ALEXANDRIA: The sunken City

The illustrated story of the underwater exploration of the Pharos site and harbour complex by Jean-Yves Empereur and his team in 1994/5. Revealing traces of the famous lighthouse (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), this exhilarating book recounts the campaigns that salvaged colossal broken statues, architectural blocks, and a dozen sphinx from the sea. An irresistible glimpse of the hellenistic city of the Ptolemies.

The recent excavation of an underwater locale in Egypt yielded an awesome collection of artifacts, including huge architectural and sculptural fragments. La Riche's stunning book documents these discoveries, telling the story of the Egyptian-French research team that carried out the project to map the Pharos site, going on to unearth thousands of precious relics from the ancient Alexandrian civilization. La Riche's vivid recounting delves into Alexandria's remarkable history, even as it reveals the challenges faced by the team on its dramatic archaeological quest. It all makes for exciting reading, with La Riche's stirring prose describing splendid statuary and stunning evidence of a renowned lighthouse buried by the sea in the fifteenth century. The photography of Stephane Compoint serves as a spectacular complement to the text. Includes a historical chronology and description of architectural development in Egypt. Alice Joyce