""Dorothy Seyler’s fluent and readable book on William Bankes explores the life of a leading player in the early decades of Egyptology both in Egypt and afterwards in England. A must for anyone interested in the decipherment of hieroglyphic script and the collecting of Egyptian antiquities by the British in the early nineteenth century.” —Andrew Oliver, author of American Travelers on the Nile “Through the exploits of the adventurer and scholar William Bankes, the reader is led into ancient Egypt as well as 19th-century England. Bankes’s archaeological labors uncovering sacred treasures in the burning desert are here juxtaposed to his difficult service in Parliament against a backdrop of political intrigue and unforgiving moral and cultural mores. The view of the two worlds, as seen through the eyes of the talented but complicated Bankes, provides enlightening and entertaining reading.” —Solveig Eggerz, author of Seal Woman
Obelisk and the Englishman
The Pioneering Discoveries of Egyptologist William Bankes
