A review by ewormuth
The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone by Edward Dolnick

4.0

I greatly enjoyed this book. Dolnick writes what could be dry history in a very lively style, using analogies to everyday things in the modern world to help the reader understand the enormity of the task before the men who strove to decipher thousands-of-years-old hieroglyphics. These analogies are often humorous -- Dolnick describes Tutankhamen as "the Millard Fillmore of pharaohs," and compares another pharaoh's mummy to Mr. Burns on The Simpsons. I learned a great deal, about not only hieroglyphics and ancient Egypt but language in general. I'm definitely going to look for other books by Dolnick. Highly recommended.