About the book: year / About this book: Everyone loves secrets. And if they involve famous people or are connected with historical events that remain unsolved, then the stories about them become especially exciting - and no work of fiction can compare with them in the intensity of intrigue. We offer a unique selection of stories that will open up exciting moments before you. pages of the past, full of the struggle of passions, greed, betrayal, unbridled desires, stupidity, recklessness, madness and brutal murders - everything that so often changes the course of human history and leaves as a legacy to puzzled descendants a real labyrinth of secrets and mysteries, the explanation of which is still pending Scientists have been scratching their heads for a while now. Sometimes a literally chilling narrative and a vivid kaleidoscope of pictures immediately immerse you in the thick of incredible - but nevertheless absolutely reliable - events. The stories, full of picturesque details, do not follow in chronological order, but are grouped by topic, and each is equipped with many separate commentary inserts, which describe other events that are in one way or another connected with the main plot. All this gives the book additional tension, making it more exciting, exciting and full of interesting information. The first of the seven sections of the book is entitled “Disappeared without a trace”. It tells, for example, about the disappearance of Sir John Franklin's Arctic exploration expedition. Only a century and a half later was it possible to find evidence of the fate that befell her. In this chapter, you will learn why Mao Zedong wanted to get rid of one of those who challenged his absolute dominance in Communist China, and what happened to the famous musician and orchestra leader Glenn Miller during his flight to France in 1944. In the section <Death under unclear circumstances> the authors lift the veil of secrecy over the fates of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Stalin - those whose death was very mysterious and suspicious. Among the amazing characters in history, with whom the chapter "Played and mysterious personalities" introduces you, - the seer Nostradamus, the monk Rasputin, Lord Byron and Rudolf Hess. <Guilty or innocent?> - this is a question that still remains open when it comes to the anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, the First World War spy Mata Hari and President Nixon, or rather , his role in the Watergate scandal. The fourth section provides a detailed analysis of these and many other intricate <cases>. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Count Dracula, Lady Godiva, Romeo and Juliet - by talking about all these popular characters in the section "Half-truth-half-fiction", historians and literary scholars help readers to separate truth from fiction. Did the United States know that Japan was preparing to attack Pearl Harbor? Who Really Wrote Shakespeare's Plays? Who was Jack the Ripper? Who set fire to the Reichstag? Why did the Soviet military shoot down a Korean passenger plane in 1983? The chapter "Unanswered Questions" offers expert opinions on a variety of mysterious cases. And in the final section, "Fatal Mistakes", you will learn how the Titanic, the most luxurious ocean liner in history, sank and how it happened. that Napoleon chose the wrong strategy at the Battle of Waterloo. The editors of Reader's Digest have re-examined all the most important events in human history to select the most interesting and introduce you to the most intriguing characters from an endless string of historical figures. Riddles, secrets, historical puzzles and confusing situations are explained : experts give answers to seemingly insoluble questions: they reveal the secrets that the past hides - all this proves once again that reality always turns out to be much more bizarre and interesting than any fiction.