Treasured

“This is no dry tome, but a tale of personal obsessions -- her own, and that of many others, who were affected by this most sensational discovery.”

“Searching, masterful and eloquent, Treasured plunges the reader into the mesmerizing story of Tutankhamun and the unending struggle for meaning, identity and money his rediscovery ignited a century ago. A deeply personal account that reveals how the scientific claims of Egyptology remain unable to match the mythological power of Tutmania, and how gazing on the boy king's golden face has shaped our perceptions of Egypt - and ourselves.”

“At last, a serious treatment of one of the twentieth century's most important cultural icons. Impeccably researched and beautifully written, Treasured is infinitely more accurate and fascinating than what's gone before."

“Christina Riggs brings a host of fresh perspectives to the story of Tutankhamun - a story you might feel you know, but really don't. A fabulous cultural history of the boy-king's discovery and the complex afterlife of that global event, weaving together colonial and Egyptian elements with the strange international role the pharaoh's body and treasures have taken on in the last 100 years. Elegant, compelling and illuminating.”

“An imaginative weaving of the personal and political into a fresh narrative of an archaeological icon.”

“[E]ye-opening and absorbing.”

"In 'Treasured: How Tutankhamun Shaped a Century' (Public Affairs), the historian Christina Riggs writes about the pharaoh’s ongoing role in geopolitics. She focusses in particular on a series of global tours that took Tutankhamun’s treasures around the world… Among the millions of people who came to know Tutankhamun through these travelling exhibitions was Riggs herself."