An illustrated, evocative narrative of the nature and history of Stonehenge that places the enigmatic stone megaliths in a wider cultural context.Perched on the chalk uplands of Salisbury Plain, the megaliths of Stonehenge offer one of the most recognizable outlines of any ancient structure. Its purpose-place of worship, sacrificial arena, giant calendar-is unknown, but its story is one of the most extraordinary of any of the world's prehistoric monuments. Constructed in several phases over a period of some 1500 years, beginning in 3000 BC, Stonehenge's key elements are its "bluestones, " transported from West Wales by unexplained means, and its sarsen stones quarried from the nearby Marlborough Downs. Francis Pryor delivers a rigorous account of the nature and history of Stonehenge, but also places the enigmatic monument in a wider cultural context, bringing acute insight into how antiquarians, scholars, writers, artists-and even neopagans-have interpreted the mystery over the centuries.