In 1922, the British archaeologist Henry Carter opened King
Tutankhamun’s tomb, illuminating the glories of an ancient
civilization. And while the world celebrated the extraordinary
revelation that gave Carter international renown and an indelible
place in history, by the time of his death, the discovery had
nearly destroyed him. Now, in a stunning feat of narrative
nonfiction, Daniel Meyerson has written a thrilling and evocative
account of this remarkable man and his times.
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.
關於作者：
Daniel Meyerson, an Ellis Fellow at Columbia University, has
taught writing at Columbia, New York University, and Bennington
College. He is the author of The Linguist and the Emperor:
Napoleon and Champollion’s Quest to Decipher the Rosetta Stone
and Blood and Splendor: The Lives of Five Tyrants, from Nero to
Saddam Hussein. He lives in New York City.
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