The Hero Schliemann: The Dreamer Who Dug for Troy

Archaeologist?Mythmaker?Crook?Thisengaging,illustratedbiographyofHeinrichSchliemann--anineteenth-centuryromanticwhomostbelievedidfindtheancientcityofTroy--revealshimtobeafascinatingmixtureofallthree.FromthetimeHeinrichSchliemannwasaboy--orsohesaid--heknewhewasdestinedtodigforlostcitiesandfindburiedtreasure.AndifSchliemannhadhisway,historybookswouldhonorhimtothisdayasoneofthegreatestarchaeologistswhoeverlived.ButalittlediggingintothelifeofSchliemannhimselfrevealsthatthisnineteenth-centuryself-mademanhadafunnyhabitoftakinglibertieswiththetruth.Likethefamouscharacterofhishero,thepoetHomer,Schliemannwasacraftyfellowandaninventorofstories,atravelerwhohadbeenshipwreckedandstrandedandsomehowsurvived.AndHeinrichSchliemannwasdeterminedtobecomealegendlikeHomer--butinhisowntime.Followingthislarger-than-lifecharacterfromhispoorchildhoodinGermanytohisachievementofwealthasamerchantinRussia,fromhisfirsthaphazarddigforthecityofIliumtohisfinalyearslivinginapseudo"PalaceofTroy,"thisengrossingtalepaintsaportraitofcontradictions--amanatoncestingyandlavishlygenerous,ascholarbothshrewdandreckless,aspeakeroftwenty-twolanguagesandahealthfanaticaddictedtocoldseabaths.LauraAmySchlitzweaveshistoricalfactsamongSchliemann'sfancifulrecollections,whileRobertByrd'sillustrationsevokehislifeandtimesinwonderfuldetail.Alongtheway,THEHEROSCHLIEMANNgivesyoungreadersfoodfordiscussionabouthowhistorysometimescomestobewritten--andhowitsometimesneedstobechanged.