Tuesday 31 August 2021

#Blogtour Raiders of the Hidden Ark: The Story of the Parker Expedition to Jerusalem by Graham Addison

It's my turn on the BlogTour Raiders of the Hidden Ark by Graham Addison .

About the Author

Graham Addison - BIO: My first love is history, which is what I obtained my degree in from Leeds University. I am married with two children, who are no longer children, have lived in Scotland and France and now reside in Berkshire in the south of England.

History may be my first love but I have spent the last thirty-five years helping create the modern world. If you love the world of mobile communications, personal computing, spreadsheets, instantly being able to search for any answer in the world and online financial transactions then I played a small part in its creation. If you hate a world in which people spent all their time on their phones, can't be bothered to remember anything because they can always look it up, you are asked to fill in yet another spreadsheet and can't deal with an individual because you are always dealing with a computer then I am sorry, it wasn't all my fault.

A few years ago I decided that wanted to do something different. I came back to my first love and have now written a book, which seeks to shed new flight on an almost forgotten episode. I hope you will enjoy it. Follow @GrahamAddison7 on Twitter, Visit www.grahamaddison.com

About the book

The mystery surrounding the Ark of the Covenant’s location is among the world’s greatest and most enduring. One of the Bible’s most sacred and powerful objects has not been seen for over 2,500 years. The missing Ark has inspired many quests and even a famous film.

Perhaps the most remarkable of the quests to find the Ark is the Parker expedition. Its story seems stranger than fiction and includes aristocrats, poets, psychics, secret cyphers in the Bible, a deadly curse, bribery, gun-running, riots, and madness. It sounds unbelievable but the Parker expedition is real. Rudyard Kipling, who knew several expedition members, wrote ‘Talk of fiction! Fiction isn’t in it’.

Previously untold in English in its entirety, Graham Addison has uncovered many new details during his research. He skilfully weaves these together in the amazing story of the individuals who sailed on a private yacht bound for Jerusalem in 1909 to retrieve the Ark. He examines who the adventurers were, why they went, what really happened while they were in Jerusalem and what happened to them afterwards.

Review

This is the story of the Parker Expedition, an expedition mounted by a peculiar bunch, who weren't experts per se, but certainly enthusiastic and meticulous in their attempt to find the Ark of the Covenant. From the research, the motives, the dismissive attitude towards the looting of antiquities and the historical importance and legacy of said research - the author covers it all.

I was sceptical about this read in a sense that I thought it would be a tale of religious zealots or passionate historians trying to find a mythical boat. Even now the tale of the Ark inspires many for a multitude of reasons, often spiritual and of course there is the element of infamy plus possible financial gains.

It's exactly those reasons for the Parker Expedition that the author goes into in details. I can honestly say by the end that Addison had drawn me in hook, line and sinker. I do love a well-researched venture into history, especially when the object in question holds such power in religion, and yet the author gives facts without playing into the aspect of religion other than written references left throughout history.

I found the political and historical implications of the Parker Expedition absolutely fascinating - certainly in regards to the last few decades. Follow the money couldn't be any more accurate, and of course why said money sources have an invested interest in this particular hotbed area of contention.

Buy Raiders of the Hidden Ark at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Edgcumbe Press pub date 13 Aug. 2021. Buy at Amazon com

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