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The Meinertzhagen Mystery : The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud
Tall, handsome, charming Col. Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967) was an acclaimed British war hero, a secret agent, and a dean of international ornithology. His exploits inspired three biographies, movies have been based on his life, and a square in Jerusalem is dedicated to his memory. Meinertzhagen was trusted by Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben Gurion, T. E. Lawrence, Elspeth Huxley, and a great many others. He bamboozled them all. Meinertzhagen was a fraud. Many of the adventures recorded in his celebrated diaries were imaginary, including a meeting with Hitler while he had a loaded pistol in his pocket, an attempt to rescue the Russian royal family in 1918, and a shoot-out with Arabs in Haifa when he was seventy years old. True, he was a key player in Middle Eastern events after World War I, and during the 1930s he represented Zionism's interests in negotiations with Germany. But he also set up Nazi front organizations in England, committed a half-century of major and costly scientific fraud, and -- oddly -- may have been innocent of many killings to which he confessed (e.g., the murder of his own polo groom -- a crime of which he cheerfully boasted, although the evidence suggests it never occurred at all). Further, he may have been guilty of at least one homicide of which he professed innocence. A compelling read about a flamboyant rogue, The Meinertzhagen Mystery shows how recorded history reflects not what happened, but what we believe happened.
386 pages, Hardcover
First published January 30, 2007
6 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Brian Garfield
106 books77 followersBrian Francis Wynne Garfield was a novelist and screenwriter. He wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen, and gained prominence with 1975 his book Hopscotch, which won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. He is best known for his 1972 novel Death Wish, which was adapted for the 1974 film of the same title, followed by four sequels, and a remake starring Bruce Willis.
His follow-up 1975 sequel to Death Wish, Death Sentence, was very loosely adapted into a film of the same name which was released to theaters in late 2007, though an entirely different storyline, but with the novel's same look on vigilantism. Garfield is also the author of The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History. Garfield's latest book, published in 2007, is Meinertzhagen, the biography of controversial British intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen.
Brian Garfield was the author of more than 70 books that sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and 19 of his works were made into films or TV shows. He also served as president of the Western Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America.
Pseudonyms:
• Bennett Garland
• John Ives
• Drew Mallory
• Frank O'Brian
• Brian Wynne
• Frank Wynne
His follow-up 1975 sequel to Death Wish, Death Sentence, was very loosely adapted into a film of the same name which was released to theaters in late 2007, though an entirely different storyline, but with the novel's same look on vigilantism. Garfield is also the author of The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History. Garfield's latest book, published in 2007, is Meinertzhagen, the biography of controversial British intelligence officer Richard Meinertzhagen.
Brian Garfield was the author of more than 70 books that sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and 19 of his works were made into films or TV shows. He also served as president of the Western Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America.
Pseudonyms:
• Bennett Garland
• John Ives
• Drew Mallory
• Frank O'Brian
• Brian Wynne
• Frank Wynne
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 18, 2018
Tall, handsome and charming, Richard Meinertzhagen is sometimes known as the English spy who didn’t kill Hitler when he met him while carrying a loaded gun in his pocket. Three biographies have been written about Meinertzhagen, who was reputed to be a British war hero, spy, and famous ornithologist (hence my interest), and he is mentioned as a historical character in many more histories, movies and several TV shows. Meinertzhagen lived from the 1870s to the 1960s, was the model for the fictional spy, James Bond, worked for Winston Churchill and worked with T.E. Lawrence (“of Arabia”), and impressed many world leaders. But there is much evidence to suggest that Meinertzhagen lived a Walter Mitty sort of life, rich in imagination, but short on actual achievements. In this book,
The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud
(Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2007), Brian Garfield seeks the truth about the man and his legend, relying on meticulous research from numerous independent sources from several countries.
Because, the truth is, Meinertzhagen fooled them all. Even though he lived an interesting life, his legend is primarily based on his own embellishments and tall tales and upon the thousands of pages in his own diaries, some of which he published. In fact, his life story is an exciting tale of intrigue, heroic wartime feats and wonderful scientific discoveries — some of which are actually true. During Meinertzhagen’s colorful military and scientific careers he was decorated, married twice and fathered three children, he explored unknown lands, discovered new species, fought in wars, survived shipwrecks, plane crashes and ambushes, became the elder-statesman of espionage and ornithology and surprisingly, he even had a room named for him at the British Museum of Natural History. But upon closer examination, it turns out that most of his exploits are fiction, based on an overactive imagination, deception and theft. Basically, Meinertzhagen was a colossal — but convincing — fraud.
