The one-of-a-kind story of the archaeological pioneer who discovered Troy.

Where was Homeric Troy, and what remained of it? This was Heinrich Schliemann's the sole focus in his four autobiographies. From 1870 to 1890, the German businessman, who later became an archaeologist at the age of 40, discovered nine cities atop the site of Homeric Troy. His entrance into the scholarly world caused a stir that his autobiographies tried to smoothe over. Through the story one of the 19th century's most controversial scientific figures, Annick Louis presents the social and cultural genealogy of a new type of scholar who did not claim to represent an intellectual tradition or a theory, but who would move heaven and literal earth to prove a hypothesis.