Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Book Review: In the Valley of the Kings

Washington News (Review by John M. Taylor)

Like many book reviews this is much more of a summary of the contents of the book than a commentary on the book's contents and quality.

In the Valley of the Kings: Howard Carter and the mystery of King Tutankhamun's tomb.
By Daniel Meyerson
Ballantine Books

Mariners sail wine-dark seas in search of new continents. Mountaineers climb forbidding heights because "they are there." But what prompts archaeologists to spend their lives digging in some of the world's least inviting areas, where failure and despair are far more prevalent than fortune and glory?

The answer is a complex one, and every contradiction was to be found in the career of Howard Carter, who gained fame when he discovered the fabulous tomb of Egypt's King Tut. Carter -- a nervous, driven workaholic -- is the subject of "In the Valley of the Kings," a short, insightful biography by Columbia University historian Daniel Meyerson. . . .

See the above page for the full story.

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