Who Was the Man in the Iron Mask?: And Other Historical Enigmas

[Warning] This penguin reprint book has been originally published as "Historical Enigmas" in 1974, and before that, partly as "Historical Whodunits" (1955) and "Enigmas of History" (1957). Beware before buying it.The new title "Who Was the Man in the Iron Mask" is misleading, so let me correct it. The writer Hugh Ross Williamson, prolific novelist and historian (and many others), has written this interesting book about English history, in which he explores the scandals and gossips such as the speculated identity of the father of Elizabeth I, or the murderers of the princes in the Tower. So, the book is mainly about the history of England, not France.The contents are: 1.History and the Writer 2.The Death of William Rufus 3.The Princes in the Tower 4.The Identity of Perkin Warbeck 5.The Parentage of Queen Elizabeth I 6.The Murder of Amy Robsart 7.Holyrood and Kirk o'Field 8.The Gowrie Conspiracy 9.The Gunpowder Plot10.The Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury11.The Poisoning of King James I12.The Assassination of Colonel Rainsborough13.The Executioner of King Charles I14.The Campden Wonder 15.The Mystery of James de la Cloche16.The Man in the Iron Mask17.The Murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey18.The Innocence of Sir John Fenwick19.The Appin Murder20.The Diamond Necklace21.The Wives of King George IV(Chap.1 is a rather preachy introduction you can skip over. Chap. 3 is indirectly about Richard III; Chap.16 is of course about the mysterious man in Dumas' famous novel (or DiCaprio's movie), and the proposed theory is certainly unique. Chap.19 concerns partly RL Stevenson's classic novel "Kidnapped"; and Chap.20 deals with the interesting case about the necklace which accelerated the downfall of Marie Antoinette, recently made into a picture starring Hilary Swank.) And don't be wrong here. Williamson postulates, but never insists. Like many books on the truths of, say, Jack the Ripper, he shows many intriuging aspects of many well-known episodes in English history, but some people, especially academic historians, would find the book too clever. To his credit, Williamson, who seems to heartily dislike "textbook history" and "historical propagandas," does not offer any conclusive theories about these matters. He just suggests, but to some, too strongly. It is true, however, that there were scandals and rumors surrounding these cases above, and people are still intrigued by the enigmas in history. And like the tantalizing questions such as "Who shot down the Red Baron?" or "What ever happened to the still missing author of "The Devil's Dictionary," the answers will never be revealed. This conclusion, Hugh Ross Williamson is, and all of us are, ready to accept.Some complaints about this reprint. As there is no introduction attached to the text, we don't know whether or not new information has been unearthed since the original publication of the book. We need the opinions from the thrid party, hopefully from historians, but we are left alone to judg