About this item
The author of The Dead Beat and This Book is Overdue turns her piercing eye and charming wit to the real-life avatars of Indiana Jonesthe archaeologists who sort through the muck and mire of swamps ancient landfills volcanic islands and other dirty places to reclaim history for us allPompeii Machu Picchu the Valley of the Kings the Parthenonthe names of these legendary archaeological sites conjure up romance and mystery The news is full of archaeology treasures found British king under parking lot and treasures lost looters bulldozers natural disaster and war Archaeological research tantalizes us with possibilities are modern humans really part Neandertal Where are the archaeologists behind these stories What kind of work do they actually do and why does it matterMarilyn Johnsons Lives in Ruins is an absorbing and entertaining look at the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past Johnson digs and drinks alongside archaeologists chases them through the Mediterranean the Caribbean and even Machu Picchu and excavates their lives Her subjects share stories we rarely read in history books about slaves and Ice Age hunters ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution children of the first century Chinese woman warriors sunken fleets mummiesWhat drives these archaeologists is not the money meager or the jobs scarce or the working conditions dangerous but their passion for the stories that would otherwise be buried and lost.
About the Author
Marilyn Johnson is the author of three books: Lives in Ruins, about contemporary archaeologists, This Book Is Overdue! about librarians and archivists in the digital age, and The Dead Beat, about the art of obituaries and obituary writers. Lives in Ruins was on PW's list of Best Books of 2014 and Amazon's Best 100 Books (Print) . The Dead Beat was chosen for the Borders Original Voice program and was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award. Johnson is a former editor at Esquire and Outside magazines, and a former staff writer for Life. She lives with her husband in New York's Hudson Valley.
Visit her website at http://www.marilynjohnson.net.
