Ball's work highlights the breadth of intellectual and cultural traditions that were available to writers of his generation.
Warwick Ball is an archaeologist who has carried out excavations, architectural studies, and monumental restoration in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, and Ethiopia. His previous books include Syria: An Architectural and Historical Guide, The Monuments of Afghanistan, Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan, The Archaeology of Afghanistan, The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, Ideas, and Rome
in the East: The Transformation of an Empire, winner of the James Henry Breasted History Prize.