In this slim biography, Schlitz introduces Heinrich Schliemann, a nineteenth-century storyteller, archaeologist, and crook, who led a search for the lost cities of Homer's epic poems. In a colorful narrative, Schlitz follows her subject from his unhappy German childhood and successes as an international merchant to his middle-aged passion for archaeology and antiquities, which was not unusual for a man of his time. The author is frank about Schliemann's unreliability, noting that he lied in his diary and that it's hard to know what really happened and what he made up. The appended source notes only reference direct quotes, but Schlitz separates fact from Schliemann's lies in many instances, and the difference between the two may spark interesting class discussions about how history is made and slanted over time. Aspiring archaeologists will also be drawn by discussion of field techniques in the days before radiocarbon dating. Byrd's detailed drawings extend the dramatic story.

This irreverent biography of the nineteenth-century German who rediscovered ancient Troy attempts to disentangle fact from Schliemann's autobiographical fiction. Cartoonlike illustrations add to the appeal of the gently humorous text, though some readers may struggle with the complex sentences and unfamiliar vocabulary. Engagingly told and well documented, this will be particularly welcome where students already have some familiarity with ancient history.

The charismatic millionaire who uncovered the fabled city of Troy receives here an admiring and affectionate, if not completely heroic treatment. As depicted in this offering, Schliemann was an almost completely self-made man: He struck out on his own as a young man and parlayed a gift for languages and a knack for business into a fortune, and then used that fortune to fund his archaeological pursuits, later writing a highly embroidered autobiography recording his exploits. Schlitz's chatty text is frank with the reader about the difficulties of parsing fact from Schliemann's fiction, developing her protagonist as a man who craved the recognition afforded the heroes of the epics. It is equally frank about the destruction his enthusiasm wrought on the remains of Troy, while at the same time according him the credit due the man who believed in its reality despite scholarly skepticism. Byrd's wry illustrations match the breeziness of the text and add verve to the whole. While many readers will have little familiarity with The Iliad , they will nevertheless enjoy this portrait of a determined, if flawed, genius. (Biography. 9-13)

Gr 4-6-Schliemann wished to make a name for himself in archaeology, and he succeeded to a point. He exaggerated the truth, avoided proper procedures for the digs he financed, and his "discovery" of the ancient city of Troy was fraught with errors and misconceptions. Schlitz paints a colorful picture of a selfish man who used his shrewdness and earned wealth to create a mythological and romantic legend. This intriguing, well-documented biography is made more compelling by information boxes on history and such literary figures as Homer. Byrd's ink-and-watercolor illustrations, both diminutive and full page, add to this captivating story.-Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.