Safeguarding History: Trailblazing Adventures Inside the Worlds of Collecting and Forging History

by Kenneth W. Rendell

Safeguarding Trailblazing Adventures Inside the Worlds of Collecting and Forging History, with foreword by Doris Kearns Goodwin, is the eloquent, captivating, moving, and complex story of the world’s most prominent dealer in historical documents, letters, manuscripts, and artifacts. This is a quintessential American success story. Kenneth Rendell’s unconventional methods uncovered Adolf Hitler’s forged diaries and evaluated Nixon’s Watergate tapes. It is more than an Indiana Jones adventure; it is the story of the real person behind it all. Kenneth Rendell has traveled the world, tracking down, buying, and selling the most significant, iconic historical letters and documents from the Renaissance to the present day. Safeguarding History chronicles his adventures collecting and dealing in rare coins at age 11, searching for out-of-date coins in the Caribbean as a teenager, and then discovering the world of historical letters and documents―once an insular, reclusive field, which he revolutionized over his 70-year career. Rendell’s passionate pursuit of original sources, and his belief in the power of holding history in your hands, brought him to evaluate collections as diverse as Richard Nixon’s White House papers and Watergate tapes, the archives of Martin Luther King and of Paramount Studios, and the personal World War II artifacts of General George S. Patton. Rendell’s reputation as a collector and dealer is matched only by his unrivaled expertise in the area of handwriting forgery detection. He unmasked the Hitler Diaries forgeries, debunked the fake Jack the Ripper diary and Elvis Presley music manuscripts, and exposed the Mormon “White Salamander” forgeries, critical to solving the infamous Mormon murders. His excitement for collecting led to Rendell building libraries for notable collectors including Bill and Melinda Gates. His own collection of World War II artifacts, the most comprehensive in the world, led to his founding The International Museum of World War II. Safeguarding History is a human story. Kenneth Rendell writes with candor about his successes and failures, and what it took to overcome personal tragedy. He shares his passion for nature, extreme helicopter skiing, and windsurfing the big waves in Hawaii―counterbalances to his intense professional life. 328 pages, hardcover with dustjacket, 6 x 9 inches.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Memoir

328 pages, Hardcover

Published October 3, 2023

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kenneth Rendell started out in his career as a teenaged coin dealer phenom and eventually became a preeminent dealer and appraiser of rare collectibles. He initially became fascinated by rare coins, especially early American issues from colonial, pre-Federal times. He would no doubt be an industry leader in the numismatic field except that he became even more fascinated with the acquiring and dealing in manuscripts, books and signatures after just a few years of selling coins.

Rendell has an insatiable curiosity for the historical connection of documents. His success in this field derives from applying years of hard work, learning about authentication of papers and building a business. The final ingredient is his considerable intelligence, which he has combined with instinct and an enjoyment in working with people. Good timing brought all of these factors together; he designed his business to avoid the stuffy, condescending rare antique style of dealing that was prevalent when he started.

Rendell's philosophy governing buying and selling is that he is not interested in objects only by their book values. His interests have always been directed to how a document's contents enhances an understanding of the life and times of its originator. His marketing strategy of finding buyers for his aquisitions has been to use research to match with the collecting aims of collectors and display themes of museums around the world.

This book surprised me with the number of interesting stories of Rendell's rise to dealer fame as a world-class expert and fakery detector, market trend setter, and builder of book collections for famous clients. He is also a collector, and has owned a vast collection of American West memorabilia and an unparalleled collection of World War II collectibles. Something which also comes across very authentically and relatable is his love of family and of the outdoors. He chronicles the joys and tragedy he has lived through in life.

[Melissa Bunce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have read many memoirs throughout my life, this was my first business memoir. Honestly, I found it fascinating but also overwhelming. When I look at Ken Rendell's accomplishments compared to my own, it's hard to relate. Somehow, he's able to balance an extremely successful career with trips all around the world, sports, family, libraries, museums, etc. He seems almost superhuman, and it makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life.

I admire Ken Rendell's character. He's driven, hard-working, honest, and respectful. He obviously cares about the privacy of his clients and other relationships. He alluded to a disastrous first marriage and the personal difficulties resulting from it, but he never spoke poorly of anyone, and he was very discrete, focusing his memoir on his business instead of his baggage. His book was not as dramatic as it could have been, but these are real people and real lives, and I can appreciate Rendell's graciousness, integrity, and professionalism.

Most of all, I appreciate Rendell's approach to history. He strives to study it and experience it without bias — which frequently helps him recognize hoaxes. He doesn't let his own agenda get in the way of objective truth. His passion for the source material, for letters and other documents, helps him see the world as it was seen by those who came before us — to experience the world as they experienced it during their lifetimes. When we look at history this way, it comes alive, reminding us that even the greatest historical figures were humans just like us.

[Eugenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but there’s just too much of it that’s off-putting. He did not build his company alone yet little credit is given to his staff. He seems to have more hours in a day and days in a year than us lesser humans. How do you travel to the Isle of Man MONTHLY while expanding your business. How do you parent your 2 sons when given sole custody — something he apparently didn’t want. I fantasize about hosting a dinner party of the most interest people, dead or alive. He would not be invited.

[Ryan Kordziel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy history and the stories it can tell, Safeguarding History will thrill and entertain you. Kenneth Rendell goes into great detail describing the highs and lows of his life and career. From his jobs cataloging and appraising the Nixon papers, his time as a coin dealer, and building the Gates library, to his time debunking the purported “diaries” of Adolf Hitler and Jack the Ripper, Rendell is able tell his life story in a way that draws you in, and the way the book is organized keeps you entertained, making the book hard to put down!

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not particularly well written, but it is full of fascinating stories about the authentication of rare manuscripts -- from Hitler's supposed diaries to music manuscripts by Elvis. Rendell was, for forty years, the leading purveyor of historic letters and documents and as such, he was asked to examine everything from the Paramount Studios archives to Watergate files. The adventures described between these covers are superb, even if the writing is only so-so.

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book for the history and for the narratives concerning the uncovering of the Hiller Diaries and the Jack the Ripper Diaries. There tended to be quite a bit of jumping around in the order of the stories, as several were not in chronological order. Toward the end of the book it became a lot of name dropping of who the author knew and why he knew the people he was name dropping. I would recommend the book for the historical accounts.

[Mike Thorne]

This is a nonfiction memoir of the author, Kenneth Rendell. He started out as a teenaged coin dealer before graduating to documents and WWII memorabilia. It's a very interesting read as he tackled such fraud cases as the Hitler diaries and Mormon documents. Believe it or not, he even assembled a library for Bill Gates. This is definitely a worthwhile read.

[John Francy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disjointed but also some very interesting chapters. Doesn’t flow like a book but the author ws involved in many interesting activities related to historical documents. Worth reading individual chapters ( selected) but not so much as a book

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I REALLY enjoyed this book - fascinating life story and information about historical documents.

[Mhd]

[ad in Smithsonian makes book sound interesting]