A major new work exploring the story behind Ancient Egypt's most famous art work.

Who was Nefertiti? We know her name means 'a beautiful woman has come', and that she was the wife of Akhenaten, the pharaoh who ushered in the dramatic Amarna age, and that she bore him six daughters. But after her husband's death, Nefertiti vanishes from view, and much of what we now know about her is speculative.

And yet - Nefertiti remains one of the most famous women who have ever lived. Her face adorns postcards, tea towels and mouse-mats across the world, she has featured in computer games and jazz albums, and one woman even spent half a million pounds on plastic surgery to resemble her. This enduring obsession is the result of one object: the beautiful and mysterious bust of her, created by the sculptor Thutmos and now in Berlin's Neues Museum.

In this original and wide-ranging study, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldersley explores the history of the bust, from its origins in a busy Amarna workshop in Ancient Egypt, to its rediscovery and controversial removal to Europe in 1912, and its present status as one of the world's most important artefacts. Shedding light on Nefertiti's own life, as well as her improbable afterlife, this is a book for anyone who wants to know the real story of Egypt's most mysterious queen.