Andrew Robinson 'The Man Who Deciphered Linear B, the story of Michael Ventris'
In 1900 Arthur Evans discovered the Cretan Palace of Knossos, home of the legendary King Minos. Amid the ruins he found tablets inscribed with an unknown script, Linear B. It was not until half a century later that the enigmatic script was deciphered and not by a professional but by an amateur, Michael Ventris. In this interesting and readable book Andrew Robinson tells Ventris's story from childhood until his tragic death at the age of 34. Understandably the decipherment of Linear B receives a lot of attention and for me that was the highlight of the book; at the time of writing I was even able to hold forth not only on the differences alphabetic and syllabic scripts, but on the differences between open and closed syllabaries!
168 pages Thames & Hudson
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