The Decipherment of Linear B. On the Origins of the Greek Language.
Gallimard| N° d'inventaire | 4150 |
| Format | 14 x 22.5 |
| Détails | 234 p., B/W ill., 1 B/W plate outside the text, paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 1972 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782070280582 |
Since Evans's first excavations, the Cretan clay tablets kept their secret... until the day Michael Ventris and John Chadwick managed to exchange messages in Minoan B in 1952. This remarkable achievement, whose vicissitudes, setbacks, and triumph are recounted by John Chadwick, is essentially the work of Ventris, a brilliant amateur and talented dialectologist. Years of research, the dual battle waged against silent inscriptions and skeptical rivals led him to a sensational discovery: the Cretans spoke Greek. This book by a great scholar is a high-culture detective novel.
Since Evans's first excavations, the Cretan clay tablets kept their secret... until the day Michael Ventris and John Chadwick managed to exchange messages in Minoan B in 1952. This remarkable achievement, whose vicissitudes, setbacks, and triumph are recounted by John Chadwick, is essentially the work of Ventris, a brilliant amateur and talented dialectologist. Years of research, the dual battle waged against silent inscriptions and skeptical rivals led him to a sensational discovery: the Cretans spoke Greek. This book by a great scholar is a high-culture detective novel.