This book is drawn from several authors whose works are listed at the end of each chapter. My writing is the synthesis of the research they carried out in producing their fine studies. In particular, I am indebted to John Lukacs, Robert Harris, Miles Russell, Linda Sillitoe, Allen Roberts, Robert Lindsey, Walter McCrone, and Joe Nickell. I am indebted to each of them, and heartily recommend their works to the reader. I am especially indebted to Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, for his invaluable suggestions for improving the manuscript, and for his generous foreword. Joe has been an indefatigable soldier in the front line battling paranormal hoaxes and myths for decades. His endorsement of this book is an honor. I also want to acknowledge with thanks the help of Terry Alford, professor of history at Northern Virginia Community College. Terry has been a longtime friend whose work on the Lincoln assassination and the life of John Wilkes Booth I have long admired. His thoughtful suggestions have overcome several deficiencies in the early drafts of this work. I also want to thank Miles Russell, senior lecturer in prehistoric and Roman archaeology at the School of Applied Sciences, Bournemouth University, England. Miles generously provided his collection of images that accompany the chapter on Piltdown Man. His book, titled Piltdown Man, contains the most reliable research on this fascinating subject. I also thank my longtime friend Joe Nichols, who has devoted many hours to reading and offering suggestions on virtually all of my writing for the past thirty years. I have come to rely on his many thoughtful suggestions and am indebted to him. I also thank Richard Sloan for providing me with his research into the missing pages of Booth’s diary. I thank Cornelia Schnall of Landov Media for her help in providing several of the images relating to the Hitler diaries. I am indebted to two longtime colleagues and friends, Kieran McAuliffe and Jim Hoyt. I can state without reservation that without their help this, and my other works, would never have come into print. I especially want to thank Derik Shelor, my copyeditor, whose pointy pencil and eagle eye saved many mistakes and grammatical errors on my part. He has my gratitude and thanks for conscientious effort as he should have yours as well. Any mistakes are solely due to me. And last but not least, I want to thank the staff of the University Press of Kentucky: Anne Dean Watkins, Bailey Johnson, Mack McCormick, Cameron M. Ludwick, and Stephen Wrinn. I have always received wonderful support from this group and appreciate being one of their many authors.