The Museum of Lost Things

True Tales of Fabled Treasures, Legendary Cities, and Mythical Creatures That Vanished From History

by Sam Kean

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Pub Date Sep 15 2026 | Archive Date Sep 15 2026

National Geographic

History | Nonfiction (Adult)

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Description

Discover the astonishing story of the world’s greatest lost treasures in this enthralling narrative by a writer with "the anecdotal flourishes of Oliver Sacks and the populist accessibility of Malcolm Gladwell." (Entertainment Weekly)

Spanning a million years of history, the mysteries in these pages include fabled relics, legendary cities, mythical species, and undeciphered languages that have bedeviled seekers for centuries.

Perhaps the single most common theme across all of history is loss. The loss of lands, loss of sacred objects, loss of languages, of rights, of life—the past groans with disappearances of all kinds. This enthralling narrative collects the most spellbinding tales of these experiences and weaves them into a thoughtful meditation on what it all means across the sweep of human history and the scope of human lives, including:

The long-lost city of Troy
The hidden tomb of Genghis Khan
The destruction of the fabled library of Alexandria
The near-destruction of the Mona Lisa and other art
The decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
The extinction—and potential resurrection—of dodos, mammoths, and other iconic species

Provocative, surprising, and above all entertaining, this globe-trotting narrative acknowledges the sheer scale of humanity’s losses, celebrates the treasures we have managed to retain, and reveals why they continue to captivate us centuries later.

Discover the astonishing story of the world’s greatest lost treasures in this enthralling narrative by a writer with "the anecdotal flourishes of Oliver Sacks and the populist accessibility of...

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781426223860
PRICE	$35.00 (USD)
PAGES	400

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