The book begins by investigating the details surrounding the “haversack ruse”. This was a celebrated deception that occurred during WWI where a bag containing money, several private letters and some secret military documents was accidentally “lost” near the Turkish lines at Beersheba. In fact, this was a hoax, the military orders were fakes intended to divert the enemy away from the very important desert oasis that they were guarding. As a soldier who was present in the company near the time when it took place, Meinertzhagen credited himself with designing and carrying out this famous ruse when in fact, he had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Because the “haversack ruse” was successful, it was told, retold and written about so many times by Meinertzhagen that even the people who knew the truth remained mysteriously silent while everyone else mistakenly believed he was the author and instigator of this brilliant plan.
After that surprising beginning to the book, the author goes on to investigate a large collection of other wild claims made by Meinertzhagen, including the murder of a Nandi Laibon, or medicine man, which he never committed; the beating and murder of his groom, which never occurred; and his important meeting with Hitler while carrying a loaded gun in his pocket; which also never happened. Oddly, despite his self-described bloodlust, he never took credit for the murder of his second wife, an accomplished outdoorswoman and ornithologist who often went hunting with him. But at the time and even today, it was widely believed that he murdered her. Based on the evidence, the author hypothesizes that Meinertzhagen killed her because she discovered his ornithological thefts and deceptions and was unwilling to go along with them.
While many of his distortions and tall tales were entertaining and made him a popular dinner guest among the British well-to-do, his fabrications were most damaging to the ornithological community. As a self-described ornithologist, Meinertzhagen committed half a century of scientific fraud. In short, he stole specimens from a number of eminent museums and relabeled them with dates and localities crediting himself. As a result, the distribution maps for these species are unreliable at best and are being redrawn to this very day. Fittingly, despite his frequent run-ins with the British Natural History Museum for suspicion of theft of their bird specimens, his extensive collection was bequeathed to them at his death, so at least some of his stolen bird specimens have returned home at long last.
Throughout this book, one wonders what caused this man to tell so many whoppers about himself? Wasn’t his real life dramatic enough? Why did people believe his outrageous tales? Why did those who knew the truth never correct his “recollections”? this is a compelling story about a flambouyant rogue, and this book, by its example, cautions us that recorded history sometimes reflects not what actually happened, but what we are told happened.
NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 23 March 2007.
Because, the truth is, Meinertzhagen fooled them all. Even though he lived an interesting life, his legend is primarily based on his own embellishments and tall tales and upon the thousands of pages in his own diaries, some of which he published. In fact, his life story is an exciting tale of intrigue, heroic wartime feats and wonderful scientific discoveries — some of which are actually true. During Meinertzhagen’s colorful military and scientific careers he was decorated, married twice and fathered three children, he explored unknown lands, discovered new species, fought in wars, survived shipwrecks, plane crashes and ambushes, became the elder-statesman of espionage and ornithology and surprisingly, he even had a room named for him at the British Museum of Natural History. But upon closer examination, it turns out that most of his exploits are fiction, based on an overactive imagination, deception and theft. Basically, Meinertzhagen was a colossal — but convincing — fraud.
The book begins by investigating the details surrounding the “haversack ruse”. This was a celebrated deception that occurred during WWI where a bag containing money, several private letters and some secret military documents was accidentally “lost” near the Turkish lines at Beersheba. In fact, this was a hoax, the military orders were fakes intended to divert the enemy away from the very important desert oasis that they were guarding. As a soldier who was present in the company near the time when it took place, Meinertzhagen credited himself with designing and carrying out this famous ruse when in fact, he had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Because the “haversack ruse” was successful, it was told, retold and written about so many times by Meinertzhagen that even the people who knew the truth remained mysteriously silent while everyone else mistakenly believed he was the author and instigator of this brilliant plan.
After that surprising beginning to the book, the author goes on to investigate a large collection of other wild claims made by Meinertzhagen, including the murder of a Nandi Laibon, or medicine man, which he never committed; the beating and murder of his groom, which never occurred; and his important meeting with Hitler while carrying a loaded gun in his pocket; which also never happened. Oddly, despite his self-described bloodlust, he never took credit for the murder of his second wife, an accomplished outdoorswoman and ornithologist who often went hunting with him. But at the time and even today, it was widely believed that he murdered her. Based on the evidence, the author hypothesizes that Meinertzhagen killed her because she discovered his ornithological thefts and deceptions and was unwilling to go along with them.
