"Fast-paced and compelling . . . Waxman has an array of wondrous tales to tell . . . Considerable, admirable, and totally absorbing."--"The Boston Globe"For the past two centuries, the West has plundered the treasures of the ancient world to fill its great museums, but in recent years the countries where ancient civilizations originated have begun to push back, taking museums to court, prosecuting curators, and threatening to force the return of these priceless objects.Sharon Waxman brings us inside this high-stakes conflict, from the great cities of the West to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, as these countries face down the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She shows how the actions of a few determined and implacable characters may yet strip these museums of some of their most cherished treasures.For readers who are fascinated by antiquity, who love to frequent museums, and who believe in the value of cultural exchange, "Loot" opens a new window on an enduring conflict.

莎朗•韋剋斯曼（Sharon Waxman），齣生於美國剋裏夫蘭市，1985年獲得哥倫比亞大學英語文學學士學位，1987年獲得牛津大學中東研究碩士學位，精通法語、希伯來語和阿拉伯語。她曾在耶路撒冷、巴黎長期居住，作為自由撰稿者為媒體撰寫稿件。從1995年至2008年1月，她移居到洛杉磯，先後成為《華盛頓郵報》和《紐約時報》的文化記者，緻力於關注中東以及歐洲局勢。著有《幕後的反叛》（Rebels on the Backlot，2005）、《流失國寶爭奪戰》（Loot,2008） 等。