The Ships of Minos 1. The Ships of Minos, #1

1600 B. C. An epic journey to the ends of the world. A European best-selling historical adventure, finally in English. A breathtaking tale of Minoan mariners traveling in search of amber through the river systems of Eastern Europe to reach the "Sea of Gloom"--the Baltic. When it first appeared in 1972, it took our part of the world by a storm. This was our Odyssey and our Golden Fleece, written in a beautiful, intentionally archaized language to convey the sense of the epic.
It became an instant best-seller and continues to sell well fifty years later. More importantly, it has created a vast army of passionate fans who continue to engage with the franchise--somewhat akin to Tolkien in the English-speaking world. Millions of copies and thirteen languages later, archeological discoveries show us how prophetic the author's vision was: the greatest battle of the Bronze Age was fought not at Kadesh, between Hittites and Egyptians, as we thought for two centuries, but in the Tollense Valley, in north Germany.
At Zyndram's Castle, in Southern Poland the ruins of a Minoan castle testify that Cretans got at least that far as early as 1600 B. C. The north had nations, peoples, kingdoms of which all memory is lost. Absence of script and the prevalence of wood as building material have caused that ancient history to be largely lost but this epic, meticulously researched and richly imagined shows us what could have been.
And it is magnificent. Open the double doors of the horizon, and unlock its bronze bolts: Pick up your copy today!Read less