Two thousand three hundred years ago the world's first great Library and international Culture Centre was created by the Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter. The Shores of Wisdom tells the story of this ancient Library and Mouseion of Alexandria and how it influenced Western thought as much as, if not more than, Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum at Athens. It sketches the portraits of the men and women responsible for the Library's fame, such as Euclid and Archimedes, the astronomers Aristarchus and Claude Ptolemy, the polymath Eratosthenes, the philosopher Philo, not forgetting the early Christian Fathers, Clement and Origen, but also of those involved in its calamities and final destruction. The Shores of Wisdom describes, too, the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina and how it has developed from an ambitious dream into a brilliant reality which will be a worthy successor to the Ancient Library during the coming millennium.
About the Author: Born in Geneva, Derek Flower was brought up in Egypt, and educated in Italian, French, and English schools in Alexandria and Cairo. He attended Malvern College in the U.K. and completed his studies at Oxford, where he graduated with an honors degree in Modern Languages. His lifelong interest in Egyptology led him to become extensively involved in the opening of the new Biblioteca Alexandrina in April, 2002. His nonfiction book The Shores of Wisdom is the definitive history of the ancient library of Alexandria, the world's first great center of culture. Shortly to be published is his Egypt - A travel History, that gives visitors to Egypt a brief, yet exhaustive history of the country from pre-dynastic times up and until today. Other works by him include: Farewell Alexandria, the acclaimed three generation saga Inquest on Imhotep, a thriller involving mystery, murder and mysticism, set in modern Egypt but harking back to the times of the pyramid builders and to Imhotep. Ransomed, based on a true story, this fast moving whodunit tells of the kidnapping of a leading French industrialist/playboy in the South of France. Who planned it? Who was to benefit from it? Who was to die as a result of it? The Tuscan Trilogy. Moving between Tuscany, London, Rome and New York, a three generation saga that recounts the joys and tragedies of a woman whom fate both cuddles and flays, of her rise from childhood poverty in southern Italy to glittering social and financial success in London, of the men who love her, of her sons, and of the castle in the Chianti hills where the story begins and ends. The Weird and Wonderful Adventures of Tim Wessurp (Twerp) A 13 year old schoolboy discovers suddenly that he has the gift of ubiquity and, as a result, finds himself involved in a series of amazing, and sometimes hair-raising adventures. The first is with the Smokeys, devilish wisps of smoke bent on dominating mankind. The second with Mourag, an infernal rag doll that almost brings our Western civilization to its knees, while the third iwith the Nethites, totally flat aliens that threaten to take over our planet if our scientists don't help them recover their lost dimension. The Magic Island of Tippeti-too. For kids aged 7 to 70, this fable in three episodes takes Dave to the magic island of Tippeti-too where man, animals, reptiles and nature still live in perfect harmony.