Peking Man [antikvár]

Ungvári Tamás könyvtárából.
In this unique and exciting book a world- famous anthropologist recounts the astonishing discovery of the fossils of Peking man and the even more dramatic tale of their disappearance and the mystery of their present whereabouts. Discovered in an abandoned quarry near Peking, and identified in 1926, the fossils revolutionised the history of man's evolution, causing a world-wide sensa- evolution, causing a world-wide sensa- tion and stirring up immense controversy in the scientific community. Though jealously guarded, they vanished later, with the Japanese conquest of China, having been despatched to the United States in the baggage of a group of departing U.S. Marines. Recently, they have been again the subject of much publicity, as news of their current where- abouts appears, only to be dismissed. The long search for these priceless fragments of man's ancient past has at various times involved the governments of the United States, Communist and Nationalist China, and Japan, as well as the FBI, the State Department, scores of major cultural institutions and hundreds of individuals ranging from scholars to adventurers. It has led the investigators, professional and amateur, from one end of the world to the other, into obscure museums, the sites of World War II prison camps, private houses and, on one occasion, to the tower of the Empire State building in New York, where the secret may have been revealed. Dr Shapiro's account is a unique and special pleasure — a book about the history and romance of man's discovery of his own descent, centred upon what are perhaps the rarest objects in the world, and containing within its central theme a mystery as gripping as that of any great fiction best seller.