Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-François Champollion - Softcover

'Thoroughly researched' - Ancient Egypt Magazine 'Robinson tells the story of Young and Champollion's rivalry with a flair for the dramatic ... [he] elucidates the complex subject of hieroglyphics with verve and scholarly enthusiasm' - Fortean Times 'A life more revolutionary than previously appreciated ... a great story' - Timeless Travels

Cracking the Egyptian Code is the first biography in English of Jean-François Champollion, the impoverished, arrogant and brilliant child of the French Revolution who made the vital breakthrough in deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs. This finely illustrated account charts Champollion’s dramatic life and achievements: by turns a teenage professor, a supporter of Napoleon, an exile, a fanatical decipherer and a curator at the Louvre, he lived life to the full but drove himself into an early grave. Andrew Robinson’s full-blooded account brings the man, his setbacks and his ultimate triumphs vividly to life.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Egyptomania · 1. Hieroglyphic ‘Delirium’ before Champollion · 2. A Revolutionary
Childhood · 3. Reluctant Schoolboy · 4. Egypt Encountered · 5. Paris and the Rosetta Stone
6. Teenage Professor · 7. The Race Begins · 8. Napoleon and Champollion · 9. Exile and
Revolt · 10. Breakthrough · 11. An Egyptian Renaissance · 12. Curator at the Louvre
13. To Egypt, At Last · 14. In Search of Ramesses · 15. First Professor of Egyptology
16. The Hieroglyphs after Champollion · Postscript: Geniuses and Polymaths