Hunt For The Lost

One man’s quest to find the oldest Bible scrolls in the world and uncover the story of the brilliant, doomed antiquarian accused of forging them. In the summer of 1883, Moses Wilhelm Shapira—archaeological treasure hunter and inveterate social climber—showed up unannounced in London claiming to have discovered the oldest copy of the Bible in the world. But before the museum could pony up his £1 million asking price for the scrolls—which discovery called into question the divine authorship of the scriptures—Shapira’s nemesis, the French archaeologist Charles Clermont-Ganneau, denounced the manuscripts, turning the public against him. Distraught over this humiliating public rebuke, Shapira fled to the Netherlands and committed suicide. Then, in 1947 the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Noting the similarities between these and Shapira’s scrolls, scholars made efforts to re-examine Shapira’s case, but it was too late: the primary piece of evidence, the parchment scrolls themselves had mysteriously vanished. Tigay, journalist and son of a renowned Biblical scholar, was galvanized by this peculiar story and this indecipherable man, and became determined to find the scrolls. He sets out on a quest that takes him to Australia, England, Holland, Germany where he meets Shapira’s still aggrieved descendants and Jerusalem where Shapira is still referred to in the present tense as a “Naughty boy”. He wades into museum storerooms, musty English attics, and even the Jordanian gorge where the scrolls were said to have been found all in a tireless effort to uncover the truth about the scrolls and about Shapira, himself. At once historical drama and modern-day mystery, The Lost Book of Moses explores the nineteenth-century disappearance of Shapira’s scrolls and Tigay's globetrotting hunt for the ancient manuscript. As it follows Tigay’s trail to the truth, the book brings to light a flamboyant, romantic, devious, and ultimately tragic personality in a story that vibrates with the suspense of a classic detective tale.

Nathan Raab, America’s preeminent rare documents dealer, delivers a “diverting account of treasure hunting in the fast lane” (The Wall Street Journal) that recounts his years as the Sherlock Holmes of historical artifacts, questing after precious finds and determining their authenticity. A box uncovered in a Maine attic with twenty letters written by Alexander Hamilton; a handheld address to Congress by President George Washington; a long-lost Gold Medal that belonged to an American President; a note that Winston Churchill wrote to his captor when he was a young POW in South Africa; paperwork signed and filled out by Amelia Earhart when she became the first woman to fly the Atlantic; an American flag carried to the moon and back by Neil Armstrong; an unpublished letter written by Albert Einstein, discussing his theory of relativity. Each day, people from all over the world contact Nathan Raab for help understanding what they have, what it might be worth, and how to sell it. The Raab Collection’s president, Nathan is a modern-day treasure hunter and one of the world’s most prominent dealers of historical artifacts. Most weeks, he travels the country, scours auctions, or fields phone calls and emails from people who think they may have found something of note in a grandparent’s attic. In The Hunt for History, “Raab takes us on a wild hunt and deliciously opens up numerous hidden crevices of history” (Jay Winik, author of April 1865)—spotting a letter from British officials that secured the Rosetta Stone; discovering a piece of the first electric cable laid by Edison; restoring a fragmented letter from Andrew Jackson that led to the infamous Trail of Tears; and locating copies of missing audio that had been recorded on Air Force One as the plane brought JFK’s body back to Washington. Whether it’s the first report of Napoleon’s death or an unpublished letter penned by Albert Einstein to a curious soldier, every document and artifact Raab uncovers comes with a spellbinding story—and often offers new insights into a life we thought we knew.

Siblings Emma and Alex fall deeper into the magical world of the Conjurian--a place where illusionists called conjurers can perform actual tricks--in book two of this new highly-illustrated fantasy adventure series that's perfect for fans of the Land of Stories. The hunt is on for the Eye of Dedi--the legendary object that stores magic untold--and siblings Alex and Emma are determined to get it first. The only problem? They're not the only ones looking. Hot on their heels is the evil Shadow Conjurer who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the Eye and finally control all of the Conjurian world. It's up to Alex and Emma to outsmart the Shadow Conjurer and his league of ghastly monsters, or risk losing magic forever. Fall under the spell of the Conjurers. Masterful storytelling and over 100 captivating black-and-white illustrations fill the world of this story with charm and intrigue.

