Cruickshank follows in the footsteps of Howard Carter to trace the life of the man who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
Cruickshank attributes the discovery of the treasure of Tutankahmun to the sheer tenacity of Carter. Carter's solitary upbringing by maiden aunts in rural Norfolk is credited as the source of his self-reliance and sense of being an outsider. Carter left school aged 15 with little formal education but great artistic skills. Lord and Lady Amherst's Egyptian collection at nearby Diddlington Hall entranced Carter and they appointed him to a dig in Egypt. Arriving at the vibrantly decorated tombs at Beni Hasan he became disenchanted with the arid tracings he was instructed to produce and instead created beautiful watercolour renditions. Later he joined the dig at El Amarna and learned the scientific style of its leader Flinders Petrie.
At 19 Carter was appointed site artist at the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri winning great acclaim with his newly acquired archaeological skill and was running the dig within 6 years. His subsequent appointment as Chief Inspector in Egyptian Antiquities Service arose resentment amongst more experienced archaeologists and was soon forced to resign. The outcast Carter eventually teamed up with Lord Carnarvon and the two began the search for Tutankhamun which eventually succeeded thanks to Carter's stubbornness. The project took over the life of the meticulous Carter who fell-out with Carnarvon over the disposition of the find further isolating him.
Carter spent over a decade completing the excavation of the site before being gently pushed aside by the authorities and returning to a solitary existence in England where later he died leaving behind a magnificent archaeological legacy.
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