Yesterday, at the Gaithersburg Book Festival, I was “in conversation” with Lynne Olson, author of the book Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction.

The Subject

The empress in question was Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, a French archaeologist and Egyptologist who (1) worked in the French resistance and helped save treasures in the Louvre from the Nazis; (2) was the visionary and in-the-trenches fighter to move huge temples in southern Egypt that would have been submerged by the Aswan dam; and (3) achieved much more in a career that spanned 70 years until her death at age 97.

Christiane constantly fought the British and French men who dominated archaeology in Egypt. Unlike them, as Lynne explained, Christiane was interested in the context and history of the antiquities, not just the extraction of valuables. She learned Arabic and interacted with the Egyptians undertaking the back-breaking labor that the archaeologists directed. In the 1950s, when Gamal Nassar took control of Egypt, she was allowed to remain and work in Egypt, while the other Europeans had to leave.

The Author

A talk with an author is as much about her process as her subject. Lynne explained that she “found” Christiane while writing a previous book about French resistance fighter, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade (which she said usually happens). She thought of writing about a small resistance network that centered around the Musee L’Homme in Paris, but realized that one of its members, Christiane, merited her own book. During World War II, Christiane was in her 20s and worked at the Louvre.

Lynne had to a lot to learn about Christiane’s life, but also about ancient Egypt, the physical and cultural aspects of archaeology along the Nile, Egyptian politics, Cold War politics, and other topics. In the book, she quotes Christiane’s advice to those she mentored: “Do not fear criticism from ‘Dear Colleagues.’ Take a stand!” Lynne took this advice to heart. She admitted to moments of doubt as she “got out of her wheelhouse,” but I admire her curiosity and confidence to forge ahead—all during COVID. She “read like crazy”—but could not travel to Egypt.

After writing eight previous books, Lynne said she recognizes the need for a strong title to draw in readers. Sometimes, she said, she struggles with a title, but she seized on this title right from the start and fought for it with her publisher. “It’s a book about a woman who played a spectacular role in organizing, virtually on her own at the beginning, the greatest archaeological rescue in history, when nobody wanted to save them or thought they could be saved,” she told us.

Subject and Author

How much did Lynne identify with Christiane? Lynne said she was in awe of her subject’s bravery and clearly admires Christiane as the feisty, principled woman she was. “She did not let people stop her, never, ever.”

More broadly, what is the relationship between author and subject?

Earlier yesterday, by coincidence, I watched an interview with Beverly Gage, the award-winning biographer of J. Edgar Hoover. She most definitely did not hold the same admiration and sympathy as Lynne for Christiane, although she did say she respected Hoover a bit more (although not much) by the end of her ten-year project. Still, as she pointed out, we need to understand the people we don’t admire as much as the people we do.

I would rather spend a few years holed up in the archives with Christiane than J. Edgar.

Moderator

That would be me. This was the second time I served as a moderator at this book festival (I interviewed Gayle Jessup White, author of Reclamation, last year). I enjoy keeping in the game while I work on my own next book. Here are a few things I have learned to be a successful moderator:

1. Read the book: I recall several times when I was interviewed by someone who had not.

2. Connect with the author beforehand: Not always possible, but helpful. In this case, we had a Zoom snafu (the “invite” that I sent to Lynne never came, so she thought I had ghosted her), but we at least had a short phone call a few weeks ago.

3. Know your role: People are there to hear and see the author. Yes, there are cases when the interviewer is as famous or more than the interviewee, but I am not one of those people.

4. Don’t give everything away: This is also one of my tenets when I review books. The author wants to sell books!