Complete Tutankhamun: The King, the Tomb, the Royal Treasure Book

This book is one half an engrossing tale of discovery and adventure, replete with eccentric characters whose obsessions and passions pushed them on to unearth the greatest Egyptological find of all time. And another much more draining half, which details in excruciating detail the royal treasure found in the tomb, ponderously describing all manner of not-particularly-interesting pieces and inserting details only the most passionate academic in [insert obscure specialism here] could wish to know about.

The result is a book that really ought not to be read straight through: the opening hundred-odd pages can be read linearly and is much to be recommended. Covering the period leading up to Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon's discovery of the awesome tomb, I was genuinely in suspense and felt compelled to keep reading. Hearing about the frustrations of the failed digs in the Valley of the Kings, rounded out by the arrival at Tutankhamun's final resting place was gripping stuff and could have been fiction I felt such tension. Particularly good is the inclusion of small excerpts from the key actors' diaries throughout that adds to the immediacy of the writing. This is most notable during the description of the first entry into the tomb: there is a sense of wonder throughout this description that is palpable.

The second half of the book - a catalogue of items found in the tomb - should, at best, be used as a reference guide (if, for example, you are walking around the Egyptian Museum in Cairo). It is a pity; there are real gems in this section - such as a discussion of the sound of the trumpets from the tomb that were actually played (and unfortunately destroyed) by BBC musicians - but on the whole there is too much detail to dredge through and too few such nuggets to keep all but the most ardent fan of ancient armour, vases and powder boxes engaged.

The dichotomous nature of the book - narrative first half / catalogue second half - is not the only issue this work has. There is an overly academic tone used throughout, with technical words like "adze" (type of axe), "uraeus" (stylised Egyptian serpent) or "apotropaic" (power to avert evil influences) liberally sprinkled throughout. A second quibble is the constant referencing of the archaeological numbers of objects. No doubt of use to the expert, the effect is to break up paragraphs - often to the extent that it's hard to see where the text-proper resumes - and could have been solved with the use of footnotes. A greater discussion of the political dimension to this dig (given a double pager) would also have been appreciated to understand the perhaps contentious aspect of non-native archaeologists uncovering, and dictating the announcements of, such a magnificent find.

Overall this book is worth reading for the first half alone, but it is a shame that the same narrative verve demonstrated in the beginning couldn't have been put to use to explore perhaps fewer of the objects but in a more engaging manner. A good read for someone with an interest or who is visiting Cairo or Luxor; yet I strongly imagine there are better introductions to the tomb - targeted more at the lay reader - than this.