Casement: Decoding False History

Recent Research by Paul R. Hyde. (120pp).

ISBN 97 9781903497951 €15, £12 Published by the Aubane Historical Society 2021 Available from: https://www.atholbooks-sales.org

The book published here is the result of original research undertaken since publication of Anatomy of a Lie by Paul R. Hyde in 2019.

This book represents a further penetration into the century-long ‘Black Diaries’ controversy. Here readers can see for the first time the secret memo of 1914 which gave birth to the later scandal. Here Casement’s defence counsel, Serjeant Sullivan, is revealed as playing a major role in the deception. For the first time the seven conflicting versions of the diaries’ provenance are analysed with devastating conclusions. And here the astonishing revelations of an exnaval officer, Commander Clipperton—suppressed by all biographers—can be seen for the first time.

Published in 1973, Brian Inglis’ biography provided a new and convincing template for the interpretation of the Casement controversy; its consequences still resonate today. The Inglis template was convincing, detailed, clever and false. Without any source notes, it remains unsurpassed for the subtlety of its deceptions, rapidly becoming the standard biography which has conditioned the understanding of later generations of trusting readers and historians. But Inglis spun a web of deception exploiting logical fallacies, selective framing, omission, altered documents, innuendo, false attribution—all the sins of intellectual dishonesty. Anatomy of a Lie exposed many of his sins for the first time; this volume reveals even crimes against truth.

Foreword by Angus Mitchell