William R. MaplesDead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist

I was truly impressed by the easily conveyed information that both of the authors' presented for us laypeople! As I've gotten older, there are innumerable subjects that interest me, which would have been a great help in my school tears, i.e., ancient to modern history, ancient cultures, forensics, & other such areas! This book produced quite a vast amount of interest on a lot of those subjects! From the identification of the assassinated remains of the Romanovs, to the proven bones of Pizarro & back to the horrific murders committed in Gainesville, Florida, by Danny Rollings, everything was fascinating & interesting! If there were any complaints, it would have to be that it desperately needs updating! I had no idea what the copyright date was & a few clues as I read made me realize it had to be in the 1990's! Dr Maples is the highly known forensic anthropologist who was a major scientist in the verifying of the mangled bones of the Romanovs, however, there wasn't any mention of the later found remains of the two missing bodies that were buried & exhumed some time later. There was also the surprise that Anna Anderson, who laid the best foundation of her claims of being Anastasia, among very many, had yet to be exposed as no relation whatsoever after DNA testing.Even so, it provided a great deal of information that I was able to take away as some I had no clue before, so if a book can do that for me & also be a compelling read, it's a win-win to me!

My father let me read this book when I was 13 and I got hooked on forensic anthropology. It had me, at 13 reading every book I could find on the subject. I am not from a rich family so I never thought I would be able to get a degree in the field so I didnt think of it much until a year ago. I bought the book again this month and read it again. It was even beter at 24! I understood more and was even more intreged by the study of the human skelital system. This is a wonderful book that is informative and entertaining. This book is the reason I am looking at going to the University of Tn in hopes of becoming a forensic anthropologist. It is the reason I started reading any book I could get my hands on about the field. It breaks down information so a 13 year old can get into it but at the same time alows for people who have read many other books on the topic to gain information from it. I love this book and I would say anyone interested in anthropology would love it too.

"Dead Men Do Tell Tales", ISBN 0-385-47968-9 (P/C), Doubleday 1994 is a 280 page narrative by writers William R. Maples, Ph.D. & forceful journalist S.E. Regional correspondent "Miami Herald" Michael Browning who, together, detail the "Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist." We are furnished 16 chapters which cover Maples' upbringing in Dallas, his majoring in English with minor in biology at Univ. of Texas with studies under mentor Tom McKern. In time, Maples became curator-in-charge of the Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History & was a former Pres. of the Amer. Board of Foren. Anthropology and is diplomate - FAAFS. The book is not a teaching text nor is it especially easy to read with that expectation. Maples gives us a background of how and why he got into forensics, a fairly detailed review of his personal involvement with several world-class high-profile cases, and then closes with some not inconsiderable rancor and acridity directed toward law enforcement and medical doctors. I think Maples' credentials and his "time served" qualifies him to provide constructive analysis: - but hostile criticisms do peregrinate throughout the book, admixed with bountiful self-adulations where we are wont to reflecting a bit more on the inner satisfactions of one's life work and less on brackishness, and one's own indispensability. The book has many good features and certainly the author has rubbed shoulders with some of the best (Dr. Michael Baden, Bill Bass, Tom McKern, Ellis Kerley, etc.), and he does have a very commendable command of narrative prose with story-telling skills which makes for eceptionally delightful reading. Unquestionably, his personal involvement with the bones of "Elephant Man", Francisco Pizarro, Pres. Zachary Taylor, Tzar Nicholas II & family, etc., makes exceptionally attractive reading material. I found the table of contents, 9 pages of index and the 61 superb x-ray & photographic illustrations in this medium 6" x 9" format commendable, then wished I had the H/C edition. This book ranks high on my recommended list.

It's not that I used to dance on people's graves and drink wine from their skulls before, but I was rather inclined to treat the remains without any special homage. They are dead, I thought, they are indifferent to what we do with their bodies.But I started to read this book (simply out of scientific interest), and I immediately saw Dr. Maples' serious and respectful treatment of the remains he works with as the right way to approach this matter. There are no macabre jokes, no vulgarity, none of that which usually indicates the presence of the fear of death in a human being.Despite being very serious, he still manages to make the book fascinating. Its scientific aspects aside, this is an extraordinary tale of extraordinary events. The language is smooth and does not distract the reader from the contents; at the same it is enjoyable in itself, what with the author's connection to English literature.And of course I learnt a lot about forensic anthropology as a scientific field. The profession is indeed regrettably rare; a good writer and a forensic anthropologist is a lucky combination, which may not repeat itself in the next couple of decades.

One of My all time favorite reads. I actually bought it for a friend who is enjoying itForensic anthropologist Dr Maples details many of his forensic examinations that were relevant to both historical perspective as well as criminal investigation while also detailing his interesting life.

Excellent

Ara que les investigacions forenses estan tan de moda amb sèries com CSI o Bones aquest llibre resulta força interessant; pel meu gust queda una mica ranci d'anècdotes i/o exemples , només cap al final hi ha alguns casos força detallats (el Tsar i la seva familia, per exemple) però no per això deixa de ser un llibre amè i amb força informació; una altra cosa que em va sobtar és que l'autor és molt "americà", es a dir, en els seus comentaris, punts de vista,opinions, etc reflecteix molt una mentalitat (que crec que és ) molt tradicional americana...de fet, això no es cap mal, està bé i és , a vegades, fins i tot, curiós

A very good book no matter how little or how much you know about the subject. Everything you learn is through him recounting stories so you learn terms and facts without knowing. Although towards the end it can seem a bit lengthy that just depends on how interested you are in history, and as I am I found it very interesting. I would suggest it to anyone!

I hate reading, but in an effort to revive the last of my brain cells, I ordered this book. I cannot put it down! It is written so well, you can actually FEEL the author's feelings as he puts pen to paper. Truly incredible book!