Great Mysteries of the Past
Call thisUnsolved Mysteries, news version. Although some of the stories here are familiar grist for the mystery mill (the prophecies of Nostradamus, the authorship of Shakespeare's plays), many will be less familiar to most readers. For instance, there's the scandalous story of French courtesan Marie Duplessis, dramatized by Alexandre Dumas asCamille, or the question of whether the 1876 presidential election was stolen by Rutherford B. Hayes from the real winner, Samuel J. Tilden. TheReader's Digesteditors play fast and loose with the concept of Headlines of History--yes, Watergate fits, but did Lady Godiva's nude ride actually make the tabloids? Still, these 100 "historical" mysteries are presented in a lively, streamlined fashion and are illustrated with appealing color and black-and-white photos. Numerous sidebars supply additional information and vary the layout nicely. Good fun for browsers and not without some elementary reference value.Ilene Cooper