While many of his distortions and tall tales were entertaining and made him a popular dinner guest among the British well-to-do, his fabrications were most damaging to the ornithological community. As a self-described ornithologist, Meinertzhagen committed half a century of scientific fraud. In short, he stole specimens from a number of eminent museums and relabeled them with dates and localities crediting himself. As a result, the distribution maps for these species are unreliable at best and are being redrawn to this very day. Fittingly, despite his frequent run-ins with the British Natural History Museum for suspicion of theft of their bird specimens, his extensive collection was bequeathed to them at his death, so at least some of his stolen bird specimens have returned home at long last.
Throughout this book, one wonders what caused this man to tell so many whoppers about himself? Wasn’t his real life dramatic enough? Why did people believe his outrageous tales? Why did those who knew the truth never correct his “recollections”? this is a compelling story about a flambouyant rogue, and this book, by its example, cautions us that recorded history sometimes reflects not what actually happened, but what we are told happened.
NOTE: Originally published at scienceblogs.com on 23 March 2007.
April 19, 2020
As a story this is much more astonishing than the stories its subject told about himself.
Meinertzhagen, the extremely well-placed scion of an aristocratic family, was in many ways a negligible figure. Not without a place in history, of course, but that was not enough for a member of the British ruling class who regarded himself as inherently superior. He seems to have been capable of efficiency, even of scientific rigour, but such small-scale competence was a long way beneath the aspirations of the man. The result was that in order to demonstrate his innate greatness he constructed such risible tales and destructive frauds that he proved only his own incompetence and undermined the very causes he thought he was championing. (I'm speaking here of his contributions to ornithology rather than his political positions, but the same point holds).
Of course, this only reveals all the more starkly the connection between the fantasies of his moral and dramatic superiority and the form they took - contemptible racism, colonial violence and far-right politics. Garfield's book may show this as an aspect of the physiognomy of the British ruling class only implicitly, but it's no less important for that. It was difficult, reading this, not to think of Meinertzhagen's heirs in the upper tiers of British society today, those whose self-image as great leaders is based on an equally delusional view of their own achievements.
Meinertzhagen, the extremely well-placed scion of an aristocratic family, was in many ways a negligible figure. Not without a place in history, of course, but that was not enough for a member of the British ruling class who regarded himself as inherently superior. He seems to have been capable of efficiency, even of scientific rigour, but such small-scale competence was a long way beneath the aspirations of the man. The result was that in order to demonstrate his innate greatness he constructed such risible tales and destructive frauds that he proved only his own incompetence and undermined the very causes he thought he was championing. (I'm speaking here of his contributions to ornithology rather than his political positions, but the same point holds).
Of course, this only reveals all the more starkly the connection between the fantasies of his moral and dramatic superiority and the form they took - contemptible racism, colonial violence and far-right politics. Garfield's book may show this as an aspect of the physiognomy of the British ruling class only implicitly, but it's no less important for that. It was difficult, reading this, not to think of Meinertzhagen's heirs in the upper tiers of British society today, those whose self-image as great leaders is based on an equally delusional view of their own achievements.
August 29, 2018
In his biography of Richard Meinertzhagen (RM), Brian Garfield reveals the life of a heroic intelligence operative in WWI and WWII, a dashing figure and party guest in British high society, an acclaimed naturalist and bird specimen collector, as well as a plagiarist, thief, and possible wife-killer. Whatever were his faults, RM couldn't be accused of being boring.
Most chapters of the book cover incidents for which RM has claimed involvement, if not the outright responsibility. The Haversack Ruse is one such adventure. In the caper, RM claims to have dropped a haversack carrying misinformation behind German lines in Africa during WWI. As a result, German opponents were fed incorrect British positions and intentions which allowed the British to take over a supply stronghold. RM recounted this story for his entire life convincing others he was the mastermind who executed the operation which was in reality, an underling's idea and adventure. RM's bluster and tall tales were detailed in his diaries to which the author had access. RM's four published diaries were at variance to his meticulously maintained (revised and edited) personal writings. Virtually none of RM's superhuman feats of espionage and intrigue match to dates and times in his private notes. Garfield does a complete job in dismantling the myths attributed to RM.
