The World's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries ed. by Wilson
The World's Greatest Unsolved Mysteries (2005)
edited by Damon Wilson
485 pages - Magpie
A grab-bag of weird 'true' stories and legends, this book is divided into three sections. The first concerns strange events in different corners of the globe, such as disappearances, curses, and strange sights. Perhaps the most interesting is a chapter devoted to the curious story of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, where for hundreds of years people have been digging for treasure that quite possibly doesn't even exist, at great financial and human cost. The second part deals with monsters and other weird creatures, such as vampires and sasquatches . The content is a mix of reportedly true stories and mythology. The last section deals with various psychic phenomena, and was the least interesting for me, especially as that is where the book seems least skeptical.
I would say that most of the things described here are reported with a reasonable mix of doubt and openness. I looked up a few of the more curious things online, and though the reports I found varied in the details, I didn't think the book twisted the available story to any extreme. The book is said to be 'edited' by Damon Wilson (son of Colin Wilson), but doesn't give any details on who wrote the bulk of the text; whether it was a team of freelancers, or if it's pulled from a variety of sources, or if it's a slight reworking of an older book, or what. Since this book was published in 2005 but the most recent events in it are from about the 1960's, I suspect it may be a slight reworking of some previously published material. There's no index, and though some book titles are mentioned in passing, there's also no bibliography. On the positive side the prose style, which is often grating in these types of 'sensational' books, was very clear, plain and direct, and never tries your patience even though what is being said might.
The book is an interesting exhibit of salesmanship as well, with the 'Unsolved Mysteries' of the title being very large and prominent so it looks like a tie-in with the TV series until you pick the book up off the store shelf and (possibly) read the entire title. There's also a 'little green man' on the front and back cover, though UFO's aren't delt with at all in the text, except for being referenced as an unlikely source of some phenomena. So, I quite enjoyed the first part of the book, and overall it was an amusing lark, but I don't think I realized how long it would take to read through the whole thing.
edited by Damon Wilson
485 pages - Magpie
A grab-bag of weird 'true' stories and legends, this book is divided into three sections. The first concerns strange events in different corners of the globe, such as disappearances, curses, and strange sights. Perhaps the most interesting is a chapter devoted to the curious story of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, where for hundreds of years people have been digging for treasure that quite possibly doesn't even exist, at great financial and human cost. The second part deals with monsters and other weird creatures, such as vampires and sasquatches . The content is a mix of reportedly true stories and mythology. The last section deals with various psychic phenomena, and was the least interesting for me, especially as that is where the book seems least skeptical.
I would say that most of the things described here are reported with a reasonable mix of doubt and openness. I looked up a few of the more curious things online, and though the reports I found varied in the details, I didn't think the book twisted the available story to any extreme. The book is said to be 'edited' by Damon Wilson (son of Colin Wilson), but doesn't give any details on who wrote the bulk of the text; whether it was a team of freelancers, or if it's pulled from a variety of sources, or if it's a slight reworking of an older book, or what. Since this book was published in 2005 but the most recent events in it are from about the 1960's, I suspect it may be a slight reworking of some previously published material. There's no index, and though some book titles are mentioned in passing, there's also no bibliography. On the positive side the prose style, which is often grating in these types of 'sensational' books, was very clear, plain and direct, and never tries your patience even though what is being said might.
The book is an interesting exhibit of salesmanship as well, with the 'Unsolved Mysteries' of the title being very large and prominent so it looks like a tie-in with the TV series until you pick the book up off the store shelf and (possibly) read the entire title. There's also a 'little green man' on the front and back cover, though UFO's aren't delt with at all in the text, except for being referenced as an unlikely source of some phenomena. So, I quite enjoyed the first part of the book, and overall it was an amusing lark, but I don't think I realized how long it would take to read through the whole thing.