Tall, handsome, charming Col. Richard Meinertzhagen (1878-1967) was an acclaimed British war hero, a secret agent, and a dean of international ornithology. His exploits inspired three biographies, movies have been based on his life, and a square in Jerusalem is dedicated to his memory. Meinertzhagen was trusted by Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben Gurion, T. E. Lawrence, Elspeth Huxley, and a great many others. He bamboozled them all. Meinertzhagen was a fraud. Many of the adventures recorded in his celebrated diaries were imaginary, including a meeting with Hitler while he had a loaded pistol in his pocket, an attempt to rescue the Russian royal family in 1918, and a shoot-out with Arabs in Haifa when he was seventy years old. True, he was a key player in Middle Eastern events after World War I, and during the 1930s he represented Zionism's interests in negotiations with Germany. But he also set up Nazi front organizations in England, committed a half-century of major and costly scientific fraud, and -- oddly -- may have been innocent of many killings to which he confessed (e.g., the murder of his own polo groom -- a crime of which he cheerfully boasted, although the evidence suggests it never occurred at all). Further, he may have been guilty of at least one homicide of which he professed innocence. A compelling read about a flamboyant rogue, The Meinertzhagen Mystery shows how recorded history reflects not what happened, but what we believe happened.

About the Author
Brian Garfield is the author of novels that have been made into Hollywood movies (including Hopscotch and Death Wish), a former president of the Mystery Writers of America, and the author of the nonfiction work, The Thousand-Mile War: Alaska and the Aleutians in World War II. He lives in Studio City, California.

Reviews
"A fascinating, well documented tour de force through the back streets of British imperial history during the first half of the twentieth century. In his methodical search for the elusive and authentic character of Richard Meinertzhagen hidden behind the public persona, Brian Garfield has produced a rare, intimate, and sobering picture of those who ruled the 'empire on which the sun never sets' from its peak to its demise."-Jay Shapiro, Israel National Radio
PRAISE FOR OTHER BOOKS BY BRIAN GARFIELD:

"Garfield is one of the best. Anyone settling down with a Garfield book is in for a good time."-New York Times

"A scintillating, talented writer."-Newsday (reviewing Death Wish)
"Engrossing and exciting . . . I couldn't put it down."-Robert Ludlum (commenting on Recoil)
"This might well be required reading. It's edge of the chair all the way. . . . Wholly fascinating and thought-provoking."-Booklist (reviewing Death Sentence)
"A compelling story about a flambuoyant rogue, and this book, by its example, cautions us that recorded history sometimes reflects not what actually happened, but what we are told happened."-scienceblogs.com



Book Information
ISBN 9781597971607
Author Brian Garfield
Format Paperback
Page Count 386
Imprint Potomac Books Inc
Publisher Potomac Books Inc
Weight(grams) 567g