The Hunt for History, Nathan Raab
The Hunt for History, Nathan Raab
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

The Hunt for History
On the Trail of the World's Lost Treasures—from the Letters of Lincoln, Churchill, and Einstein to the Secret Recordings Onboard JFK's Air

Author: Nathan Raab, Luke Barr

Narrator: Fred Sanders

Unabridged: 8 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/10/2020


Synopsis

Nathan Raab, America’s preeminent rare documents dealer, delivers a “diverting account of treasure hunting in the fast lane” (The Wall Street Journal) that recounts his years as the Sherlock Holmes of historical artifacts, questing after precious finds and determining their authenticity.

A box uncovered in a Maine attic with twenty letters written by Alexander Hamilton; a handheld address to Congress by President George Washington; a long-lost Gold Medal that belonged to an American President; a note that Winston Churchill wrote to his captor when he was a young POW in South Africa; paperwork signed and filled out by Amelia Earhart when she became the first woman to fly the Atlantic; an American flag carried to the moon and back by Neil Armstrong; an unpublished letter written by Albert Einstein, discussing his theory of relativity.

Each day, people from all over the world contact Nathan Raab for help understanding what they have, what it might be worth, and how to sell it. The Raab Collection’s president, Nathan is a modern-day treasure hunter and one of the world’s most prominent dealers of historical artifacts. Most weeks, he travels the country, scours auctions, or fields phone calls and emails from people who think they may have found something of note in a grandparent’s attic.

In The Hunt for History, “Raab takes us on a wild hunt and deliciously opens up numerous hidden crevices of history” (Jay Winik, author of April 1865)—spotting a letter from British officials that secured the Rosetta Stone; discovering a piece of the first electric cable laid by Edison; restoring a fragmented letter from Andrew Jackson that led to the infamous Trail of Tears; and locating copies of missing audio that had been recorded on Air Force One as the plane brought JFK’s body back to Washington. Whether it’s the first report of Napoleon’s death or an unpublished letter penned by Albert Einstein to a curious soldier, every document and artifact Raab uncovers comes with a spellbinding story—and often offers new insights into a life we thought we knew.

About Nathan Raab

Nathan Raab is one of the world’s most knowledgeable and respected experts in historical documents. His writing has appeared in The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and he frequently writes a column, “Historically Speaking,” for Forbes.com. The author of The Hunt for History, he lives with his family in Pennsylvania.

About Luke Barr

Luke Barr is the author of Ritz & Escoffier and the New York Times bestseller Provence, 1970. The former features editor at Travel + Leisure, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two daughters. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Erik on February 18, 2023

This book, written by a document dealer, contains a number of stories about acquisitions made by the author and his parents over many decades. Frankly, I was mostly interested in the matter of authentication, dealing myself with signed and antique books. There's some of that, but mostly it's a bunch......more

Goodreads review by Holly on August 09, 2020

Fascinating.......more

Goodreads review by Gary on April 04, 2020

This is a fascinating look at the business of authenticating and acquiring historically significant documents, letters, autographs, and artifacts.......more

Goodreads review by Socraticgadfly on March 11, 2020

A willful historical misinterpretation to lead off one chapter, plus seeing how highly it's being rated by others, led to the 3-star rating. Even before seeing it ridiculously at 4.89 stars, I was going to 4-star for sure, and say this is a case where I wished for 3.5 stars. But now? And what's wrong......more

Goodreads review by Kimberly on March 06, 2020

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com As a fan of history I couldn’t wait to read this book. And I am so glad I got to. I have never heard of Nathan Raab but I will be looking into him more now. I found the information he has really fascinating. So much rare and informative documents and artifact......more