Legends Or Lies

History's Mysteries

by Gary L. Blackwood

"Describes several legends that have intrigued people for centuries: the lost civilization of Atlantis, the Amazons, King Arthur, St. Brendan, Pope Joan, and El Dorado"--Provided by publisher.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Juvenile

72 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

He grew up in rural Cochranton, Western Pennsylvania, where he attended school in a one room schoolhouse. He graduated with a B.A. in English from Grove City College in Pennsylvania. While a college student, Blackwood published his first short story, Cliffs of Gold, in Twelve/ Fifteen magazine.

He has sold dozens of stories to children's magazines, and has published thirty-five novels and nonfiction books for adults, young adults and middle readers.

Blackwood is also a widely produced playwright.

Reviews

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting and entertaining read but most of the information was not new to me and the text seemed to be aimed at a younger audience than I expected.

[Aubrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book in the sense that it gave a quick overview of several different myths. I had gotten it specifically to look into the Pope Joan myth so it wasn't exactly what I thought it was.
In any case, if you're looking for something to give a very quick summery of legends, this is it. Then you can move on and delve deeper into the ones you want!

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent, informative book - but I'm still scratching my head over why the cover used an image of Vlad Țepeș (aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula) when there is no mention of vampires in the book at all. That alone is misleading, but factored in with pertinent bits of the legends/folklore being left out of certain sections, I'm forced to say this book was only "okay."