New Book by Ed Steers - "Hoax"

[Thomas Thorne]

I look forward to reading the Steers book but I have certain reservations about the title "hoax" as it implies all of the 'hoaxes" mentioned were originally concocted by fraudsters who knew their creations were false but sought to convince the public of their validity.

Certainly the Piltdown Man and the Hitler Diaries meet this definition. Lumping the idea of FDR's foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor into this framework makes no sense. The idea of Pearl Harbor revisionism has a long trail of articulate,honorable and in my view wrong headed proponents. Their view was that the available incomplete information indicated FDR's foreknowledge and expressed faith that release of all the historical record would vindicate their opinion.

A more fascinating situation are proponents of historical theories who are so convinced of the truth of their ideas and so eager to convince people of their validity, they feel justified to manufacture fake evidence. One of the most famous examples was the Dreyfus affair in France in the 1890's. The French Army foolishly convinced that one of its officers,Capt. Dreyfus,was guilty of espionage and fearful of the effects on its prestige if the accusations were shown to be wrong,used-our knowledge does not allow us to use the stronger word authorize-evidence created by one or more of its officers against poor Dreyfus.

I have not read very much about Finis Bates and the Booth mummy. Do people think that Bates really thought he had Booth's body or was he knowingly hoaxing the public? What about the Baker-Neff papers of more recent times? Libel laws might make people reluctant to publicly cast judgement until all the actors are dead. Was this a Hitler Diary or a Dreyfus?
Tom