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Aztec Treasure House Kindle Edition

by Evan Connell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
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Here are tales of fabulous advances made in anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, and linguistics, stories of the Anasazi, the "old ones" of the southwestern desert, of the great explorers, eccentrics, dreamers, scientists, cranks, and geniuses. "There's no end to the list, of course," Connell says, "because gradually it descends from such legendary individuals to ourselves when, as children, obsessed by that same urge, we got permission to sleep in the backyard."
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  1. Print length
    573 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Counterpoint
  5. Publication date
    July 1, 2015
  6. File size
    1007 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

HThese 20 erudite and entertaining historical essays (all but three of which have appeared in previous volumes) highlight Connell's wide-ranging intellect and lucid prose. He revels in unexpected turns of fate and relishes the picturesque, strangely compelling details that historians often miss. Interweaving exhaustive scholarship with winning humor in an essay on astronomy, he recounts how the arrogant Tycho Brahe lost the bridge of his nose during a duel with a rival scientist over "which of them was the better mathematician." A few pieces consider historic clashes between "those traditional opponents Science and Religion." Fascinated by people who probe the outer limits of knowledge and geography, Connell provides a blow-by-blow account of the famous debate between Thomas Huxley and Bishop Wilberforce over evolution and describes the searing conflict between Galileo and the Catholic Church over heliocentrism. "White Lantern" the best essay of the bunch passionately (even enviously) details the amazing race to the South Pole between pragmatic Norwegian Roald Amundsen and romantic Englishman Captain Robert Scott, in a narrative even Jon Krakauer would admire. Connell sagely points out that "Amundsen, the victor, is not as renowned as the loser," because a dead hero (Scott died on the return trip) is more likely to captivate the public's imagination. Confessing a hopeless attraction to "buried treasure, monsters, ghosts, derelict ships, inexplicable footprints, and luminous objects streaking through the sky," Connell chronicles journeys of absolute, disastrous futility the searches for Atlantis, the Seven Cities of Gold and the Northwest Passage. These skillfully crafted essays will please any history, science or adventure buff. (Sept. 30)Forecast: Connell's Sun of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn was a much-praised bestseller. This should be widely reviewed and sell handsomely.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Connell has been thrilling readers for decades with graceful and intelligent fiction and works of history, including his latest brilliant historical novel, Deus Lo Volt! [BKL Ja 1 & 15 00]. His collected stories were published in 1995, and now a volume of essays extends his life list, a mighty achievement seemingly effortlessly created. Connell is at once bracingly erudite and warmly conversational. He thinks well of his readers, addressing them directly and trusting them to recognize the historical worlds he enters so confidently and familiarly and to share his amusement, dismay, and delight over the foibles and accomplishments of our ancestors. He writes of the struggles of antiquity and the expeditions that forced open the so-called New World to the marauders of the Old, covering an astonishing wealth of information in a minimum of well-chosen and well-ordered words. Astronomy, archaeology, the origins of the Olmec, various heresies, the lives of geniuses and kooks--all engage Connell's supple and urbane intelligence and flow silken and radiant onto the page. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B010KN7UHW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint (July 1, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 1, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1007 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 573 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

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Evan S. Connell

Evan S. Connell

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

G. B. Talovich
5.0 out of 5 stars Wondrous hodge-podge
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2002
Verified Purchase
This wonderful book flows along like a river. Sometimes it bumps into boulders, swirls in an odd corner, or leaps down a waterfall. Connell throws in extraneous facts, skips from here to there,and gives enjoyable reading. He would be an author of great stature if he could refrain from his heavy-handed pose of jaded cynicism. Yes, we know there are nasty people in the world without being reminded at every possible cue. Yes, we know that many people in the English speaking world are execrable, too, even though we have produced nobody of Hitler's rank: where he uses Dresden to provide an example of an apartment crumbling during WWII, London also provided plenty of firebombed apartments, and they didn't even start the war. And anyway, all that is thoroughly traveled territory, inappropriate for a book that takes us into untraveled lands and unknown people.
These are great stories, told superbly. One thing puzzled me, though. Connell's eloquence failed him on perhaps the greatest journey of all. Compare his telling of the Cabeza de Vaca to the same story in DeVoto's Course of Empire. Strange.
But don't let this get in your way. Read and enjoy!
4 people found this helpful
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J
5.0 out of 5 stars On a par with "Son of the Morning Star", but less well-explored . . .
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
Connell was my favorite writer, and the 18 essays from "The Long Desire" and "The White Lantern" that were reprinted in this book (along with two more from the 1990s) stand with "Son of the Morning Star" as my all-time favorite pieces by this magnificent author. Anyone who likes "Son of the Morning Star", but who somehow has missed these essays, should try this wonderful book. I love all of these, but prefer "The Long Desire" as a whole, so I think people coming to the book for the first time might want to start with the 8th through 18th pieces, which were the ones that first appeared in that volume.

Now if only Amazon will put his biography of Goya on Kindle!
8 people found this helpful
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Ventura Angelo
5.0 out of 5 stars Of human daring and fancy legends
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2007
Verified Purchase
These essays are an exquisite treat for the reader of history, both factual and speculative. The Author's as his best when he explores nooks and crannies of history when legend mixes with fact, as in the Vinland essay, on in the essay on the Etruscans. In these cases, the Author is objective as can be, but he reveals his sympathy for the more imaginative theories. .Il loved also his essays on the legends of Priester John, El Dorado and the Seven Cities. How easily is man prey of fancy notions and fanatical beliefs, like in the Innocents crusade! These essays are thoughjt provoking as they are learned.
4 people found this helpful
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lapidaryblue
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful variety of essays
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2016
I love this book. Connell has maybe 20 + essays on exploration, treasure hunting, ancient civilizations, all the stuff I love and I've bought several precolombian celts as a result. An expensive book.
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Bomojaz
5.0 out of 5 stars Great historical "travel" essays
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2007
This is a collection of a number of travel essays - travel essays of the historical kind: the search for El Dorado, for the Northwest Passage and the Seven Cities; the voyages of Columbus, Walter Raleigh, the Vikings to North America; and the explorations of Scott, Amundsen, and the number of scientists (Copernicus, Kepler, etc.) who searched the heavens through crude telescopes. There are 20 essays in all, most of substantial length. Connell is a fascinating writer who infuses his narratives with just enough quirky factual information to keep the reader always intrigued; he gives the impression of being endlessly amazed and awed by the subject at hand, which he conveys effortlessly to the reader. The essay on Scott and the explorations of Antarctica is a masterpiece; so too is the one on deciphering ancient tablets. But all of these essays are a delight to read and produce wonder and admiration for those people who risked everything to dream wild dreams, to pursue them, and then to simply marvel at what they found.
7 people found this helpful
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Kevin Prufer
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Essays
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2002
I first read most of these essays the year I graduated from college. (All but a couple were collected in earlier books which are now quite hard to find.) They are beautifully written, exciting, and fascinating. Connell has an amazing breadth of subjects and communicates complex ideas with ease and clarity. Even years later, I find myself thinking about his essays on the race to the South Pole or near eastern archaeology. In fact, this is that rare book I'd recommend to almost anyone of just about any age. It's full of exciting stories, intelligent analysis, and honest-to-god wit. I'm so glad to see these essays collected in one volume. Hoorah! [Connell's Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge are also fantastic.]
11 people found this helpful
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Robert E. Witwer
5.0 out of 5 stars More entertaining than fiction
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2005
A crackling good trove of true tales is what we have here. Connell has a jeweler's eye for interesting details and he's a terrific writer. Add it up and it's safe to say these are among the best history essays ever written, imho.
One person found this helpful
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