Alexander Lee

Euripides’ Lost Plays

One of Greek tragedy’s ‘big names’, Euripides survives largely in scraps and fragments. What can 78 new lines from Ino and Polyidus reveal?

King John’s Lost Treasure

The loss of his treasure on the road to war was said to have brought about King John’s demise. What happened to it?

Sabbatai Sevi: The Lost Messiah

In the 17th century news spread that the Jewish messiah had finally arrived. Within a year he had converted to Islam. Who was he, and what had happened?

Pasternak and Stalin: What Was Said?

A short telephone call between Joseph Stalin and Boris Pasternak sealed the fate of a fellow writer. What exactly transpired during that fateful discussion remains subject to debate.

The Lost Years of Jesus

Did Jesus have a difficult childhood? Was his youth spent in Egypt or England, India or Japan? The four canonical gospels are quiet on his early life, leading some to speculate.

The Bruneri-Canella Case

The curious case of an apparent amnesiac in Collegno paved the way for forensic science to become one of the pillars of Italian law.

Percy Fawcett and the Lost City

First Tenochtitlán, then Cuzco, then Machu Picchu – why shouldn’t cities paved with gold be discovered in South America? At least Percy Fawcett believed so.