The Forgotten Survivor

The account leading to the discovery and clearance of Tutankhamun’s tomb has been told many times over in books, journals and on film. But one tale still remains to be investigated. That is the story told by Richard Leslie Adamson over a period of nearly two decades during the 1960s and 1970s. A former soldier, Adamson claimed to have been Howard Carter’s security officer spending ten years in the Valley of the Kings guarding Tutankhamun’s last resting place. He also claimed to have slept in the tomb for seven years protecting its contents from thieves and vandals. Adamson died in 1982 having given some 1,500 lectures, was granted a private audience with Prince Charles, participated in television interviews and had his story told in newspapers and in books. Scouring military, historical and civilian archives the author digs deep into Adamson’s past and reaches some surprising conclusions.