A fictional version of the very real Expedition of Napoleon in Egypt and the hundreds of scientists, artists and soldiers that went and came back and the amazing spirit and intelligence of one man : Jean-Francois Champollion whom we owe the key to reading hieroglyphs. So far, it's slow going but I find it interesting. Not for the "neophyte" of the period. If you know a little about this period in time it's fun to read.