. While hardly in the same league as Richard Holmes or Simon Schama, Pollard and Oliver clearly know their stuff and their zest for the grubby, hands-on graft of archaeology is admirably communicated here. --Travis ElboroughRead More