Winged Bull

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 29. 3. 2021

Journalist Pearce (Prevail) delivers a comprehensive biography of British archaeologist and diplomat Henry Layard (1817–1894). During Layard's childhood, his father suffered several ailments and sought better climates, instilling a love of travel in the boy. In 1839, Layard set out on an overland journey from Europe to Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), stopping along the way in the Middle East, where he visited the ancient city of Petra, formed lasting relationships with the Bakhtiari tribes of Persia, and first "beheld the mounds of Nineveh" near the city of Mosul. Hired by the British ambassador in Constantinople to perform unofficial diplomatic missions, Layard launched an excavation of Nineveh in 1845, unearthing what many consider to be the most complete ruins of an Assyrian city ever found. Pearce also delves into Layard's diplomatic efforts on behalf of the Yezidi people in what is now Iraq, and his criticism of British rule in India after visiting the country to investigate the causes of the 1857 Indian Rebellion. Though the book loses steam when it shifts to Layard's political career, Pearce meticulously details his subject's impressive accomplishments. Archaeology buffs will be engrossed.