The Keys of Egypt

‘A fascinating and elegantly written biography of Champollion, doing justice to one of the great stories of academic heroism.’ Simon Singh, Sunday Telegraph ‘A fascinating account of the race to unlock the cryptic language of the pharaohs’ Giles Milton, Daily Mail

Lesley Adkins, an archaeologist and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, is the author of several books on archaeology and ancient history, including The Keys of Egypt, written with her husband Roy Adkins. Her latest book, this time as sole author, is Empires of the Plain, a biography of Henry Rawlinson. Lesley lives near Exeter in Devon. She has a degree in archaeology, ancient history and Latin from the University of Bristol. Her previous books include The Handbook of British Archaeology, Introduction to Archaeology, Introduction to the Romans and The Little Book of Egyptian Hieroglyphs.

Husband-and-wife Lesley and Roy Adkins are both archaeologists and Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Roy has a degree in archaeology from University College Cardiff. Their previous books include ‘The Handbook of British Archaeology’, ‘Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome’, ‘Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece’ and ‘Dictionary of Roman Religion’, and they have just completed ‘The Little Book of Egyptian Hieroglyphs’. Lesley and Roy recently moved to Devon, where they are embarking on the restoration of an extensive garden.