THE LINGUIST AND THE EMPEROR:
Napoleon, Champollion, and the Race to Decipher the Rosetta Stone
by Daniel Myerson

Publisher:  Ballantine

Pub Date:  Spring 2004

Format:  Hardcover

Brief Description
In the vein of The Professor and the Madman, tells the dramatic, little-known story of one of the greatest historical discoveries of all time: the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone.  Rife with intrigue, espionage and a race to the finish, it reads like a modern suspense story and is sure to be a major bestseller.
(see below for Full Description)

Foreign sales:  Sweden
                                Spain
                                Japan
                                China

“Myerson cinematically juxtaposes significant events in both men’s lives, taking readers unexpectedly back and forth in time to enhance the plot lines....With little currently available about Champollion, this book will serve as an engaging introduction for public library patrons.”
--Library Journal

“Myerson provides a good deal of biographical information on the little-understood Champollion, chronicling his studies and discoveries and relating them to Egypt’s storied history....An interesting account of one of the most significant contributors to the study of Egypt.”
--Booklist

"Myerson, who has taught writing at Columbia, NYU, and Bennington...has inhaled his rich material. It is as if his normal respiration were in cursive, demotic, or hieratic scripts and acrophonic principles--as if he had always been able to read obelisks and coffins."
--Harper’s Magazine

Full Description
           In the vein of The Professor and the Madman, tells the dramatic story of one of the greatest historical discoveries of all time: the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone.
           At the core of book lies a fantastic group of characters, including Napoleon—who, obsessed with ancient Egypt, brings a shipload of scholars along with him—and its hero, Francois Champollion, the linguistic detective who, in the face of hundreds of years of scholarship, proves his radical theory of the mystery of the hieroglyphs. Upon his discovery, he runs through the streets of Paris, shouting with excitement until he faints and collapses into a coma. After a 1,500 year silence, ancient Egypt speaks again.
           Rife with intrigue, espionage and a race to the finish, it reads like a modern suspense story, and is sure to be a major bestseller.

World Rights:  Contact Ballantine

Dramatic Rights:  Contact Lukeman