Bear Alley Books: Iron Mask:Harry Bensley's "Walking Round the World" Hoax

Friday, August 24, 2018

Iron Mask:Harry Bensley's "Walking Round the World" Hoax

On 1 January 1908, in London's Trafalgar Square, a man in an old-fashioned iron helmet began an adventure that was to take him to 172 towns and cities in the United Kingdom before heading overseas to visit another 118 cities in Canada, USA, South America, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Japan, China, India, Egypt and seven European countries.

Although independently wealthy, the man in the iron mask was allowed to finance his trip only through the sale of postcards and pamphlets relating to his journey from a pram that he was to push for the duration of the journey and at no point was he allowed to reveal his identity. The final challenge was that, despite keeping his face hidden, he had to find a wife.

This astonishing journey was the result of a $100,000 (£21,000) bet between the Earl of Lonsdale and steel and banking magnate J. P. Morgan and the daring masked man had almost completed the round the world trip six years later and was on the point of collecting what would today be the equivalent of £2,250,000 when the bet was cancelled.

This is the story of that journey.

This is also the story of how Harry Bensley, released from jail for fraud and bigamy, dreamed up an astonishing hoax. Disguised behind his iron mask, Bensley trekked south from London, along the southern counties and into the west country, visiting towns, attracting crowds and selling his postcards. He claimed to have met and married a woman, although she was already known to him. He was even tried in a court of law without once giving his real name.

Iron Mask is the story of that journey, too!

This book takes a look behind the legend of the "Walking Round the World" hoax, revealing the impoverished origins of Bensley and his family and documenting a criminal path that was the lead to his most audacious deception.

REVIEWS

Amazon - 5 stars
The story sounds like an implausible Hollywood film but it was true! Who was the Man in the Iron Mask (no, not the French novel by Dumas!)? He set off from Trafalgar Square to push a pram around the world in January 1908 to win a £20,000 bet! he seems to have been a lovable rogue and this was not the first time he had hoodwinked people! I won't say more so I don't spoil the story as it's wilder than even this!
Steve Holland has preserved a wonderful British eccentric's story for us all to enjoy. Give it as a Birthday or Christmas present to anyone who's curious about people in any way!

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COMIC INDEXES

Countdown to TV Action
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"The perfect compliment to my set of Countdown/TV Action" - Graham Bleathman.
"A wonderful trip down memory lane. Recommended" - Paul Simpson, Sci-Fi Bulletin
"If you read Countdown as a child, you'll be fascinated by this account of its making ... indispensable." - John Freeman, Down the Tubes
"The definitive history of the title" - Lew Stringer, Blimey!
"I urge you to grab a copy and give Steve Holland a tip of the hat for the amount of hard work, research and love he's poured into making a book of information become an interesting story" - Barnaby Eaton-Jones, The Cult Den
"A nostalgic journey through a boyhood passion. TV Action was such a good comic and I was surprised by how short the lives were of some of the properties it's stories were based on. Lots of detail and some great imagery along the way!!" - Goodreads

Rocket: The First Space-Age Weekly
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"Rocket went up against the much more famous, Eagle and failed miserably. It ran for 32 issues in 1956 and included not only imported comic strips from America (Flash Gordon and Brick Bradford being two) but also strips from the Netherlands as well as the UK This index has extensive overviews of the strips and their origins, and lists all contents and creators. As this comic is half a century old Steve Holland has done a brilliant job unearthing credits and biographies." - Goodreads - 5 stars

COMIC STRIP REPRINTS

Longbow Volume 1
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"Steve Holland has once again presented a great package ... with historical background to the character's creation by Mike Butterworth. Holland always researches thoroughly, not only his specialty, the comics history, but also the history of native Americans and how that effects the veracity of these stories ... Holland also provides invaluable background to the artists whose work appears in this volume: Geoff Campion, Don Lawrence, Keith Shone (a new one on me!), R. Charles Roylance and Jesus Blasco." - Goodreads - 5 stars

Longbow Volume 2
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"The second volume of Longbow's adventures packs a lot of stories and history. Steve Winders does the introduction to Blackbow the Cheyenne in Eagle (the successor to our 'Longbow' - buy the book for an explanation!) and the following [drew] the adventures: Don Lawrence, Geoff Campion, Jesus Blasco, Juan Gonzalez Alacreu, Keith Shone, R. Charles Roylance, Frank Humphris, Gerry Haylock, Rodney Sutton, Francisco Cueto, Cesar Lopez and Martin Salvador. In this volume Holland writes the biographies of those who did not appear in Volume 1. A really enjoyable read - especially for someone who until recently didn't read westerns!" - Goodreads - 5 stars

