From Publishers Weekly
Mason, who rose to fame for tackling Napoleon's hemorrhoids, has fashioned himself into something of a historical tattler. Washington's big sin, it seems, was a carelessness with money, both his own and the nation's, and a greed for land that occasionally flouted the law. Amid the myth-busting "other little secrets" are tales of a cancer battle that left President Cleveland with a rubber jaw and the assertion that Lyndon Johnson was involved with the Kennedy assassination. Some stories included here are not quite as airbrushed as Mason may think; Hitler's Jewish ancestry and JFK's chronic womanizing are not exactly secrets. Still, there are mysteries to ponder and images to be shattered. Readers' eyebrows may rise at some of Mason's assertions; for instance, if his claims about Mahatma Gandhi are accurate, the world was duped into believing a well-crafted myth about a power-hungry narcissist. Few illustrious names are spared; even the innocuous Louis Pasteur is scrutinized for stealing the formula for a sheep vaccine from another scientist. It's a diverting read, and whether or not these tales are true or turn out to be myths themselves, Mason has crafted a provocative collection of secrets. (Sept.) (c)
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King Arthur was a political construct; Dr. Spock a mediocre father; James Watta forger; Conan Doyle a plagiarist. Or so we’re told. This highly entertaining book, which is also solidly documented, doesn’t set out to demolish the reputations of its subjects but rather to offer new takes on them. Sure, Watt did great things for the world, but in his early years he might have passed off some cheaply made flutes as the work of someone else. Mason isn’t making any serious accusations here, and he admits that some of the evidence is a bit thin. Think of his work as speculative history: if his suppositions are correct, what does it say about these great people? Do we think any less of George Washington when we find out that, as commander of the Continental Army, he declined a salary and asked to be paid only for his expenses, bilking the American people out of 10 times what a salary would have paid him? While Mason does cover some familiar ground (we know Isaac Newton didn’t really see an apple falling from a tree), much of his book is fresh and thought provoking. --David Pitt
About the Author
Phil Mason has amassed one of the world’s largest private collections of cuttings and books chronicling bizarre stories. He is the author of Mission Accomplished! and How George Washington Fleeced the Nation. He lives in England.
