Tutankhamun

The uncovering of the tomb of the mysterious boy King of Egypt, Tutankhamun, on November 26, 1922, was the most important and splendid discovery in the history of modern archaeology. The find revealed four burial chambers so filled with priceless objects of gold and alabaster and lapis lazuli and onyx that it took years to remove the nearly 5,000 dazzling works of art from the underground tomb.

Until now, however, although there have been countless stories and accounts, including Howard Carter's--the discoverer's--own, on one has revealed the entire truth: the bitter intrigues, the power struggles, the myriad scandals and mysterious deaths surrounding the discovery and its aftermath. What happened there changed forever the course of archaeological expeditions--no longer were foreigners and adventurers able to simply walk in and appropriate whatever they could find of ancient civilizations.

Thomas Hoving, former head of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, by a prodigious search for the facts of the discovery in previously untapped sources--old records, diaries and correspondence--has recounted not only the known but the untold story and the strange and colorful characters who played the major parts in it.