In the autumn of 1924 the ancient civilization of the Indus valley was discovered, re-writing the history books and changing the ancient timeline as it was known forever. The discovery was recognized as being on the same scale as the unearthing of Troy and of Crete. The book is filled with interesting stories and quirky characters, such as Luigi Pio Tessitori, the Italian linguist-turned-explorer who unearthed Kalibangan but never lived to tell the tale of his exploits; Alexander Cunningham, the archaeological pioneer and Harappa's first excavator; government officials of all kinds who, as self-taught archaeologists, stumbled upon significant clues; and John Marshall, a Cambridge classicist who finally solved the tantalizing puzzle of data on the long-forgotten Indus civilization. In the end, the story of Finding Forgotten Cities spans nearly a century, combining history and archeology to tell the fascinating story of this world-changing discovery for the first time.