Ambrose Bierce Is Missing: And Other Historical Mysteries [Hardcover]

Joe Nickell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1991

All the major categories of historical mystery are here--ancient riddles, biographical enigma's, hidden identity, "fakelore", questioned artifacts, suspect documents, lost texts, obscured sources, and scientific challenges. This highly readable book will intrigue the scholar and the history buff no less than the mystery lover.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Joe's argument may stir up some controversy and debate, but his ideas are thought-provoking." -- Armor

About the Author

Joe Nickell, author of Crime Science: Methods of Forensic Detection, is Senior Research Fellow of the international Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). He writes the “Investigative Files” column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky; First Edition first Printing edition (October 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813117666
• ISBN-13: 978-0813117669
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,150,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe Nickell has been called "the modern Sherlock Holmes." Since 1995 he has been the world's only full-time, professional, science-based paranormal investigator. His careful, often innovative investigations have won him international respect in a field charged with controversy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars historical detective work, May 26, 2000

By 

Michael Barber (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ambrose Bierce Is Missing: And Other Historical Mysteries (Hardcover)

This book was both informative and entertaining. Nickell examines a number of historical mysteries. These mysteries include the disappearance of Ambrose Bierce mentioned in the title, the authenticity of historical artifacts alleged to have belonged to Daniel Boone and others, establishing the identity of Nazi war criminals, and several more. These cases are rather disparate, but Nickell uses them to illustrate the common use of the investigative method in historical studies. I enjoyed reading this book quite a lot. This is no dry academic treatise: it reads a lot more like a good-paced detective novel. Rather than an just describing the methodology of historical investigations, Nickell shows it through entertaining case studies. I learned a lot about how historians investigate questions, as well.