Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, living in the shadow of an accomplished older brother, decided early that he would carve his own identity in exile. As a 23-year-old military officer of the East India ...

Joshua Hammer takes a hugely enjoyable look at three rivals who competed to decipher the world’s oldest writing ...

EMPIRES OF THE PLAIN: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon Lesley Adkins, . . St. Martin's/Dunne, $29.95 (424pp) ISBN 978-0-312-33002-6 ...