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The deciphering of the Rosetta stone was one of the great intellectual triumphs of all time, unlocking the secrets of thousands of years of Egypt’s ancient civilization. Yet in the past two centuries, the circumstances surrounding this bravura feat of translation have become shrouded in myth and mystery. Now in his spellbinding new book, Daniel Meyerson recounts the extraordinary true story of how the lives of two geniuses converged in a breakthrough that revolutionized our understanding of the past. The emperor Napoleon and the linguist Jean-Francois Champollion were both blessed with the temperament of artists and damned with ferocious impatience—and both of them were obsessed with Egypt. In fact, it was Napoleon’s dazzling, disastrous Egyptian campaign that caught the attention of the young Champollion and forever changed his life. From the instant Champollion learned of Napoleon’s discovery of a stone inscribed with three sets of characters—Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphic—he could not rest. He vowed to be the first to crack the mystery of what became known as the Rosetta stone. In Daniel Meyerson’s sweeping narrative, the haunting story of the Rosetta stone—its discovery in a doomed battle, the intrigue to secure it, the agonizing race to unlock its secrets, and the pain it seemed to inflict on all who touched it—reads like the most engrossing fiction. Napoleon, despite his power and glory, suffered repeated betrayals . . . by his Empress Josephine, on the battlefield, and by history itself. Champollion, though he triumphed intellectually, ultimately endured his own terrible tragedy. As background and counterpoint to the stories of the brilliant linguist and the visionary emperor, Meyerson interweaves the ancient tales of love, intrigue, brutal death, and miraculous rebirth that were hidden for centuries on the walls of Egyptian tombs—stories that Champollion finally made accessible to the world. Blending history, politics, intellectual passion, and a deep understanding of the human heart, The Linguist and the Emperor is a stunning tapestry of breakthrough and ambition, grandeur and vanity, power and pain. Carrying on the tradition of The Professor and the Madman and Longitude, Meyerson has fashioned a masterpiece of meticulous history and astonishing storytelling.… (more)
Good lord. I was looking for a book about how the Rosetta Stone was deciphered. What I got was a lot of high-flown philosophy about how Napoleon thought he was a mythic hero like Alexander (who thought he was a god), how most of his decisions were based on that, and therefore how/why he had dug up a huge stone and took copies of the carvings on its surface. And a weird, obsessed boy who learned all the languages and therefore somehow figured out what the carvings meant - there are brief discussions of what and how he figured out, but the focus of the book is on who (the author imagines) Champollion (the boy) and Napoleon were, and thought they were. Also, the timeline is utterly tangled - Napoleon went to Egypt when Champollion was just a boy, then it talks about his discovery of the meaning of the stone, then a great many details about Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, then what happened after Napoleon was sent into exile, then how Champollion got to see the carvings - back and forth until I have no idea what happened when. This was an utter failure at explaining the how of the Stone's decipherment, and I don't trust the author's declarations about the whys of it; they seem to be pulled largely out of thin air (fact: he did this. A chapter of wild notions about why - because mythic and heroic and stuff. Another fact, or a minor story about a side character, or something - then another long digression into mythic notions. Sheesh!). ( )
This book was more of a biography about the lives of Napoleon and Champollion, the latter being the man who broke the code of the Rosetta Stone. The book's promo led one to believe there would be more about how there lives intertwined, leading to the event of breaking the code but it fell short on this mark. Still, if you're interested in learning about the men themselves, this book does have merit on that score. ( )
Barely 2 stars - it was always going to be a challenge to squeeze the lives of Napoleon, Champollion and the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone into only 267 pages of rather large print and it just didn't work. No notes, just a lot of imagination, however some references are found in the author's note. The actual solving of the puzzle (i.e. the last 20 pages) was the most interesting part and there were a few good bits and pieces throughout the book, but overall a good idea badly executed. ( )
I went into this book aware of all the negative reviews it's received, so I admit I wasn't expecting much from it. When all was said and done, however, I did find most of the information presented in the book to be quite interesting, and it has left me with a desire to read more about a variety of topics touched upon in the book. That said, the flow of the book was quite choppy and hard to follow at times. Furthermore, the bulk of the book seemed to have little to do with the book's subtitle "Napoleon and Champollion's Quest to Decipher the Rosetta Stone." Lastly, and perhaps most frustratingly, the author did not cite his sources except for the mention of some works in his author's note. For this reason, despite the interesting information provided, I feel most of the criticisms of this work are well deserved. ( )
This sounds like it should be an exciting book about the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and how Champollion figured out how to read heiroglyphics. Unfortunately what the book is is a confusing mishmash that jumps around through time for no discernible reason. The author also spends way too much time quoting random literature that has nothing to do with the main story. The deciphering of herioglyphics isn't even really discussed until tjhe last chapter and then only briefly. Overall a confusing and boring mishmash of a book. ( )
The deciphering of the Rosetta stone was one of the great intellectual triumphs of all time, unlocking the secrets of thousands of years of Egypt’s ancient civilization. Yet in the past two centuries, the circumstances surrounding this bravura feat of translation have become shrouded in myth and mystery. Now in his spellbinding new book, Daniel Meyerson recounts the extraordinary true story of how the lives of two geniuses converged in a breakthrough that revolutionized our understanding of the past. The emperor Napoleon and the linguist Jean-Francois Champollion were both blessed with the temperament of artists and damned with ferocious impatience—and both of them were obsessed with Egypt. In fact, it was Napoleon’s dazzling, disastrous Egyptian campaign that caught the attention of the young Champollion and forever changed his life. From the instant Champollion learned of Napoleon’s discovery of a stone inscribed with three sets of characters—Greek, Coptic, and hieroglyphic—he could not rest. He vowed to be the first to crack the mystery of what became known as the Rosetta stone. In Daniel Meyerson’s sweeping narrative, the haunting story of the Rosetta stone—its discovery in a doomed battle, the intrigue to secure it, the agonizing race to unlock its secrets, and the pain it seemed to inflict on all who touched it—reads like the most engrossing fiction. Napoleon, despite his power and glory, suffered repeated betrayals . . . by his Empress Josephine, on the battlefield, and by history itself. Champollion, though he triumphed intellectually, ultimately endured his own terrible tragedy. As background and counterpoint to the stories of the brilliant linguist and the visionary emperor, Meyerson interweaves the ancient tales of love, intrigue, brutal death, and miraculous rebirth that were hidden for centuries on the walls of Egyptian tombs—stories that Champollion finally made accessible to the world. Blending history, politics, intellectual passion, and a deep understanding of the human heart, The Linguist and the Emperor is a stunning tapestry of breakthrough and ambition, grandeur and vanity, power and pain. Carrying on the tradition of The Professor and the Madman and Longitude, Meyerson has fashioned a masterpiece of meticulous history and astonishing storytelling.
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Recounts the dramatic story of the race between Napoleon and linguist Jean-Francois Champollion to break the code of the Rosetta Stone, from its discovery and the early efforts to secure it, to the impact the stone had on the lives of everyone who encountered it.
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