Pitt Rivers: The Life and Archaeological Work of Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers

by Mark Bowden

A flamboyant polymath, General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (1827–1900) was influential in four fields during his military training, anthropology, archaeology and public education. Yet very little is known about his career, character, or motivation. Mark Bowden has written an entertaining and thoroughly researched biography of the General, which describes his stormy relationships with his wife, children, colleagues, tenants and dependants; his military career; his activities in public education; and his contributions to anthropology and archaeology. In particular he assesses his impact as excavator, field archaeologist, theoretician and first Inspector of Ancient Monuments on the development of British archaeology. This is the most complete biography of a controversial man whose methods and ideals have been much quoted but frequently misunderstood and misrepresented.

Genres: Biography

198 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Mark Bowden is an American journalist and writer. He is a former national correspondent and longtime contributor to The Atlantic. Bowden is best known for his book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War (1999) about the 1993 U.S. military raid in Mogadishu, which was later adapted into a motion picture of the same name that received two Academy Awards.
Bowden is also known for the books Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw (2001), about the efforts to take down Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, and Hue 1968, an account of the Battle of Huế.