Historical Enigmas; comprising Historical Whodunits and Enigmas of History

London: Michael Joseph. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. 1974. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. [light shelfwear, a bit of soiling to edges of text block, one-time owner's name on front endpaper, another owner's initials plus date & place of purchase written along edge of rear endpaper (hidden beneath rear jacket flap); the jacket is somewhat rubbed and scuffed, with minor wear along top and bottom edges]. A single-volume reprinting of two of the author's earlier works (originally published in 1955 and 1957). "In the fifties [the author] gave a series of brilliant broadcasts on some of the mysteries of the past. Using the techniques of modern detection, he set about finding answers to such questions as: Did Buckingham poison James I? Who was the executioner of Charles I? Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? Re-evaluating the evidence, alert alike to the distortions of contemporary and more recent propaganda, working out probabilities in the light of character and motive, but careful never to contradict known facts, he came up with ansers that were controversial and stimulating." (It's also noted in the jacket blurb that "the chapters on the Kirk o' Field and the Gunpowder Plot have been heavily revised in the light of later research.") .