AVAILABLE NOW!
The Complete Eagles Over the Western Front
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"What a wonderful surprise this book was to me! I had read reviews and loved the artwork but was hesitant about two/four page stories - what depth can they have? But they are very clever in places. The stories of the nascent RAF in World war One are entertaining and tense in places. The plot twists are sometimes surprising but always entertaining. The characters are easily distinguished by their looks and also their actions. The players who wonder in and mostly out again are interesting too and never feel as if they are only there for a story - a hard trick to pull off. Butterworth's writing is a pleasure to read and Lacey's artwork amazing with flashes of Ian Kennedy here and there! Steve Holland also gives us biographies of Butterworth and Lacey and as usual hunts down those obscure facts. This collection of all 116 episodes of Eagles Over the Western Front is a terrific read" - Goodreads - 5 stars

London Is Stranger Than Fiction
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""The original books have been highly collectable for many years now, but finally they’ve been republished in a single volume from Bear Alley Books ... for the ridiculously reasonable price of £14.99. Do yourself a favour. " Christopher Fowler.
"The London Is Stranger Than Fiction comic strips are richly illustrated, full of arresting detail and unique characters. Jackson’s love of the quirky is apparent in the events, trades, people and places that he highlights." Chris Evers, Anstapa.

AVAILABLE NOW!
Private Detective / Secret Service / The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester Jun.
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"Forrester's The Female Detective (1864) was reprinted in 2012 as part of the British Library's Crime Classics series, cementing the notion that it heroine, Miss Gladden, was "the first female detective", although whether that is the case is challenged in the essay on Ware and his career published in this new edition of the collection — published now in a uniform edition with Forrester's two earlier collections, The Revelations of a Private Detective (1863) and Secret Service; or, Recollections of a City Detective (1864), reprinted for the first time in 150 years."

Gwyn Evans: The Lunatic, The Lover and The Poet
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"The story of a broke Evans bamboozling the public and a policeman and the Press is hilarious! many illustrations (especially by the prolific Eric R. Parker) litter the book and keep us grounded in the right era of pulp and boy's story papers. Also the mention of French onion-sellers does this too. That's a tradition that must have died out before I was born! The book certainly makes me realise Sexton Blake is a key part of British crime thrillers and mysteries which I hadn't appreciated." - Goodreads - 5 stars

FORGOTTEN AUTHORS

Forgotten Authors Vol.1
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"This is utterly fascinating: what a terrific accomplishment! It has held and engaged me. Authors who are only names have been documented and recorded, from the pathetic to the successful, and everywhere in between. This is incredible research, and I cannot begin to thank you enough for sharing it. I’m dipping into it with absolutely enormous pleasure."—Richard Bleiler
"Recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of books, book publishing, obscure authors or even researching family history. Looking forward to Volume 2"—Amazon review.

NON-FICTION

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"I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it again straight away. Never having followed sidecar racing, I had reservations before I started reading. Well it’s only 150 pages I thought, let’s get it over and done with! How wrong I was; I couldn’t put it down. This is one of the best motorcycling books I’ve ever read and John and his partner Tony Davis have done a cracking job. The pictures are great too and capture the changing face of Britain over the past fifty or so years. I urge you to get hold of a copy now." - Jim Plant, Velocette Owners Club

AVAILABLE NOW!
Iron Mask: The Story of Harry Bensley's "Walking Round the World" Hoax
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"The story sounds like an implausible Hollywood film but it was true! Who was the Man in the Iron Mask (no, not the French novel by Dumas!)? He set off from Trafalgar Square to push a pram around the world in January 1908 to win a £20,000 bet! he seems to have been a lovable rogue and this was not the first time he had hoodwinked people! I won't say more so I don't spoil the story as it's wilder than even this! Steve Holland has preserved a wonderful British eccentric's story for us all to enjoy. Give it as a Birthday or Christmas present to anyone who's curious about people in any way!" Amazon - 5 stars
"The whole unearthing of this incident from the early 20th century is one of brilliant detective work on behalf of Steve Holland -whose research skills in tying up characters and authors and their works is next to none!" Goodreads - 5 stars

The Men Behind the Flying Saucer Review
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"Beginning in 1955, the Flying Saucer Review has been key to chronicling the appearance of Unidentified Flying Objects and the latest theories of why they have been appearing in our skies. A dedicated group of enthusiasts - amongst them an accountant, a publisher's editor, a test pilot, a novelist and a member of the House of Lords - were amongst those who helped put together this remarkable magazine. Who they were and how they came to work together makes for a fascinating tale, some of it as curious as the phenomena the magazine studied."
"Interesting account of the people who founded the Flying Saucer Review which at its peak was arguably the foremost UFO journal in the world." - Nigel Parkinson, Amazon

Friday, August 24, 2018

Iron Mask:Harry Bensley's "Walking Round the World" Hoax

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