Guide to the World's Greatest Treasures

Every now and then you come across a book that reminds you just how fascinating information can be. Case in point: GUIDE TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST TREASURES. Michael Bradley's book appeals to the amateur fortune-hunter/explorer/adventurer in all of us. From its eye-catching, 'jewel-encrusted' cover to the myriad accounts of strange artifacts, lost treasures and fateful explorations, it sparks a fire in armchair explorers of all ages. I can't remember when I've enjoyed a book more...and learned so much. GUIDE TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST TREASURES spotlights 45 'treasures' from time immemorial ranging from the Ark of the Covenant to the Crystal Skull of Doom, the Turin Shroud to the Sunken City of Herakleion, the Spear of Destiny to the Dropa Stones of the Himalayas. Each item gets a four-page write-up, describing who or what the item is, its history and where/how it was discovered, its ultimate fate and so on. Color and b & w photographs, maps and diagrams help illustrate the story of each. A four-page bibliography supplies further reading. While some items will be familiar to most people - the Lost Dutchman Mine, Atlantis, El Dorado, the Holy Grail, King Solomon's Mines, etc. - others will draw a blank. In my own case, I was clueless regarding the Antikythera Mechanism, the Baghdad Battery, the Disc of Phaistos, the Giant Balls of Costa Rica, the Piri Reis Map, etc. Thanks to Bradley's book, I now am in the know. If you haven't had your sense of wonder piqued lately, latch on to a copy of GUIDE TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST TREASURES, put on your Indy Jones fedora, sit back and get lost in some interesting history. It's fun; it's educational; it's a hoot. Highly recommended.