The Secret Of The Sands

This is a mystery novel that tells the story of the Amory family; Sir Horace Amory, his daughter Vera, his son Dick, and the wife of his late uncle, Maria. Horace had inherited the title and property "Oversand" from his deceased uncle. Maria comes to stay at Oversand hiding a secret she kept rigidly to herself. When she wanders away from the house, she is found sitting, staring intently into those boiling, shifting grey sands, from which nothing ever emerged alive that had been engulfed in their lethal coils. What is the mystery story about the shifting grey sand? Will Lady Maria Amory finally disclose the secret?

In a part of Egypt so parched that decades might pass between rainstorms, amid a sea of sand, is a green island—Dakhleh, the “everlasting oasis”—that may contain the whole of human history. In this extraordinary book, an acclaimed science writer and journalist follows an international team of archaeologists as they unlock the secrets of nearly half a million years. Using high-tech methods, these scientists have made stunning finds, including indications that Dakhleh may have been the cradle of the Nile civilization that gave rise to the pharaohs and the pyramids. They have unearthed a perfect Old Kingdom town, with palaces and temples from the Golden Age, huge caches of mummies and papyri, and the world's two oldest books, and have located an entire Roman city—a Pompeii in the middle of the desert. Blending elements of adventure narrative, travelogue, and scientific mystery, Secrets of the Sands also traces on a grand historical scale the story of how humans have interacted with the changing environment, laying bare a parable with relevance to us all about the fragile balance between humankind and our world.

A surprising adventure exploring the mysterious origins of Ancient Egypt and its enigmatic monuments, uncovering long-buried truths and a powerful secret that is as dangerous as it is awe-inspiring...

Reproduction of the original: The Secret of the Sands by Harry Collingwood

Read at Home is designed for young, beginner readers. It features all the popular Oxford Reading Tree characters in exciting stories specially written for parents to support their children's reading at home. These entertaining stories, with real life and fantasy adventures, are carefullygraded across 5 levels, and contain vocabulary repetition and gradual progression within each level, from Book A to Book C.These Level 5 stories are for children Reading with Confidence - those children who can recognize 75+ words by sight, can read with less support and who can read silently and read ahead. The story has 4-6 sentences per page. The accompanying CD has the audio of the story for children to read alongwith and enjoy.Approx ORT level: Stage 6-7Highly successful, high profile author and illustrator team:* Roderick Hunt, author of the original Oxford Reading Tree stories, and Cynthia Rider are superb storytellers with over 50 years educational experience between them.* Alex Brychta's humorous and detailed illustrations bring the stories alive and are known to and loved by millions of Oxford Reading Tree readers.