Dr. Mladen Tomorad’s monumental work Ancient History (richly illustrated with more than 1,400 photographs, drawings, and historical maps) is a unique scholarly monograph and the first comprehensive synthesis of prehistory and ancient history ever written and published in the Croatian language. Until now, the few available surveys of ancient history in Croatia were primarily translations of foreign syntheses. Prehistoric periods were studied almost exclusively by archaeologists, most often through monographic works focused on specific sites or topics, while the latest discoveries about ancient civilizations remained largely unfamiliar to the Croatian readership.

With this book, Mladen Tomorad sets new and modern standards for writing history. Far from being merely a successor to the earlier Croatian historians who published in this field (such as G. Manojlović, G. Novak, and P. Lisičar) Tomorad often surpasses them through his use of the most up-to-date historiographical methods and tools. In addition to presenting the history of the ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome, as well as the Croatian historical space from Greek colonization to the Late Antique period, the author explores many neglected historiographical themes, including the funerary customs of ancient peoples and detailed surveys of the history of archaeological and historical research on specific civilizations and sites.

Another invaluable contribution of this work is the first large-scale chronological overview of the major states of the ancient world ever published in Croatian. Ancient History analyzes the full complexity of the ancient world and traces within it the foundations of our modern civilization. It is both a compendium of existing knowledge on the ancient East, Greece, and Rome, and a guide for future research.