"Siblings Alex and Emma are back in the Conjurian world where the race to find the Eye of Dedi and save all magic is on! But the hunt gets even more dangerous at every turn"--

Fraught with fatal mishaps and disastrous near misses, the missions of the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States defined an era and exemplified the global socio-political conflict of the Cold War. The Lost Cosmonauts by Ken Hunt is an elegy to humanity's fledgling efforts to explore outer space, and to those who lost their lives in pursuit of this goal. This wide-ranging collection of poems looks deep into the largely unexplored cosmos for experiences of the sublime, not only in celestial bodies and mythical figures among the stars, but also in those astronauts and cosmonauts who dared to explore them.

The spellbinding story of the greatest cold case in Arctic history—and how the rare mix of marine science and Inuit knowledge finally led to the recent discovery of the shipwrecks. Spanning nearly 200 years, Ice Ghosts is a fast-paced detective story about Western science, indigenous beliefs, and the irrepressible spirit of exploration and discovery. It weaves together an epic account of the legendary Franklin Expedition of 1845—whose two ships, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, and their crew of 129 were lost to the Arctic ice—with the modern tale of the scientists, researchers, divers, and local Inuit behind the recent discoveries of the two ships, which made news around the world. The journalist Paul Watson was on the icebreaker that led the expedition that discovered the HMS Erebus in 2014, and he broke the news of the discovery of the HMS Terror in 2016. In a masterful work of history and contemporary reporting, he tells the full story of the Franklin Expedition: Sir John Franklin and his crew setting off from England in search of the fabled Northwest Passage; the hazards they encountered and the reasons they were forced to abandon ship after getting stuck in the ice hundreds of miles from the nearest outpost of Western civilization; and the dozens of search expeditions over more than 160 years, which collectively have been called "the most extensive, expensive, perverse, and ill-starred . . . manhunt in history." All that searching turned up a legendary trail of sailors' relics, a fabled note, a lifeboat with skeletons lying next to loaded rifles, and rumors of cannibalism . . . but no sign of the ships until, finally, the discoveries in our own time. As Watson reveals, the epic hunt for the lost Franklin Expedition found success only when searchers combined the latest marine science with faith in Inuit lore that had been passed down orally for generations. Ice Ghosts is narrative nonfiction of the highest order, full of drama and rich in characters: Lady Jane Franklin, who almost single-handedly kept the search alive for decades; an Inuit historian who worked for decades gathering elders' accounts; an American software billionaire who launched his own hunt; and underwater archaeologists honing their skills to help find the ships. Watson also shows how the hunt for the Franklin Expedition was connected to such technological advances as scuba gear and sonar technology, and how it ignited debates over how to preserve the relics discovered with the ships. A modern adventure story that arcs back through history, Ice Ghosts tells the complete and incredible story of the Franklin Expedition—the greatest of Arctic mysteries—for the ages.

In this villainous one-hundred-page companion novella to the #1 New York Times bestselling I Am Number Four series, get a unprecedented look at the invasion—from three different Mogadorians hoping to conquer Earth. This novella picks up immediately after the cliffhanger ending of The Fate of Ten and coincides with the events of United as One, the final book in this epic series. After the Mogadorian leader is struck with a potentially fatal blow, it becomes uncertain who will step in for him and how the Mogs should proceed with their invasion of the planet. This power vacuum has wide-reaching ramifications. One Mog, who has been on a quest for redemption ever since she first let the Garde slip through her fingers, is given an unimaginable opportunity to make things right with the Beloved Leader. Another, who has an unquenchable thirst for blood, jumps at the opportunity to hunt down the human teens who have begun to develop Legacies. And the last Mog, who has been questioning everything since he crossed paths with Adam, is forced to decide once and for all where his allegiances lie. While the fate of the Mogadorian leader is unknown, the one thing that is for certain is that this war is coming to an end . . . and there can only be one side that wins.

Siblings Emma and Alex fall deeper into the magical world of the Conjurian--a place where illusionists called conjurers can perform actual tricks--in book two of this new highly-illustrated fantasy adventure series that's perfect for fans of the Land of Stories. The hunt is on for the Eye of Dedi--the legendary object that stores magic untold--and siblings Alex and Emma are determined to get it first. The only problem? They're not the only ones looking. Hot on their heels is the evil Shadow Conjurer who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the Eye and finally control all of the Conjurian world. It's up to Alex and Emma to outsmart the Shadow Conjurer and his league of ghastly monsters, or risk losing magic forever. Fall under the spell of the Conjurers. Masterful storytelling and over 100 captivating black-and-white illustrations fill the world of this story with charm and intrigue.