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Joanne's Reviews > Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction
Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction
by
by
The story of Christian Desroches-Noblecourt, one of the first 20th century women to break the ceiling in the Archeologist/Egyptologist fields. Although the title claims to concentrate on the saving of Egypt's ancients temples, it is more a bio, and heavy on the politics of all the nations involved. This disappointed me a little, thus the 1/2 star. If you are looking for all archeology, this is not the book you want.
Noblecourt was very fortunate to have parents who encouraged her interests and enabled her to form a strong free thinking mind. Remember, her entrance in the field was in the early 20th century. Yet, again fortune smiled on her and there were men in the field (very few though) who welcomed her and paved the road so that it was not as rough as it could have been. Her assistance from these mentors earned her a fellowship at the elite French Institute of Oriental Archeology in Cairo. She had, through hard work, made a name for herself, becoming one of the world's top archeologists. She spent 9 months, each year of the fellowship, taking part in various excavation projects.
Throughout her professional life she endured not only WWII, but also the uprisings and coups in Egypt and the war of The Suez Canal. These events add color to the story. However, I do believe they could have been cut down a bit. In places it dragged. Olson is a great researcher and writer, so I plowed through those areas and was still able to enjoy the story.
About midway through the book, enter Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Her activity in saving the Egyptian temples was something I knew little about. After reading this book I feel Olson gives far more credit to the archeologist than to Jackie. It is commendable what the Kennedy's did to ensure these ancient monuments were preserved for the future world.
Jacqueline Kennedy gave a voice and visibility to the historic preservation movement in this country...few people have had a more important impact on historic preservation in the United States
Recommended for the history folks- After much thought, I will be rounding up.
Noblecourt was very fortunate to have parents who encouraged her interests and enabled her to form a strong free thinking mind. Remember, her entrance in the field was in the early 20th century. Yet, again fortune smiled on her and there were men in the field (very few though) who welcomed her and paved the road so that it was not as rough as it could have been. Her assistance from these mentors earned her a fellowship at the elite French Institute of Oriental Archeology in Cairo. She had, through hard work, made a name for herself, becoming one of the world's top archeologists. She spent 9 months, each year of the fellowship, taking part in various excavation projects.
Throughout her professional life she endured not only WWII, but also the uprisings and coups in Egypt and the war of The Suez Canal. These events add color to the story. However, I do believe they could have been cut down a bit. In places it dragged. Olson is a great researcher and writer, so I plowed through those areas and was still able to enjoy the story.
About midway through the book, enter Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Her activity in saving the Egyptian temples was something I knew little about. After reading this book I feel Olson gives far more credit to the archeologist than to Jackie. It is commendable what the Kennedy's did to ensure these ancient monuments were preserved for the future world.
Jacqueline Kennedy gave a voice and visibility to the historic preservation movement in this country...few people have had a more important impact on historic preservation in the United States
Recommended for the history folks- After much thought, I will be rounding up.
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Reading Progress
July 18, 2022
– Shelved
July 18, 2022
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 2, 2023
–
Started Reading
April 10, 2023
–
Finished Reading
October 23, 2023
– Shelved as:
non-fiction-history-read
