More Unsolved Mysteries of American History

Rating:
Summary: fascinating and entertaining
Review: Aron's sequel to his "Unsolved Mysteries of American History" is even better than the original!

Rating:
Summary: Extremely fun
Review: I like history because I like stories, and I think I would have liked the class in high school if the textbooks had been like this: fun stories, arguments and debates with just enough room in the evidence to provoke further thought. This is not dates and names history. This is history that's alive.

Rating:
Summary: History's Mysteries
Review: Since reading Paul Aron's "Unsolved Mysteries of American History" and "Unsolved Mysteries of History," I've been looking forward to the sequel--and here it is!

"More Unsolved Mysteries of American History" presents thirty mysteries in a series of brief essays (about seven pages apiece). The chapters are arranged chronologically, beginning with the question "Did St. Brendan Discover America?" and ending with "Was O.J. Simpson Guilty?"

Aron is very fair in his summary of each mystery. In clean and simple prose, he lays out the background, summarizes the competing theories and offers a reasoned solution, ending each essay with a brief but thorough annotated bibliography.

If you are looking for a book that offers sensational solutions to mysteries real or imagined, you'll probably be disappointed by the "Unsolved Mysteries" series. Aron fairly summarizes the "off the wall" theories about each of his mysteries, but he always comes to a conclusion that seems pretty plausible. No space aliens, Elvis sightings or grassy knolls here, but there's still plenty of mystery to be explored and enjoyed.

If you like this book, you'll want to read Aron's two previous books (one is another collection of American historical mysteries, the other examines the mysteries of world history). For those who enjoy somewhat more sensational solutions to their historical mysteries, try Hugh Miller's "Secrets of the Dead" and "More Secrets of the Dead," based on the BBC documentary series of the same name. Both of Miller's books can be found on Amazon's UK site.

Rating:
Summary: History's Mysteries
Review: Since reading Paul Aron's "Unsolved Mysteries of American History" and "Unsolved Mysteries of History," I've been looking forward to the sequel--and here it is!

"More Unsolved Mysteries of American History" presents thirty mysteries in a series of brief essays (about seven pages apiece). The chapters are arranged chronologically, beginning with the question "Did St. Brendan Discover America?" and ending with "Was O.J. Simpson Guilty?"

Aron is very fair in his summary of each mystery. In clean and simple prose, he lays out the background, summarizes the competing theories and offers a reasoned solution, ending each essay with a brief but thorough annotated bibliography.

If you are looking for a book that offers sensational solutions to mysteries real or imagined, you'll probably be disappointed by the "Unsolved Mysteries" series. Aron fairly summarizes the "off the wall" theories about each of his mysteries, but he always comes to a conclusion that seems pretty plausible. No space aliens, Elvis sightings or grassy knolls here, but there's still plenty of mystery to be explored and enjoyed.

If you like this book, you'll want to read Aron's two previous books (one is another collection of American historical mysteries, the other examines the mysteries of world history). For those who enjoy somewhat more sensational solutions to their historical mysteries, try Hugh Miller's "Secrets of the Dead" and "More Secrets of the Dead," based on the BBC documentary series of the same name. Both of Miller's books can be found on Amazon's UK site.