Overview

Brian Fagan is arguably the best-known archaeologist of the past half century. His nine textbooks introduced hundreds of thousands of students to archaeology. His 50 popular books on everything from Stonehenge to human origins to carbon dating, brought archaeology to a broad swath of the public and sometimes landed on the NY Times bestseller list. He wrote columns for archaeology magazines and for general ones. He was a regular participant on TV shows and documentaries about the past. Telling Stories of the Past is Fagan's memoir of his life and work, completed only days before his death in July, 2025. In this book he charts his early career as a field archaeologist in Africa, his work as a museum officer, his entry into academic life, his writing and teaching at University of California Santa Barbara, and his long career as a consultant working with the National Geographic Society, the BBC and other media organizations. He won numerous awards for his public writing, teaching, and media work. He focuses the most attention on his work as a writer and a teacher, including describing his process for developing trade books and textbooks and his approach to attracting students to archaeology through innovative teaching methods. The guidance he provides here will be of great value to younger scholars and writers. Fagan also discusses his concern with climate change, resulting in a series of four recent books on the subject. A lifelong sailor, Brian shows how the discipline required for sailing impacted his ability to think and write as an archaeologist. His interaction with many of the legendary figures in archaeology are recounted as well. Written in Fagan's clear, popular style, this volume will provide direction for younger archaeologists who wish to engage with the general public and will be an illuminating guide to archaeology for non-specialist readers.

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9781800508057

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Reviews

Archaeology has never had as prolific and articulate an advocate as Brian Fagan. A highly trained and early practitioner of the discipline with both fieldwork and teaching credentials, schooled by some of the field's most notable working in Africa, Professor Fagan is surely one of our most accomplished by way of his numerous volumes reflecting robust titles from several of our most significant publication outlets. With over 40 volumes published by both prestigious university presses as well as several major trade publishers, his books have influenced both scholarly and informed lay audiences for well-over half a century. These highly synthetic and thematically diverse volumes have occupied untold numbers of classrooms, but they have also presented highly informed assessments of the past to professionals like myself. This memoir introduces how a well-lived professional life written with candor and in the context of life's less predictable twists and turns can and has impacted an entire field of thoughtful enquiry. Vernon L. Scarborough, Emeritus Distinguished University Research Professor and Charles Phelps Taft Professor University of Cincinnati--Anthropology

Author Information

Brian Fagan (1936-2025) was Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara and author of numerous popular history books including The Rape of the Nile, Climate Chaos, and A Little History of Archaeology

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