'Every traveller coming added to the general defacement of the statuary within his reach. It was no part of my original plan to bring away anything but my models.' It was with these words in 1816 that Lord Elgin argued his case for having removed many of the finest sculptures from the Parthenon. The controversy surrounding the 'Elgin Marbles' and whether they should be returned to Greece has raged ever since. The story of how Lord Elgin secured them, of Byron's vicious attack upon him, and of the Earl's subsequent ruin is told by Magnus Magnusson.