Book Two: The Greek Treasure

I had never read an Irving Stone book. He was of course the examplar of the historic biography, with books like "Lust for Life", the story of Van Gogh.

One of his later books was "The Greek Treasure", the story of Henry and Sophia Schliemann and the search for Troy and Mycenae. Henry, German by birth, American by citizenship, marries a Greek teenager and (sometimes with her, sometimes on his own) uses the fortune he made in Russia and California to fund his dream: the discovery of Troy. He succeeds, navigating a course between being a loyal family man and a self-centered fanatic, between Turkish (Ottoman) and Greek officials, between his pledge to display the treasures in Greece and competing pulls from Constantinople, Paris, London and Berlin.

The life is one of luxury and hardship, but on the whole, Schliemann succeeded in meeting his goals, and his young wife (30 years his junior) became quite an active partner and archeological exploer in her own right. It is quite a story.

The book? It reads quickly. It takes the basic history and fills it in with a lot of domestic dialogue. While the domestic subplots might not be necessary, they don't interfere with the story.

There are really three story lines, I guess. The personal story of the Schliemann's, the history of the discoveries, and significant amounts of retelling of the stories of the ancient Greeks that fueled the need to make these exciting, but exhausting, discoveries.

I cannot speak for the accuracy of the history, but assume it. As to the fictionalized story, it is credible. As to the descriptions of ancient history, I found it a little dry, particularly when compared to that other popular reteller of these tales, Richard Halliburton, who also popularizes ancient history, but in a much more unique and entertaining fashion.

The treasures of Troy wound up in Berlin, apparently to be lost during World War II.