From best-selling historian Frances Osborne, the spellbinding story of the greatest archaeological discovery of all time--the tomb of Tutankhamun--set against the battle for a modern Egypt free of colonial rule.

It was the find of a lifetime: an undisturbed ancient tomb, filled with golden objects. The discovery of King Tut's burial chamber in 1922 ignited a global phenomenon of "Egyptomania” and focused worldwide attention on archaeologist Howard Carter—who, in an incredible rags-to-riches turn, made his monumental discovery just days from giving up his search. In this alluring narrative, beloved historian Frances Osborne sets Carter's extraordinary tale against the glittering cosmopolitan world of Egypt in the 1920s. With a sparkling swath of unforgettable characters who bore witness to Carter’s fascinating excavation, including his benefactor Lord Carnarvon and the Egyptian revolutionary Saad Zaghloul, this evocative new biography—published to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the find—is an unforgettable portrait of an era filled with cultural, moral, and political turbulence. It is a story of strong wills and revolution, of torn emotions and immense change. And it is the story of one man’s obsession—a pursuit that would both make his reputation and cut him off from the world.