ON THE BOOKSHELF

Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City by Edmund Richardson Published by Bloomsbury Price £25

Pages 352

ISBN 9781526603784

The lost city of Alexandria Beneath the Mountains, once a meeting point of east and west, was discovered in Afghanistan in 1832 by Charles Masson and his story is as fascinating and intriguing as his discovery. A working-class boy from East London, Masson deserted from the army while in Agra, India and his obsession with Alexander the Great led him to travel widely, begging by the roadside, taking tea with kings, becoming a master of disguises, a spy, an archaeologist and scholar. Having discovered a lost civilisation, he found