What constitutes historical truth is often subject to change. Joe Nickell demonstrates the techniques used in solving some of the world's most perplexing mysteries, such as the authenticity of Abraham Lincoln's celebrated Bixby letter, the 1913 disappearance of writer and journalist Ambrose Bierce, and the apparent real-life model for a mysterious character in a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nickell also uses newly uncovered evidence to further investigate the identity of the Nazi war criminal known as "Ivan the Terrible."

Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), writes the "Investigative Files" column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. He is a frequent guest on television shows including Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Jerry Springer Show, Unsolved Mysteries, Politically Incorrect, Dateline NBC, 20/20, 48 Hours, Penn & Teller's Showtime series, and many more. He is author of  Detecting Forgery, Camera Clues, Real-Life X-Files, Crime Science, The Kentucky Mint Julep , More Real-Life X-Files, and Secrets of the Sideshows.

Reviews:

"Nickell takes a practical no-nonsense approach to a series of historical mysteries, surveying the evidence and working out whether there is a case to be made for the strange conclusions that people have often reached."--Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

"Long before those history detectives hit PBS & Co., there was Joe Nickell."--Rockland (ME) Courier-Gazette

"A riveting collection of historical mysteries that can stand as 'mere' entertainment, or a thought-provoking introduction to an exciting field of study."--Reading for Pleasure

"The stories are interesting and the scientific approaches used to investigate them are fascinating."--Paintsville (KY) Herald

"Into a relatively few pages not only has Nickell managed to pack the philosophy, strategy, and tactics of scholarly research and scientific investigation, but he also walks the reader, in step-by-step fashion, through nine separate and diverse historical mysteries he has confronted and solved."--Skeptical Inquirer

"A fascinating and unusual collection."--Lore and Language

"Nickell ably exploits tests of evidence, reasoning, forensic science, literary analysis, and historiography, making difficult concepts clear with apt example. [He] deftly promotes the difficult art of discovering reality in mystery."--Register of the Kentucky Historical Society