A chance visit to the Mummy Congress in Arica northern Chile sends scientific journalist Heather Pringle on a global odyssey in search of mummies and the people who study them. Her journey takes her from Chile to Egypt, to Russia and Japan, and the mummies range from ancient Egyptians to European bog people, from the controversial Caucasian-looking mummies of China to self-mummifying monks of Japan. This is a fascinating book, written with a very light touch making even the most unpleasant details of such and such parasite or the ghoulish description of rotting flesh seen almost light and airy. The book uses the researchers themselves as a framework for each chapter and this gives the book a human quality. This is not the most profound book available on mummies, but for me at least, certainly one of the most enjoyable.
368 pages, published by Theia New York
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