How George Washington Fleeced the Nation...and Other Little Secrets Airbrushed From History

Mason, who rose to fame for tackling Napoleon's hemorrhoids, has fashioned himself into something of a historical tattler. Washington's big sin, it seems, was a carelessness with money, both his own and the nation's, and a greed for land that occasionally flouted the law. Amid the myth-busting "other little secrets" are tales of a cancer battle that left President Cleveland with a rubber jaw and the assertion that Lyndon Johnson was involved with the Kennedy assassination. Some stories included here are not quite as airbrushed as Mason may think; Hitler's Jewish ancestry and JFK's chronic womanizing are not exactly secrets. Still, there are mysteries to ponder and images to be shattered. Readers' eyebrows may rise at some of Mason's assertions; for instance, if his claims about Mahatma Gandhi are accurate, the world was duped into believing a well-crafted myth about a power-hungry narcissist. Few illustrious names are spared; even the innocuous Louis Pasteur is scrutinized for stealing the formula for a sheep vaccine from another scientist. It's a diverting read, and whether or not these tales are true or turn out to be myths themselves, Mason has crafted a provocative collection of secrets. (Sept.)