Julian Cope's The Modern Antiquarian is two books really, the first a series of highly enjoyable essays that may sometimes be rather academically suspect. The bulk of the book is a geographically arranged gazetteer of about 300 sites around Britain. Each includes an essay, directions to the site, contemporaneous (often very funny) jottings and a rich selection of photographs; some handsome, others wilfully amateurish (and all the more charming for it).

There are some very important errors here and there. Cross-referencing between this book and Aubrey Burl's Guide (and preferably an Ordnance Survey map) before planning any trips, is advised. A particular strength of the book is that whereas Burl's Guide only deals with stone circles, Cope's includes many other megalithic monuments, hill forts, barrows and just plain odd places. A highly entertaining documentary film of the same name was made for the BBC a few years back. The website, which includes many hundreds of site reports from amateurs, is very worth visiting.

References

• Burl, Aubrey. A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995 (ISBN 0300063318)
• Cope, Julian. The Modern Antiquarian. London: Thorsons, 1998.(ISBN 0722535996 )