Eric Peet (1882–1934) is better known as an Egyptologist, but this, his 1909 first published work, remained the standard reference on its subject for many years. Gaining a Craven Scholarship from Oxford, he spent three years exploring Italian and Maltese sites, but later found work on Egyptian excavations (his co-authored publication on The Cemeteries of Abydos is also reissued in this series). This book is organised chronologically from the palaeolithic period to the Bronze Age, and, as Peet points out in his preface, pulls together not only his own research but the earlier work of Italian archaeologists, mostly published in scattered form in journals. From the finds in early cave shelters to the sophisticated metal and ceramic wares found in Bronze Age settlements and burials, this highly illustrated work demonstrates the development of prehistoric society in a region generally much better known for the later achievements of the Romans.