Books in Wonders of the World series

Read the Bldg Blog interview with Mary Beard about the Wonders of the World series (Part I and Part II) The Rosetta Stone is one of the world's great wonders, attracting awed pilgrims by the tens of thousands each year. This book tells the Stone's story, from its discovery by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt to its current--and controversial-- status as the single most visited object on display in the British Museum. A pharaoh's forgotten decree, cut in granite in three scripts--Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic, and ancient Greek--the Rosetta Stone promised to unlock the door to the language of ancient Egypt and its 3,000 years of civilization, if only it could be deciphered. Capturing the drama of the race to decode this key to the ancient past, John Ray traces the paths pursued by the British polymath Thomas Young and Jean-Francois Champollion, the "father of Egyptology" ultimately credited with deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. He shows how Champollion "broke the code" and explains more generally how such deciphering is done, as well as its critical role in the history of Egyptology. Concluding with a chapter on the political and cultural controversy surrounding the Stone, the book also includes an appendix with a full translation of the Stone's text. Rich in anecdote and curious lore, The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt is a brilliant and frequently amusing guide to one of history's great mysteries and marvels.

Travel to a spooky sea cave filled with natural blue luminous light. See gigantic stone arches and balancing rocks that seem to defy gravity.Take a journey around our planet and visit some little known but amazing places. Be ready to be surprised.Visit the world’s most photographed mountain, one of the most dangerous to climb. See the largest salt flat in the world, flat as a pancake and so white that it is blinding.View a single tree that has tens of thousands of trunks, one of the heaviest and one oldest things on the planet.See a waterfall that is over 2,000 feet wide which dumps enough water in a single second to fill 5 Olympic sized swimming pools.Witness the beauty of these and other fascinating places that fill this book of Natural Wonders.“…well written for the target age group…The pictures are vivid and well chosen…”This book is full of color images, bursting with amazing facts and is easy to understand. Sure to intrigue young readers.Although this book is aimed at young readers from ages 6 to 8, it will appeal to all readers!To learn more about these Weird and Amazing Places in our Natural World, purchase your copy of this fascinating book today.TJ Rob — www.TJRob.comFor a FREE eBook visit www.TJRob.comBook Contents:Weird and Amazing Places in the NATURAL WorldUluruHa Long BayThe Great Blue HoleSalar De UyuniThe Blue GrottoArches National ParkThe MatterhornNgorangoro CraterThe Great Barrier ReefPandoIguazu FallsThe Grand CanyonThe Giant’s CausewayYuki-No-Otani Snow CanyonDon’t miss these other exciting Books by TJ Rob

Read the Bldg Blog interview with Mary Beard about the Wonders of the World series(Part I and Part II)The Rosetta Stone is one of the world's great wonders, attracting awed pilgrims by the tens of thousands each year. This book tells the Stone's story, from its discovery by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt to its current--and controversial-- status as the single most visited object on display in the British Museum.A pharaoh's forgotten decree, cut in granite in three scripts--Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic, and ancient Greek--the Rosetta Stone promised to unlock the door to the language of ancient Egypt and its 3,000 years of civilization, if only it could be deciphered. Capturing the drama of the race to decode this key to the ancient past, John Ray traces the paths pursued by the British polymath Thomas Young and Jean-Francois Champollion, the "father of Egyptology" ultimately credited with deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. He shows how Champollion "broke the code" and explains more generally how such deciphering is done, as well as its critical role in the history of Egyptology. Concluding with a chapter on the political and cultural controversy surrounding the Stone, the book also includes an appendix with a full translation of the Stone's text.Rich in anecdote and curious lore, The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt is a brilliant and frequently amusing guide to one of history's great mysteries and marvels.

