Book excerpt: This book is a very scholarly archaeological detective story. The most eminent archeologists of the past century are the superstars of the detective story -- Heinrich Schliemann, Arthur Evans, and Carl Blegen. Their quest led them through a complicated series of historical puzzles that can be called by the term "Mycenaean Civilization, the fabulous era of Greek prehistory that form the basis for the background of the Homeric poems, "Iliad" and the "Odyssey". This book is a step-by-step full account of their dedicated search to solve on of the great mysteries of antiquity, how Mycenaean civilization grew and flourished and died between 1600 and 1100 BC. The book is completely adheres to and photographs or renders in illustration everyone of their archaeological findings that helped them put the story together. Their work is supported by an enormous bibliography and and extensive index. This detective story leaves us with current theories and references to Homeric poetry to resolve and prove with further archaeological discoveries.