LES ENIGMES DE L'HISTOIRE DU MONDE

An unparalleled collection that constitutes a history of the world in its own right. This book follows Enigmas of French History (over 25,000 copies sold, one of the best-selling French history books of 2018).

Was Atlantis a land tossed to the middle of the Aegean Sea by a tsunami, or a Platonic metaphor? Many people believe that the Shroud of Turin was once wrapped around Christ's body, while others are convinced it's a hoax. Who sculpted and erected those monumental figures on an improbable island in the South Pacific? Did the Vikings sail across the Atlantic and settle on the American coast or not? The sudden disappearance of the Mayan civilization and its undecipherable writing poses questions that remain unanswerable at this time. Jack the Ripper has been identified repeatedly, but which identification is true? And who was that mysterious young person who accompanied Mao towards the end of his life, interpreting his final burbles?
People have been attempting – sometimes for centuries – to solve these enigmas. They may annoy us at times, but like family secrets they preserve their appealing mystery. Some of them have affected the fate of the world. Akhenaton's monotheism, Alexander's tomb, Shakespeare's identity, the disappearance of Ambassador Benjamin Bathurst, Tsar Alexander's second life, the Kennedy assassination, the attempted assassination of John-Paul II, the death of Lady Di So many episodes that continue to fascinate and inspire.

Jean-Christian PETITFILS, whose writings about the Ancien Régime are authoritative, has already edited a collective volume about the reign of Louis XIV for Perrin, as well as the Enigmas of French History, which came out in 2018.