History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time

Today’s nonfiction post is on History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time by Brad Meltzer with Keith Ferrell. It is 149 pages long and is published by Workman Publishing Company, Inc. The cover has the title of the book in the center with Abraham Lincoln in one top corner and JFK on the other. There is no language, no sex, and talk of violence in this book. The intended reader is someone who likes conspiracies or who just wants to learn more about them. Ages 10 and up should be fine. The stories are told in a personable voice with some nods to scholarly without being too much so. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- WANTED: THE TRUTH
It’s an irresistible combination: master storyteller Brad Meltzer counting down the world’s top ten most intriguing stories- the great conspiracies, from the Leonardo da Vinci’s stolen prophecy to the Kennedy assassination. Adapted from Meltzer’s hit series on HISTORY, the book explores those fascinating, unexplained questions that nag at history buffs and conspiracy lovers. Why was Hitler so intent on capturing the Roman “Spear of Destiny”? Where did all the Confederacy’s gold go? What is the government hiding in Area 51? And did Lee Harvey Oswald really act alone?
Richly illustrated in full color- and every chapter has removable facsimile documents, so you can examine the evidence yourself.

Review- This was a really fun read. I love conspiracies and I knew about most of them in this book but not all. I did not know about the da Vinci’s painting/drawing that some people see as a prophecy. I did not know about the Georgia Standing Stones and I will be going to see those. The documents are fun. They are in pockets at the beginning of each chapter and it was fun taking then out and looking at them, reading them, then reading what Meltzer thought about them. The book is well written for people all of levels who want to learn, talk about, or just explore these interesting stories. Meltzer does not try to get the reader is believe what he believes. Sometimes he tells what he thinks about the conspiracy and sometimes not but he always gives the reader room to think and decide for themselves. I hope that he writes more like this because this was just so fun.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.