From the development of monumental architecture around 3,000 BC to the fabulous edifices that rose up from the desert plains of Giza, Pyramids chronicles how and why Egypt's pharaohs built on so grand a scale. Joyce Tyldesley, writer, lecturer and broadcaster on Ancient Egypt, cuts away modern myth and prejudice to reveal the truth behind the conception, design and constructiion of these astonishing structures. By tracing Egypt's pyramid-building society back to its roots, Tyldesley not only shows how and why the Egyptians built pyramids, but how the pyramids helped to build Egypt itself.