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Title: Sometimes a tough slog, but worth it
Review: Redford has probably read every ancient inscription and has knowledge of every archiological site in Egypt-Middle east - as well as knowledge of every language written then. For the serious scholar of the region, book a must, both for its detail and his debunking of past popular "reasoning" about events in the area. For the casual reader, at times irritatingly challenging - he uses proper and place names often with no previous reference and maps are very sparse, and in tiny print. However, the overall sweep of history he presents is fascinating, but the sidebars - often for pages - into minutae a bit hairpulling - but, then again, one can skip these sections.
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