Bondeson, Jan

A fun, fascinating collection of stories of suspect identity are collected here, including the legend of the lost dauphin of France and the missing prince of Daden, among other tales of famous people who may have lived alternate lives.

Discusses several strange diseases, remarkable malformations, uncommon and gruesome ways of death, and unlikely feats of fasting or gluttony, which proliferated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries' medical literature, and shows that sometimes these curiosities did occur.

Explores European and American medicine, folklore, history, and literature to determine why many people in the nineteenth century were afraid they would be buried alive.

Offers a detailed account of the London Monster, a predator who violently lashed out at over fifty women in the late eighteenth century, and assesses evidence for the guilt or innocence of the man who was convicted of the attacks.

Discusses several strange diseases, remarkable malformations, uncommon and gruesome ways of death, and unlikely feats of fasting or gluttony, which proliferated in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries' medical literature, and shows that sometimes these curiosities did occur.