PublishedThames & Hudson, September 2022 |
ISBN9780500296929 |
FormatSoftcover, 304 pages |
Dimensions19.8cm × 12.9cm |
An updated edition of this acclaimed book, now with a new preface and published to tie in with the bicentenary of Champollion's breakthrough in 1822.
Cracking the Egyptian Code is the first biography in English of Jean-Francois Champollion, the impoverished, arrogant and brilliant child of the French Revolution who made the vital breakthrough in deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs. This account charts Champollion's dramatic life and achievements: by turns a teenage professor, a supporter of Napoleon, an exile, a fanatical decipherer and a curator at the Louvre, he lived life to the full but drove himself into an early grave. Andrew Robinson's full-blooded account brings the man, his setbacks and his ultimate triumphs vividly to life.