This is a book for anyone interested in time and how the times of past events are worked out. Each chapter stands alone, so it can be dipped into or read through in order, as you wish. It is very readable - this might leave some wanting more detail, but it is a great way to get an overview of different aspects of measuring time and dating the past.

The book starts by describing how calendars come to be, and looks at the various measured taken to try to keep calendars in step with the seasons, then goes on to look at the legend of Arthur (Science? I hear you ask...). This looks at how written accounts still have to be treated with great caution when using them to date events.

It goes on to look at dating the Turin Shroud (with a primer in radiocarbon dating), dating the pyramids using alignments of stars, various ways of dating the destruction of Santorini, tree ring dating, and dating ice ages. It finished up by looking at dating fossils, working out the timing (and causes) of mass extinctions, and tracing human evolution (with a final swipe at creationism to finish with)