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Piltdown Man: The Secret Life of Charles Dawson (Revealing History)
 
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Piltdown Man: The Secret Life of Charles Dawson (Revealing History) [Paperback]

Miles Russell (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: The History Press LTD (1 Dec 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0752425722
  • ISBN-13: 978-0752425726
  • Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 17.3 x 2.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 611,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Miles Russell
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Product Description

Product Description

The human and animal remains discovered at Piltdown, near Lewes in Sussex almost 100 years ago were at the time hailed as the 'missing link' between ape and man. It was not until 1953 that modern analysis conclusively revealed an ingenious hoax. The perpetrator was almost certainly the antiquarian excavator Charles Dawson who, as Miles Russell shows, was responsible for sixteen other archaeological forgeries during his lifetime.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Miles's book, which comprehensively and rigorously examines Charles Dawson's antiquarian activities before and after Piltdown, exposes 'Ruhmbegierde' and a determination to deceive on a grander scale than any that had gone before. There appeared to be no pecuniary motive, nor any intention to disclose the deception so as to revel in the discomfiture of the professional 'experts' he had duped. On the contrary, Dawson must have known that exposure in his lifetime would be disastrous to him both as the leading amataur archaeologist and as a practising solicitor and pillar of the local community. He could not have foreseen in 1912 (the year of Piltdown) that he would die within four years: had he lived to be 90 he would have been unmasked in his lifetime.

The question that arises therefore is not whether but why this exremely clever and energetic polymath should have perpetrated such an audacious and calculated fraud. Miles has provided all the clues and you can agree with his conclusions, or even come up with your own theory, from the evidence he has painstakinly assembled as to why the frauds were perpetrated.

Miles records that Charles was the eldest of three sons and began work as a solicitor's clerk at the age of 16, whereas both younger brothers went to University. Hugh had a successful career in the Church, whilst Trevor achieved eminence both in the Navy and big business, was knighted in 1909, and moved in exalted and even royal circles. Miles considers the possibility that Charles was envious of his brothers' relative eminence in their chosen professions, compared with his own modest status as a mere country solicitor with humdrum official roles in the local gas company and building society. Miles has found no evidence of ill-will or jealousy and says of Charles 'perhaps he did not care'.

How often does sibling rivalry get written down in family archives, when most of the time it could be hidden from outsiders. As the eldest child he would be accustomed from infancy to being in the forefront, and whilst not resenting his younger brothers' successes he would not relish being outshone by them. More-over his wife, whom he married in 1905 was a 'prominent member of Mayfair society'. As Charles was not destined to be a legal luminary, he could only secure eminence comparable to Trevor's by procuring the success of his alter ego of leading amateur archaeologist.

Could Trevor's knighthood of 1909 have spurred his brother Charles's deceptions of 1912? Was repressed sibling rivalry the real 'missing link' of the Piltdown saga? Alas, this is the question not of archaeology but psychology, and any answer is buried in the dust of Dawson's grave in Lewes, East Sussex.

Miles discusses other possible forgers, but with the evidence he produces, the finger points at Dawson. Was it the election to the Royal Society the post that he most wanted to achieve, and by discovering so many unusual finds he hoped that these would secure that prestidious post?

The surprising element of this book was the amount of forgeries that took place in such a short period of time, and with Dawson's death, no more were found.

An intriguing book - following along the lines of a detective story - with a conclusion which will never completely answer all the questions about the strange, and secret, life of Charles Dawson.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Sloppy editor undermines hard work 3 Mar 2012
By aryx - Published on Amazon.com
A lot of work and research has gone into this book about an interesting subject.

However the standard of editing is woefully sloppy and detracts severely from enjoyment of the book and undermines its authority.

Examples: The book is strewn with a ridiculous amount of commas, which pop up in the strangest of places. Also at least twice the word "inferring" is used instead of "implying". At one point the word "culpability" sits in the place of "credulity", making a nonsense of the sentence. In a number of sentences the object and verb do not agree in number. Whatever you may think, these types of error are utterly unacceptable in a professional publication.

I am tempted to give only 2 stars but feel that is harsh, as many of the errors are probably not entirely the fault of the author.
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