Throughout the book, Garfield relates anecdotes of those close to RM and provides actual diary entries showing RM to be a vain, duplicitous, but remarkable and entertaining figure. My personal favorite is RM's hilarious entry about a British army engineer who constructed a beautiful bridge (but needed RM to find the right place to put it.) The ability to charm and entertain make him a valuable dinner guest among Britain's wartime elite. Ian Fleming reportedly based his James Bond character on RM. For a time, Churchill counted him as a confidante.
Today Rm would be regarded as a prime example of a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This label can't explain RM's penchant for stealing bird skins from the British Museum and relabeling them as his finds from a different location. Nor does it account for his wife's mysterious shooting accident death.
Garfield's book is an engaging look at a man who constructed his reputation who undoubtedly was a brave, intelligent individual but also a master manipulator and cheat. The downside to Garfield's account is that other than the bird thefts there is a lack of critical evidence to convict him of the other deceptions. Lack of evidence is not evidence of innocence, but RM can't be questioned. He's dead. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy spy tales, especially about WWI and II, true crime and anyone who loved Kirk Wallace Johnson's The Feather Thief.
Most chapters of the book cover incidents for which RM has claimed involvement, if not the outright responsibility. The Haversack Ruse is one such adventure. In the caper, RM claims to have dropped a haversack carrying misinformation behind German lines in Africa during WWI. As a result, German opponents were fed incorrect British positions and intentions which allowed the British to take over a supply stronghold. RM recounted this story for his entire life convincing others he was the mastermind who executed the operation which was in reality, an underling's idea and adventure. RM's bluster and tall tales were detailed in his diaries to which the author had access. RM's four published diaries were at variance to his meticulously maintained (revised and edited) personal writings. Virtually none of RM's superhuman feats of espionage and intrigue match to dates and times in his private notes. Garfield does a complete job in dismantling the myths attributed to RM.
Throughout the book, Garfield relates anecdotes of those close to RM and provides actual diary entries showing RM to be a vain, duplicitous, but remarkable and entertaining figure. My personal favorite is RM's hilarious entry about a British army engineer who constructed a beautiful bridge (but needed RM to find the right place to put it.) The ability to charm and entertain make him a valuable dinner guest among Britain's wartime elite. Ian Fleming reportedly based his James Bond character on RM. For a time, Churchill counted him as a confidante.
Today Rm would be regarded as a prime example of a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This label can't explain RM's penchant for stealing bird skins from the British Museum and relabeling them as his finds from a different location. Nor does it account for his wife's mysterious shooting accident death.
Garfield's book is an engaging look at a man who constructed his reputation who undoubtedly was a brave, intelligent individual but also a master manipulator and cheat. The downside to Garfield's account is that other than the bird thefts there is a lack of critical evidence to convict him of the other deceptions. Lack of evidence is not evidence of innocence, but RM can't be questioned. He's dead. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy spy tales, especially about WWI and II, true crime and anyone who loved Kirk Wallace Johnson's The Feather Thief.
September 23, 2022
Recommended to me by an ornithologist, I found this the bizarre story of someone famous in a world that I do not inhabit. In sum, it is the story of a man whose contribution to ornithology has been damaged by a propensity to fake his scientific endeavors, his life and his story. As the subtitle states, the book is the story of “the life and legend of a colossal fraud”.
July 6, 2024
"His broadsides were fired off with abysmal inaccuracy. None of them hit the target. Most of them didn't even come near it. Governor Schnee guessed, from the wide pattern of missed shots, that Astraea's guns were trying to hit the wireless tower. He feared half the city would be destroyed before the mast was hit. So he ordered his own policemen to blow it up." (84)
"At the first meeting RM writes that he was hugely impressed by Hitler's fire, flash, intensity, and dedication; he listened to Hitler's rationalization of various Nazi policies, including systematic anti-Semitism; he was baffled when Hitler raised his arm in the Nazi salute and said, 'Heil Hitler.' After a moment's thought, Meinertzhagen says he raised his own arm in an identical salute and proclaimed, 'Heil Meinertzhagen.'" (189)
"At the first meeting RM writes that he was hugely impressed by Hitler's fire, flash, intensity, and dedication; he listened to Hitler's rationalization of various Nazi policies, including systematic anti-Semitism; he was baffled when Hitler raised his arm in the Nazi salute and said, 'Heil Hitler.' After a moment's thought, Meinertzhagen says he raised his own arm in an identical salute and proclaimed, 'Heil Meinertzhagen.'" (189)
May 19, 2022
Revelations about a man who was previously a Boy's Own type hero. Great book
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews