The Greek Treasure: A Biographical Novel of Henry and Sophia Schliemann (edició 1975)

I enjoyed this book a lot when I read it in th 80's. I liked reading novels of the period of ancient Greece and knew nothing of Henry Schliemann, who as an amateur archeologist, unearthed the remains of Troy dispite ridicule from the "pro's" of the time using literature of the ancient times to find clues.

Mr Schliemann made two or three small fortunes for himself before tackling Troy for fun and could stay in a room and learn a language in about 6 weeks as I remember.

Very interesting story. ( )

Told from the viewpoint of Schliemann's young Greek wife, Sophia, this is one of Stone's less-heralded biographical novels, but it has a charm and lack of pretence not always present in some of Stone's more famous works. Takes a fairly sympathetic view of Schliemann's character, perhaps naive since Schliemann's reputation has been largely destroyed by a generation of scholarship. Once revered as the Father of Archaeology, Schliemann is now regarded as a cheat, a fraud, a ruthless autocrat who betrayed many who had trusted him, and perhaps most damningly of all, as the destroyer of Homer's Troy, rather than its discoverer. However, Stone is charmingly ignorant of all this, and his Schliemann is a volcanic, obssessive, driven individual, but also a self-made man who braved ridicule and bureacratic inertia to make what is after Carter's discovery of Tutankamun the greatest find in Western archaeology and solve a 2500 year old mystery. ( )

Excellent story of Heinrich Schliemann and his tireless search for the ancient city of Troy. If you enjoy stories of archeology and buried treasure, this one is for you. Schliemann knew the stories of Troy by heart and used whatever means available to reach his goal. ( )

Henry and Sophia Schliemann

Not read as yet. Met Irving Stone at a book signing at the Polo Lounge while I was in high school.