Mystery of the Maya: The Golden Age of the Classic Maya

Daniel M. Kolos is president of Benben Books, a company publishing
scholarly works.

Nancy Ruddell takes the potentially exciting drama of Mayan history and
attaches it to an Imax® film without telling either the students (who
are the main target audience) or the teachers (whose workbook is well
planned and superbly illustrated) where to find the film.

Every effort has been made to make the book, and the teacher’s guide,
palatable for short attention spans. The chapters are short, the
coverage of topics is seldom longer than two or three paragraphs, and
each page contains at least one illustration. Appendices describe the
gods for the students, give a synopsis of the Imax® film, and provide a
glossary for the teachers, who also receive a useful bibliography.

The text of both versions of the Mystery of the Maya does not live up
to the superior production. The emphasis is on the dry and impersonal,
on facts rather than on speculation as to the “why” of events. The
high-tech presentation of this package does not compensate for its
failure to ignite curiosity.