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Lost: Stories of People, Places, and Things Lost Throughout History
What happens when ancient queens, space probes, and even millions in Bitcoin simply vanish? Discover the secrets and stories behind history’s most baffling disappearances.
Journey across the world and through the ages in this truly fascinating history book for kids 7+, discovering how extraordinary treasures came to be “lost”.
From legendary pirates and ancient empires to sunken ships and missing jewels, every page reveals an intriguing new mystery, complete with colourful, captivating visuals showing how each story might have unfolded.
Written by award-winning TV producer and author, Tom Adams, LOST is a fresh take on history. With different, equally compelling categories - from missing people and places to art and literature - there truly is something for every curious young mind to puzzle over.
Inside, explore the real stories
The mystery of Queen Nefertiti’s tombThe fate of Amelia Earhart's planeMillions in missing BitcoinThe original World Cup trophy
With intrigue and mystery to be found on every page, LOST is the perfect gift for kids who love history, mystery, or the unexplained.
Journey across the world and through the ages in this truly fascinating history book for kids 7+, discovering how extraordinary treasures came to be “lost”.
From legendary pirates and ancient empires to sunken ships and missing jewels, every page reveals an intriguing new mystery, complete with colourful, captivating visuals showing how each story might have unfolded.
Written by award-winning TV producer and author, Tom Adams, LOST is a fresh take on history. With different, equally compelling categories - from missing people and places to art and literature - there truly is something for every curious young mind to puzzle over.
Inside, explore the real stories
The mystery of Queen Nefertiti’s tombThe fate of Amelia Earhart's planeMillions in missing BitcoinThe original World Cup trophy
With intrigue and mystery to be found on every page, LOST is the perfect gift for kids who love history, mystery, or the unexplained.
96 pages, Hardcover
Published April 14, 2026
About the author
Tom Adams
83 books2 followersBorn Thomas Charles Renwick Adams, Tom Adams was a US-born Anglo-Scots illustrator and painter. Long active in a variety of visual formats, he is known for his work in book cover art, portrait painting, poster, advertising and album art. He is most widely known for his book cover art for the paperback editions of Agatha Christie.
After serving two years in the navy, 1944-1946, he then trained at the Chelsea School of Art and Goldsmiths College, where he received a National Diploma of Painting in 1949. Between 1953 and 1960 he provided illustrations for the youth-oriented UK comics Eagle, Girl and Swift.
In the 1960s and 1970s he became involved with several distinguished poets, including Edward Lucie-Smith, Ted Hughes, C. Day Lewis, Brian Patten, George MacBeth and Adrian Henri as well as artists Sandra Blow, John Piper, Josef Herman, and Mark Boyle among others, producing poetry prints published by his own gallery, the Fulham Gallery, London.
He also designed posters for Mark Boyle's light shows (The Sensual Laboratory), the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Soft Machine. His connection with the modern world of rock music continued when he met Lou Reed, an admirer of his Christie and Raymond Chandler covers. Adams designed the cover for his first solo album.
By the early 60s, Collins decided it wanted to do something more artistically distinct with Agatha Christie’s paperback covers. Impressed with Adams’s cover for John Fowles’ 'The Collector', they engaged Adams and a distinct partnership developed.
He was commissioned to do a trial cover of Christie's 'A Murder Is Announced', which was published with his cover in 1962. Everyone involved was pleased with the outcome. As a result, Adams ended up doing covers for many of Christie's paperbacks, often more than once. The only covers he did not create art for were the pre-1926 books which Fontana did not have the publishing rights to.
PocketBooks in the US very much wanted more realistic covers and for this reason, most of Adams' covers for the US editions feature a single dramatic or portentous scene from the novel that spans the front and rear covers. The two exceptions are "Nemesis" and "The Mystery of the Blue Train".
Fontana in the UK was much more open to Adams' creative input. Thus, the UK covers were often akin to a stylized tableau or surrealist collage. Adams ended up doing the covers for Agatha Christie paperbacks for 28 years (1962-1980), thus becoming connected with her intimately in the minds of many readers.
After serving two years in the navy, 1944-1946, he then trained at the Chelsea School of Art and Goldsmiths College, where he received a National Diploma of Painting in 1949. Between 1953 and 1960 he provided illustrations for the youth-oriented UK comics Eagle, Girl and Swift.
In the 1960s and 1970s he became involved with several distinguished poets, including Edward Lucie-Smith, Ted Hughes, C. Day Lewis, Brian Patten, George MacBeth and Adrian Henri as well as artists Sandra Blow, John Piper, Josef Herman, and Mark Boyle among others, producing poetry prints published by his own gallery, the Fulham Gallery, London.
He also designed posters for Mark Boyle's light shows (The Sensual Laboratory), the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Soft Machine. His connection with the modern world of rock music continued when he met Lou Reed, an admirer of his Christie and Raymond Chandler covers. Adams designed the cover for his first solo album.
By the early 60s, Collins decided it wanted to do something more artistically distinct with Agatha Christie’s paperback covers. Impressed with Adams’s cover for John Fowles’ 'The Collector', they engaged Adams and a distinct partnership developed.
He was commissioned to do a trial cover of Christie's 'A Murder Is Announced', which was published with his cover in 1962. Everyone involved was pleased with the outcome. As a result, Adams ended up doing covers for many of Christie's paperbacks, often more than once. The only covers he did not create art for were the pre-1926 books which Fontana did not have the publishing rights to.
PocketBooks in the US very much wanted more realistic covers and for this reason, most of Adams' covers for the US editions feature a single dramatic or portentous scene from the novel that spans the front and rear covers. The two exceptions are "Nemesis" and "The Mystery of the Blue Train".
Fontana in the UK was much more open to Adams' creative input. Thus, the UK covers were often akin to a stylized tableau or surrealist collage. Adams ended up doing the covers for Agatha Christie paperbacks for 28 years (1962-1980), thus becoming connected with her intimately in the minds of many readers.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 14, 2026
This was lots of fun! Very intriguing stories, majority I had no idea about.
May 3, 2026
So informational and easy to understand. loved it
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews