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The Penguin Book of Ghosts | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jennifer Westwood, Jacqueline Simpson
Publisher: Allen Lane
Category: Book
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £8.25
You Save: £6.74 (45%)
New (21) Used (4) from £8.25
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 59741
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5.4 x 1.8
ISBN: 184614101X
EAN: 9781846141010
ASIN: 184614101X
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: In stock for immediate despatch from the United Kingdom
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent resource June 3, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
It is a shame the reviewer above trashes the book because of one perceived inaccuracy. There must be a hidden agenda there. In general the Penguin Book of Ghosts is a highly enjoyable, accessible and carefully researched book on a fascinating subject. It was written by two of the most trusted experts on the subject. Yes, it is somewhat distilled from the much larger, broader tome The Lore of the Land, which should mean it appeals to readers who are interested particularly in ghosts rather than folk tales, legends, oral history and other related items. England is probably the most haunted place in the world, and this little gem of a book is the perfect place to look for information on its less tangible residents.
 Ghostly Mistakes Still Appearing May 27, 2008
2 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is an edited rehash of the authoresses' earlier work The Lore of the Land and while some of the gross error has been expurgated in the rewrite, some has obviously not.
Without labouring the point too much, Jacqueline Simpson's entry for the Highgate Vampire persists with earlier mistakes. For example, she writes on page 231: "He [Sean Manchester] told the Hampstead & Highgate Express on 27 February [1970] that he had seen corpses of foxes drained of blood."
No he didn't. Nor did the newspaper on that occasion make any mention of foxes, drained or otherwise.
The 6 March 1970 issue of the Hampstead & Highgate Express alluded to exsanguinated foxes but their discovery was not laid at the feet of Sean Manchester. It was, according to the newspaper report, David Farrant who found the foxes with their throats ripped out and completely drained of blood.
Simpson is fond of lumping Sean Manchester and David Farrant together and continues to repeat some of the error found in The Lore of the Land where she ought to have made corrections.
Consequently we still read about "magical duels" that did not take place and "challenges" that were not made by the person she attributes them to, and the downplaying of one of the party's crimes to a single conviction where there were significantly more.
I have concluded that Jacqueline Simpson has an agenda which is far from impartial when it comes to hardcore supernatural history like the Highgate Vampire case. She might have been better served giving this entry a wide berth. Her readers certainly would have been better served had she done so.
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