In a week I will be following a MOOC on Antiquities Trafficking and Art Crime (University of Glasgow), together with a course on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds (University of Southampton).
Yes, I’m doing this both for fun and as documentation for future stories – and it will be eight hours per week, for four weeks, well spent.

It’s quite suitable, therefore, that the postman just delivered my copy of Fortune & Glory, by David McIntee, published by Osprey Adventures.

The book is subtitled A Treasure Hunter’s Handbook, and is filled with the sort of information I might need were I to drop my current boring life and start down the same track followed by the likes of Indiana Jones and Nathan Drake.
The paperback book includes the lowdown on famous treasures From Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Middle East, plus details about sunken treasures and a handsome list of movies, books, and games focusing on treasure-hunting and swashbuckling adventure.
The lot, with a tongue firmly in cheek and mixing liberally fact and fiction.
It will be a perfect companion to my courses… maybe.

Also, Fortune & Glory makes a perfect pair with that other great read, The Indiana Jones Handbook, by Kiernan & D’Agnese, a nice hardback described as the Complete Adventurer’s Guide.

I’ve got my books, I’ve got my courses, all I’ll need will be a sturdy notebook, a pen for taking notes, and my fedora hat.