Nearly 50 stories high, The Great Pyramid was built more than 4,500 years ago, made from over 2,300,00 giant stone blocks and constructed by primitive farmers. Some believe aliens from outer space created it, but the true story of the Great Pyramid is even more fascinating than the speculation. A nation of farmers living on the green edge of a harsh desert had a king who was a god in life and death. Tens of thousands of farmers left their homes each year to chisel hard stone without iron tools and move 10-ton blocks up steep grades without the use of a wheel. Elizabeth Mann captures the marvel that is The Great Pyramid and the people that built it. She tells the story of a world that is strange, distant and yet poignantly human. In the process, The Great Pyramid and the Old Kingdom become more than dusty remnants of an ancient civilization; they come alive. Laura Lo Turco's shimmering paintings are a perfect visual complement to the text, combining reality with a sense of awe and mystery. Photographs of haunting 4,500-year old walls and statues let Ancient Egypt remind the young reader that these people were indeed real. Wonders of the World series The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture. "One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers." - Booklist

It seemed so simple. Panama was less than fifty miles wide. How difficult could it be to build a canal across it? Tragically difficult. Panama was a disease-ridden death trap. Its mountainous rain forest was a challenge to the most brilliant engineers. Its oppressive heat exhausted the hardiest workers. Somehow the Panama Canal was built. Engineers found ways to cut through the rain forest. Medical visionaries conquered the diseases. Workers endured the jungle. Yet side by side with genius and selfless heroism were broken treaties, the domination of a small nation by a large one, and tens of thousands of black West Indian workers forced to live in second-rate, segregated conditions. This, too, is the story of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal captures the spirit of an age when no task was thought impossible, and no price too high to pay. Wonders of the World series The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture. "One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers." - Booklist

They called the river the Red Bull. Desert silt gave the Colorado its distinctive color, but it was its power and unpredictability that made its fierce reputation. Speeding down from the high Rockies, the Colorado would flood without warning, wiping out any farmer foolish enough to settle near its banks. But what if the Red Bull could be tamed? Farmlands irrigated by the Colorado's waters could bloom in the desert. Cities electrified by the Colorado's power could grow and prosper. The Hoover Dam grew from this dream and with it much of the modern American west. Built in the middle of The Great Depression, the Hoover Dam was set in an unforgiving landscape whose climate defied habitation much less intense, backbreaking physical labor. Yet, during those hard times and in that desolate place, there rose an extraordinarily sophisticated feat of modern engineering. The Hoover Dam is the dramatic story of the danger, suffering, courage and genius that went into the building of one of America's most famous landmarks. Wonders of the World series The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture. "One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers." - Booklist

The Magnificent Mughals of India. Shah Jahan, ruler of India, murdered three of his brothers in his bloody rise to power. Yet when his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, suddenly died, the grief-stricken emperor built the world's most beautiful tomb as a monument to her memory. Shah Jahan was the fifth emperor of the Mughal dynasty. The Mughals combined the brute force and fierce ambition of their legendary ancestor Genghis Khan with a delicate artistic sensitivity. Theirs was a world where even forts were architectural gems, where emperors had their life stories told in exquisite miniature paintings, and where each new ruler competed with the previous one by building a grander palace, fort, mosque and city. The Taj Mahal tells the story of this remarkable dynasty through its greatest artistic achievement. From the soaring domes, to the marble columns inlaid with precious gems, to the vast gardens, to the perfect symmetry of its design, the Taj Mahal expressed the power, grandeur, glory and beauty of the Mughal world.

During the first millennium AD, one of the world's great civilizations appeared in the dense jungles of Mesoamerica. All over the Yucatan Peninsula, the Maya mastered sophisticated principles of mathematics, architecture, agriculture and astronomy and created scores of powerful city-states. At the center of this world was the largest city of them all -- Tikal. Sprawling over twenty-five square miles, Tikal was situated in the heart of the Yucatan, near rivers that flowed to every corner of the Maya world. Tikal prospered from trade and military triumphs. Its rulers used its wealth to build a magnificent city of palaces, grand plazas and some of the largest stone pyramids seen in the Americas. As with all great achievements of a civilization, Tikal is a window into the culture that created it. By telling the story of the city -- from its humble beginnings, through its bloody wars, to its "golden age" -- Tikal illuminates the Maya world in all its grandeur, glory and genius. Wonders of the World series The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture. "One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers." - Booklist