Merilee Grindle

New Yorker Best Book of the Year Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year "Grindle's passionate book, including extensive research in Mexico, will ensure that [Zelia Nuttall] is never forgotten." -British Museum Magazine "[A] beautifully crafted biography." -Foreign Affairs "What a woman! And what a fabulous life to unearth. Zelia Nuttall was incredibly smart, determined, a divorced single mother in...

The gripping story of a pioneering anthropologist whose exploration of Aztec cosmology, rediscovery of ancient texts, and passion for collecting helped shape our understanding of pre-Columbian Mexico. Where do human societies come from? The drive to answer this question inspired a generation of archaeologists and treasure-seekers who, following Darwin, began to look beyond the Bible for the origins of civilisations....