Great Puzzles of History: Intriguing Cases of the Past (Books by Fred Neff)

Presents discussions of ten historical controversies, including the fate of Marie Antoinette's son, the true identity of Prisoner Number 7 (Rudolph Hess), the existence of King Arthur, and the discovery of America

Grade 6-9. Neff invites students to play detective, "historically interpret" events, and practice critical thinking, but his book fails on several levels. First, the author presents information about each famous mystery without noting sources or distinguishing between fact and theory, research and rumor. For example, all of the ideas related to who "discovered" (sic) America?from Vikings, Columbus, Celts, St. Brendan, Phoenicians, and travelers to Atlantis?are offered as possibilities to be considered. Also, there is no discussion of the rules of historical evidence to help students do the further investigation the author recommends. Finally, he presumes his readers bring a level of knowledge of history and geography to their reading that many do not have. Certainly these are intriguing puzzles to which history has not found fully accepted answers, but Neff's book is not a good starting point. The stories of Anastasia, the princes in the tower, Robin Hood and King Arthur, Alexander I of Russia, the young heir to Louis XVI of France, and the Man in the Iron Mask do invite "practice in historical interpretation," but information on these cases can be readily found in other sources.?Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
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