The Riddle of the Labyrinth

In1900，whileexcavatingonCrete，thecharismaticVictorianarchaeologistArthurEvansunearthedinscribedclaytabletsamidtheruinsofalavishBronzeAgepalace.Writtenbypalacescribescirca1450b.c.，thescripttheydisplayed—featuringoutlinedrawingsofswords，chariots，andhorses'heads，aswellasothertinypictograms—resemblednoalphabeteverseen.EvansnamedthescriptLinearB，andfromthestartitposedadeepmystery.NooneknewwhatlanguageLinearBrecorded，muchlesswhatthecuriousinscriptionsmeant.Ifthetabletscouldbedeciphered，theywouldopenaportalontoarefined，wealthy，andliteratesocietythathadflourishedinGreeklandsthreethousandyearsearlier，afullmillenniumbeforethegloriesoftheClassicalAge.TheRiddleoftheLabyrinthisthetruestoryofthequesttosolveoneofthemostmesmerizingriddlesinhistory—LinearB—andofthethreebrilliant，obsessed，andultimatelydoomedinvestigatorswhosecombinedworkwouldeventuallycrackthecode.TherewasEvans，whohaddiscoveredthescriptbutcouldneverunravelit;AliceKober，thefieryAmericanscholarwhosevitalworkonLinearBnevergottherecognitionitdeserved;andMichaelVentris，thehauntedEnglisharchitectwhowouldsolvetheriddletriumphantlyattheageofthirtyonlytodiefouryearslaterundercircumstancesthatremainthesubjectofspeculationevennow.Forhalfacenturysomeoftheworld'sforemostscholarstriedtocoaxthetabletstoyieldtheirsecrets.Then，in1952，thescriptwasdecipheredseeminglyinasinglestroke—notbyascholarbutbyVentris，animpassionedamateurwhoseobsessionwiththetabletshadbeguninchildhood.Thedeciphermentbroughthimworldwideacclaim.Butitalsocosthimhisarchitecturalcareer，histiestohisfamily，andquitepossiblyhislife.Thatisthenarrativeofthedeciphermentasithasbeenknownthusfar.Butamajoractorinthedramahaslongbeenmissing：AliceKober，aclassicistatBrooklynCollege.Thoughlargelyforgottentoday，shecamewithinahair'sbreadthofdecipheringLinearBbeforeherownuntimelydeathin1950.AsTheRiddleoftheLabyrinthreveals，itwasKoberwhobuiltthefoundationonwhichVentris'sdeciphermentstood，anachievementthatuntilnowhasbeenallbutlosttohistory.DrawingonanewlyopenedarchiveofKober'spapers，MargalitFoxrestoresthisunsungheroinetoherrightfulplaceatlast.Aboveall，thisbookisadetectivestoryinthetraditionofDavaSobelandSimonWinchester.AsFoxnarratesthelivesofEvans，Kober，andVentris，shetakesreadersstep-by-stepthroughtheforensicprocessinvolvedincrackingasecretcodefromthepast.Followingthethreeinvestigatorsastheyhuntdown，analyze，andinterpretaseriesoflinguisticclueshiddenwithinthescriptitself，TheRiddleoftheLabyrinthoffersthefirstcompleteaccountofoneofthemostfascinatingconundrumsofalltime.，