Book excerpt: 'When I was a small child...(my) imagination was fired by the age-old mystery of that Lost City of Ophir which furnished gold to the temple of Suleiman and as the years passed, I formed an ambition to discover it... In this fascinating book, the author reveals the unfolding story of his life-long quest to find Ophir. First joining the Royal Navy and then embarking toward China, the author begins a series of adventurers that propel him towards his goal: 'I have learnt that Ophir and the Gold of Ophir represent far more than a lost city and a tale of romance. The lost lands of Ophir may awaken the whole of the Middle East; they may bring prosperity to a poverty-stricken peninsula that is larger than India.'