Masterpieces contains some lovely images of ancient jewellery. Some pieces are drawn from private collections so aren't usually available for study. The photographs in are detailed and highlight the glorious items featured in this book, from statues and stands, to earrings and pins.
The book is divided into sections concerning Mesopotamia, The Levant, Persia, Byzantium and Islam. Each section is prefaced with an interview of a leading archeologist in this specialty. The questions asked of the archeologists are very general such as "Tell us about the gods, the priests and the temples". I feel there isn't enough specific information provided in the text for this book to be labeled as a reference book. The text is formatted with x3 spacing, making it difficult to read and there is, at maximum, three objects per page and a lot of white space. For a book of 144 pages it contains surprisingly little information.
I consider Masterpieces more of a coffee table book than a resource.
3/5
