Explore
In Losing our Marbles? the History Mystery team that Tom sets up investigates the riddles of the past.
The ancient city of Atlantis lies somewhere under the ocean but where?
Alexander’s tomb was in Egypt for hundreds of years after his death and his body was seen by the Emperor Augustus who knocked off the mummified nose. When and how did it disappear ?
Six thousand men of the Ninth Legion, based in York, vanished without trace. How and why ?
Prester John, a legendary king in the Orient, allegedly wrote a letter to the Byzantine Emperor which caused the Pope to write back to him in 1177. Was he just a myth?
Cassie and her activist friends want all ancient treasures returned to their homelands and are prepared to take unorthodox steps to achieve their aim. What lengths will they resort to in order to recover Greece’s lost Elgin or Parthenon marbles and will they succeed?
Many countries are seeking to repatriate ancient treasures. The Marbles are the most famous example held in Britain. But Egypt is seeking the return of the Rosetta Stone, India the Koh I Nor diamond and Nigeria the Benin Bronzes.
It’s a complex issue and has a long history in itself. Countless treasures have been taken from their homelands over centuries. The serpentine column dedicated to the oracle at Delphi after the Greek victory over the Persians in 479 BC was relocated to Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 324 AD and is still there in the Hippodrome. But the same Hippodrome has lost its bronze horses which were looted by crusaders in 1204 AD and set up above the porch of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice (the crime scene in Losing our Marbles?) . Although removed by Napoleon in 1797, they were later returned – to Venice not the Hippodrome.
Explore - join up dots even further afield?
Boris is a dog on a mission. He may be the the first canine cosmonaut to pilot his own rocket, but he is aware that he is following in the paw prints of his famous predecessor Laika who beat Yuri Gagarin’s Sputnik into Space.
As he hurtles towards the mysterious and distant exoplanet M999, Boris wonders what he will find there. The journey gives him plenty of time to recall the incredible story not only of Laika, but also the many other dogs, animals and insects who have boldly gone where none have gone before, most of them never to return.
Boris has no intention of sharing their fate. He has talents the “Masters” cannot match or fully understand. Perhaps at last a new age is dawning when humans go the way of the dinosaurs and dogs can finally have their day.
Tom's Book Suggestions
The following is an eclectic selection of books Tom has read recently and enjoyed. None of them are straight history books but they all raise interesting issues about the past as well as the present.
The Bells of Old Tokyo by Anna Sherman – exploration of Tokyo’s ancient past and present.
Golden Hill by Francis Spufforth – romping tale of eighteenth century New York beautifully written.
Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov – provokes thought about the zones between conflicts.
The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov – the chaos of Russia in the time of revolution.
The Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears – a clever labyrinthine plot set in Restoration England.