The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox

Description: The Riddle of the Labyrinth by Margalit Fox In the tradition of Simon Winchester and Dava Sobel, The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code tells one of the most intriguing stories in the history of language, masterfully blending history, linguistics, and cryptology with an elegantly wrought narrative. When famed archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed the ruins of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greeces Classical Age, he discovered a cache of ancient tablets, Europes earliest written records. For half a century, the meaning of the inscriptions, and even the language in which they were written, would remain a mystery. Award-winning New York Times journalist Margalit Foxs riveting real-life intellectual detective story travels from the Bronze Age Aegean--the era of Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Helen--to the turn of the 20th century and the work of charismatic English archeologist Arthur Evans, to the colorful personal stories of the decipherers. These include Michael Ventris, the brilliant amateur who deciphered the script but met with a sudden, mysterious death that may have been a direct consequence of the deipherment; and Alice Kober, the unsung heroine of the story whose painstaking work allowed Ventris to crack the code. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Back Cover The Riddle of the Labyrinth is the true story of the quest to solve one of the most mesmerizing linguistic riddles in history and of the three brilliant, obsessed, and ultimately doomed investigators whose combined work would eventually crack the code. An award-winning journalist trained as a linguist, Margalit Fox not only takes readers step-by-step through the forensic process involved in cracking an ancient secret code, she restores one of the primary investigators, Alice Kober, to her rightful place in what is one of the most remarkable intellectual detective stories of all time. Author Biography An award-winning journalist trained as a linguist, Margalit Fox is a senior writer at the New York Times. She holds bachelors and masters degrees in linguistics from Stony Brook University and a masters degree in journalism from Columbia Univer-sity. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, the writer and critic George Robinson. Review "Fox is a talented storyteller, and she creates an atmosphere of almost nail-biting suspense. . . . This one deserves shelf space along such classics of the genre as Simon Singhs The Code Book." -- Booklist (starred review)"A fascinating yarn centered around an unlikely heroine. . . . Foxs deft explanations of the script-solving process allow readers to share in the mental detective work of cracking the lost language." -- Publishers Weekly"Fox recreates the emergence of one of historys most vexing puzzles--and then puts readers alongside the remarkable figures who, brilliantly, obsessively, and even tragically, devoted their lives to solving it. Forget the Da Vinci Code. This is the real thing." -- Toby Lester, author of Da Vincis Ghost"Margalit Fox describes the decipherment of Linear B in such lucid detail that any reader can follow the steps and participate in the thrill of discovery." -- Stephen Mitchell, translator of Gilgamesh and the Iliad"Foxs achievement here is to make this fascinating tale accessible to a broader audience." -- Washington Post"... a nail-biting intellectual and cultural adventure." -- The Times UK"Deft, sharply written ... Foxs account runs with the pace and tension of a detective story - and has much to say about language and writing systems along the way." -- The Guardian UK"[Fox] ... has cracked it, fashioning an intellectual puzzle into an engrossing detective story of driven personalities, hidden clues, perseverance and intuition. In the process, she has uncovered a remarkable woman who had been buried by history." -- Sunday Times UK"As with any good detective story, theres a driving narrative behind the puzzle, peopled by solitary sleuths." -- The Guardian US Review Quote "Margalit Fox describes the decipherment of Linear B in such lucid detail that any reader can follow the steps and participate in the thrill of discovery." Details ISBN0062228862 Author Margalit Fox Short Title RIDDLE OF THE LABYRINTH Language English ISBN-10 0062228862 ISBN-13 9780062228864 Media Book Format Paperback Illustrations Yes Pages 384 Year 2014 Publication Date 2014-04-15 Subtitle The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code DEWEY 487.1 Audience General UK Release Date 2014-04-15 Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc Imprint Collins Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States US Release Date 2014-04-15 Imprint US Ecco Publisher US HarperCollins We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:78882735;

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