Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, & Einstein's Brain

The Remarkable Stories Behind the Great Objects and Artifacts of History, From Antiquity to the Modern Era

Description

Every artifact is a story.

Harvey Rachlin gathers more than fifty of history's most storied physical objects into a single volume and tells the story behind each one. The mounted hide of Stonewall Jackson's battle horse. The Black Obelisk. The Rosetta Stone. George Washington's false teeth. Vice Admiral Lord Nelson's uniform coat. The skeleton of the Elephant Man. The bed on which Lincoln died.

For each artifact, Rachlin traces how it came to be, how it survived, and where it sits today. The book moves across centuries and continents, weaving together seemingly disparate histories into a sustained meditation on human endeavor and what we choose to preserve.

Readers of narrative history, museum and artifact studies, biography, archaeology, material culture, and nonfiction that follows objects across time will find a deep, browsable companion in Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, and Einstein's Brain.

About the author(s)

Harvey Rachlin is the award-winning author of thirteen books. He has written for The New York Times and numerous other publications.

Reviews

"Clear and straightforward . . . From the most holy to the most bizarre (sometimes combining the two), this book covers the breadth of human and pre-human history."

“Thoroughly researched and entertainingly presented."

“This book is perfect for learning about well-known artifacts and miscellaneous historical stuff. The histories and legends are lively accounts of who, what, when, how, and sometimes why."

“Provides a series of entertaining and educational essays on familiar and obscure objects associated with world events and renown personages which history buffs and the popular reading audience alike will enjoy learning more about.”

Steven K. Rogstad

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