Egyptomania Our Three Thousand Year Obsession with the Land of the Pharaohs

LoveReading Says

Bob Brier, an American Egyptologist is an avid collector of artefacts that have reflected the West’s fascination with Egypt. The items range from perfume bottles to sheet music, books and film, numerous household articles and even such objects as cigarette lighters. Illustrated with items from his collection, Egpyptomania looks at our perennial fascination with Egypt and how this ancient civilisation still resounds in our culture today.

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A 'Piece of Passion' from the publisher...

'Part of the pleasure of being an editor is that you get to meet all kinds of interesting people. Dr. Bob Brier is definitely on my short list, though. Bob’s passion for his subject is infectious and his knowledge is encyclopedic. Bob has been to Egypt countless times; he knows everyone in his field; he’s even mummified his own mummy. And, of course, his home is full of Egyptomania – an eclectic and incredibly entertaining collection of objects tied to our collective fascination with ancient Egypt.

I always knew that this collection had to end up in a book one day. Who could resist stuff like the sheet music to “Old King Tut Was a Wise Old Nut?” or an ad featuring Cleopatra selling Palmolive shampoo or mummy case charms with tiny mummies inside? And now we are publishing that very book. Reading EGYPTOMANIA is like spending an afternoon hanging out with Bob. He’ll tell you the dramatic story of how London got its famous obelisk, Cleopatra’s Needle; the colorful saga of ancient Egypt in Hollywood, and discuss why Kind Tut became a worldwide sensation in 1922. The narrative is entertaining and the pictures are divine.

This is for anyone who was ever fascinated by mummies or hieroglyphs and pyramids and weren’t we all at one point in our childhoods?' - Elisabeth Dyssegaard, Executive Editor at Palgrave Macmillan

Sue Baker

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