Tom Freeman-Keel

Poorly written account of a scandalous inheritance trial in the early 1900s. In the right hands, it could be marvelous, but this reads like a bad novel. Seriously, this is one of the worst-written books I've ever read. Solecisms abound. The authors seems completely unaware of the nuances of 19th century language.

"The Disappearing Duke" is also an offense to the historical profession. I'm not being a snob; I don't get offended in principle when a historical work omits footnotes or other scholarly tools. But all works of history should at least some suggestion of what previous work has been done on the subject. Here, the authors not only make no attempt to substantiate sources, they also decline to provide any list of previous books they've consulted. The result is that you have no idea how much the authors are inventing themselves, and how much they have borrowed (or stolen) from earlier writers.… (mehr)