Stone of Kings: In Search of The Lost Jade of The Maya
Book Details
Description
A book perfectly timed for the re-setting of the Maya calendar in 2012.... Part history, popular science, armchair travel, and real-life treasure hunt, this is the story of pre-Columbian jade—the precious stone revered by ancient Aztecs, Incans, and Maya—and the scientists, collectors, explorers and entrepreneurs who have been searching for the mythical jade mines for more than a century.
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“A compelling tale.... This well-focused and well-told account brings America’s most mythologized gemstone into sharp relief.â€
          —Wall Street Journal
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“[T]he story of the search for the long-vanished mines of the Mayas . . . [with] engaging digressions into plate tectonics, the technology of jade carving and the brutal history of the regimes of a succession of Guatemalan generals. . . . [Prospectors] Ridinger and Johnson endured earthquakes, coups, kidnapping, even civil war. But eventually they stumbled upon huge blocks of the alluring, elusive stone.â€
         —New York Times Book Review
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Selected as an Indie Next List “Great Readâ€
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“The search for the sources of this mysterious rock reads like detective fiction, and involves geologists, archaeologists, entrepreneurs, poachers, and a host of other characters, but it’s all true. A wonderful read!†—Michael D. Coe, author of Breaking the Maya Code


