In Search of Troy, 2nd Edition: An Unusual History Detective Story

The Trojan War, the tale featuring Helen, Paris, Achilles, and Hector, allegedly took place more than 3,000 years ago. The location of the epic struggle has been determined to be a place at the northwestern tip of Asia Minor, Turkey today. It has been anointed the status of UNESCO World Heritage Center, no less. Yet 3,000 years ago the Greek civilization had yet to come into existence. Asia Minor was under the control of the Hittites. The Balkans, arguably, was Mycenaean territory, not Greek. Scholars have strenuously stressed that the Mycenaean script, the Linear B, was the forerunner of Greek, yet it was a syllabic script, not a phonetic script. Therefore, the best one can argue for is that the later Greeks had absorbed some aspects of the Mycenaean cultures, including gods, into their own, it can hardly be said that Mycenaean was Greek. Thus there are plenty of reasons to dispute the Asia Minor Troy assignment.

At the time of the alleged Trojan War, Eastern Mediterranean was dominated by two superpowers, Egypt and the Hittite Kingdom, while Mycenae had already long weakened. At about the time of the alleged Trojan War these two superpowers clashed in a grand battle, after which both powers declined. Was that colossal battle the Trojan War? Other than the timing, there was nothing in common between the historical event and the legend. Not only that, the historical battle did not last ten years, a duration commonly attributed to the Trojan War. If the Trojan War lasted ten years, it should have been a significant historical event. Yet there is no mention of it in any of the contemporary records. These are all baffling dilemmas that would lead one to suspect the authenticity of the so-called historical Troy, as it did the author of In Search of Troy.

Prof. Chien, the author of In Search of Troy, is a multicultural scholar. His knowledge straddles multiple disciplines and cultures. His Chinese heritage (Prof. Chien is a US citizen born in China and raised in Hong Kong) combined with his American education provides him with a unique stereoscopic view of the world. His engineering background (a graduate of the University of Michigan's School of Engineering and onetime Senior Analyst with the Voyager and Galileo Spacecraft Programs at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) ingrains in him a strict logical thinking. With these, his uncompromising inquisitiveness propels him to look at each and every aspect of the historical timeframe within his purview and to formulate a viable solution to the problem, and what a conclusion it is.

Prof. Chien quickly defines the problem, then in the best Agatha Christie tradition carefully and deliberately lays out the background, giving us a clear understanding of the time and the scope of the central issues. One by one he lays out the pertinent factors that would shed light on the path to the solution. And just when you wonder how they would all be woven together, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, and you're down for the count That was, of course, Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope knocking out George Foreman, but the effect here is not dissimilar. You, the reader, hardly have the time to demur, and the case is made.

Well, that may not be the case with the academics, for Prof. Chien's theory will most assuredly be considered too outr for their comfort, although it is impeccably supported by the evidence provided and well-argued. One does not expect mainstream intelligentsia to give up on long-held views without some resistance. Nonetheless, in this magnum opus the author gives a master class in research. The material contained herein is rich. There are at least 10 PhD degrees waiting to be earned by some worthy history students. It is without question a tour de force, a pi ce de r sistance in the annals of historical research.

Ultimately, In Search of Troy is a great read, and in a way is more entertaining than the Iliad itself-Editor