…a fascinating book…”
". . . .this readable biography made me wish I could have met Meinertzhagen in his cantankerous prime and stored my own memories."
"Brian Garfield's patient detective work finally slots Richard Meinertzhagen's mug-shot in the grandiose section of the British rogues' gallery. . . ."
". . . .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."
“Colossal—the term is no exaggeration for the magnitude of Meinertzhagen’s frauds. Garfield has sifted through myriads of files and fallacies, and now, in a book I could not put down, demolishes the exploits that Meinertzhagen self-promoted into the history books.”
“Brian Garfield has done a marvelous job of unraveling the skein of lies, fakes, and fictions woven by one of the greatest scientific frauds of the twentieth century. He has created a nonfiction version of Thomas Mann’s Felix Krull—a portrait of a self-invented man. Garfield also offers a unique point of view on many historic events of the twentieth century, while at the same time inviting the reader to wonder how much of what we’ve read about these events is true. All in all it’s an astonishing read.”
"Shredding his way through both Meinertzhagen's four-million-word diary and the layers of sensational anecdote that grew up around him, Mr. Garfield exposes countless self-flattering inflations, from Meinertzhagen's claim to own Darwin's pipe to his boasts of having casually killed any number of men with his bare hands...Mr. Garfield manages both to prosecute Meinertzhagen convincingly and, by means of his lively prose, to keep us engaged."
"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."
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."
"A scintillating, talented writer."
"Engrossing and exciting . . . I couldn't put it down."
"This might well be required reading. It's edge of the chair all the way. . . . Wholly fascinating and thought-provoking."
