The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun

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He had multiple interests over his lifetime and became enamored of the history and discovery of the pharaoh's tombs, especially the ones still undiscovered. All a smokescreen, the devilish work of Lady Winifred Burghclere in her flowery cover up biography of Lord Carnarvon from 1923, with its 40- odd- pages of elegant dross that has been slavishly regurgitated by Highclere, and which now stands as a poor legacy of monumental howlers blighting thousands of books and articles. The another really ey opening part for me was to learn about the ins and out of archaeology amid the political turmoil of Egypt at the time. Drawing on Highclere Castle’s never-before-plumbed archives, bestselling author Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon, charts the twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Carnarvon’s life; his restless and enquiring mind that drove him to travel to escape conventional society life in Edwardian Britain. The Earl had every advantage of education opportunities and took none of them, mostly wasting his time smoking, gambling, and partying.

The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon

The reliance upon the family physician Dr Marcus Johnson ( Dr Johnny) who first pops up at page 170 ( for events in 1909) just wont do. Most attractive of all is Almina’s lovably eccentric father Alfred Rothschild, who used to conduct his private orchestra with a diamond-encrusted baton. I enjoyed the time the author spent sharing about how Highclere castle participated in the war effort. I definitely do not recommend unless you happen to enjoy the minutiae of people’s lives like what people ate for lunch a hundred years ago. However, we get a lot of information on the 4th Earl of Carnarvon (Henry Herbert, Porchey's father), and then later Henry's second wife, and Porchey's siblings.Fiona, The Countess of Carnarvon has written several books about Highclere Castle and generations of the ancestors. In her hotly anticipated memoir, the author traces the challenges and triumphs of her upbringing in New Jersey and the work (including a stint as an intern with Sen.

THE EARL AND THE PHARAOH | Kirkus Reviews THE EARL AND THE PHARAOH | Kirkus Reviews

But if you are looking for an in-depth book about the discover of King Tut's tomb, then you should pass on this book.As others have mentioned, most of the book is a long, laborious Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. I didn't get a feel of how The Earl came to go there in his early years, just 2 mentions 'oh and he went to Egypt'.

The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the

And every now and then, the countess lets her imagination run wild, as when she assures us that Carnarvon and Tutankhamun had much in common: “both were dashing men born into a gilded lifestyle”; both suffered from poor health. The Earl was by no means a perfect man, but he learned from his experiences over the years and ended up a generous and well-meaning man who left an admirable legacy. The Earl and the Pharaoh is about the 5th Earl, the one who bankrolled and participated in the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt. While the book offers few big reveals beyond her testimony (many details leaked before publication), her behind-the-scenes account of the chaotic Trump administration is intermittently insightful.Bestselling author Lady Fiona Carnarvon tells the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun on its centennial, and explores the unparalleled life of family ancestor George Herbert--the famed Egyptologist, world-traveler, and 5th Earl of Carnarvon behind it--whose country house, Highclere Castle, is the setting of the beloved series Downton Abbey. Carnarvons life, money and sudden death became front-page news throughout the world following the discovery of the tomb, fuelling rumours that persist today of the curse of the pharaohs. So much more, indeed, that one has to ask whether Highclere, the Carnarvons’ ancestral seat, needs the “Real Downton Abbey” epithet in the book’s subtitle. One moment we'd be in Egypt, the next in England, and back and forth throughout a chapter which was disorienting.