false 465300 0 0 909192 0345448723 9780345448729 9 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179365078m/909192.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/909192.The_Linguist_and_the_Emperor_Napoleon_and_Champollion_s_Quest_to_Decipher_the_Rosetta_Stone 3.16 31
In this sweeping narrative, the haunting story of the Rosetta stone–its discovery in a doomed battle, the plot to secure it, the agonizing race to unlock its secrets, and the pain it seemed to inflict on all who touched it–reads like the most engrossing fiction. As counterpoint to the stories of the brilliant linguist and the visionary emperor, Meyerson interweaves the ancient tales of love, intrigue, brutal death, and miraculous rebirth that were hidden for centuries on the walls of Egyptian tombs–stories that Champollion finally made accessible to the world.]]> 465300 3.31 59 23 6323046 034547693X 9780345476937 10 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6323046.In_the_Valley_of_the_Kings_Howard_Carter_and_the_Mystery_of_King_Tutankhamun_s_Tomb 3.32 22
Carter began his career inauspiciously. At the age of seventeen–unknown, untrained, untried–he was hired as a copyist of tomb art by the brash, brilliant, and boldly unkempt father of modern archaeology, W. F. Petrie. Carter struck out on his own a few years later, sensing that something amazing lay buried beneath his feet, waiting for him to uncover it.

But others had the same idea: The ancient cities of Egypt were crawling with European adventurers and their wealthy sponsors, each hoping to outdo the others with glittering discoveries–even as growing nationalist resentment against foreigners plundering the country’s most treasured antiquities simmered dangerously in the background.

Not until Carter met up with the risk-taking, adventure-loving occultist Lord Carnarvon did his fortunes change. There were stark differences in personality and temperament between the cantankerous Carter and his gregarious patron, but together they faced down endless ridicule from the most respected explorers of the day. Seven dusty and dispiriting years after their first meeting, their dream came to astonishing life.

But there would be a price to pay for this partnership, their discovery, and the glory and fame it brought both men–and the chain of events that transpired in the wake of their success remains fascinating and shocking to this day.

An enthralling story told with unprecedented verve, In the Valley of the Kings is a tale of mania and greed, of fame and lost fortune, of history and its damnations. As he did in The Linguist and the Emperor, Daniel Meyerson puts his exciting storytelling powers on full display, revealing an almost forgotten time when past and present came crashing together with the power to change–or curse–men’s lives.]]> 465300 3.31 59 23 7215565 0345472187 9780345472182 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7215565-linguist-and-the-emperor 0.0 0 465300 3.31 59 23 7156005 0345515277 9780345515278 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7156005-in-the-valley-of-the-kings 0.0 0 465300 3.31 59 23