Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-125) and index.

How do we know what we know about the past? -- The pieces of the puzzle -- Even today there can be mysteries : the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975 -- History underwater : the sister gunboats of Lake Champlain, 1776 -- Lost city found : the story of Martin's Hundred -- The mythical wall : the Great Wall of China -- The people before the Europeans came -- And then they were gone : the story of Mesa Verde -- Proving that some "myths" are true : the Vikings at l'Anse aux Meadows -- The distance between myth and reality : who was King Arthur? -- What happened when the city moved? : Italica, the forgotten Roman city -- Buried history : the story of Herculaneum and Pompeii -- When poetry is history : the search for Homer's Troy -- What language is this? : understanding the Egyptians -- Is the bible history? : the story of Noah's Ark -- If stones could speak : the mysteries of the Stone Age -- When the only message is cave drawings -- Talking skeletons : Lucy and the development of modern man -- Who owns history? Zeugma, Chancellorsville, the World Trade Center -- Can we ever be sure?

Learn about the detective work that historians use to better understand our past, including the mysteries of the Stone Age, Herculaneum and Pompeii, Noah's Ark, the Great Wall of China, the legend of King Arthur, and more.

A Junior Library Guild selection.