Book Review: To Be or Not To Be
A Fascinating Investigation of Identity, Deception, and the Human Need to Believe
To Be Not to Be: True Stories of Stolen and Erased Identity by Henry Vale is a meticulously researched and consistently absorbing collection of twenty-seven true stories about impostors, stolen identities, mysterious disappearances, and faked deaths. Although these cases span eight centuries and five continents, the author connects them through a compelling central question: What makes people accept someone as the person they claim to be?
The book is divided into two complementary parts. “Impostors” examines individuals who assumed identities that did not belong to them, while “Faked Deaths” considers people who attempted to erase their identities or convince the world they no longer existed. This structure works extremely well because acquiring a new identity and destroying an old one are presented as two sides of the same human impulse—the desire to escape the limitations or consequences of one’s actual life.
Some of the cases involve famous names, but many will be unfamiliar even to readers who enjoy historical mysteries and true crime. The opening chapter recounts the astonishing career of Christian Gerhartsreiter, the German immigrant who eventually presented himself as Clark Rockefeller. Other chapters explore Frédéric Bourdin, the French serial impostor who repeatedly claimed to be missing children; the Tichborne Claimant, whose demand for an English fortune produced one of the longest trials in British history; Princess Caraboo, who persuaded an English community that she was an exotic foreign princess; Holocaust impostor Enric Marco; and Grey Owl, the celebrated conservationist whose carefully constructed public identity concealed his English origins.
The section on faked deaths offers an equally varied selection. It moves from insurance fraud and financial criminals to the disappearance of physicist Ettore Majorana, the mystery of the Somerton Man, and the enduring legend of D. B. Cooper. Particularly memorable is the story of Lal Bihari, an Indian man who remained physically alive while official records declared him dead. His ordeal demonstrates that identity can be erased not only by a skilled criminal but also by corruption, paperwork, and bureaucratic indifference.
What elevates this book above a conventional collection of strange-but-true stories is its attention to the people and institutions that enabled the deceptions. Vale repeatedly shows that impostors seldom succeed through personal cleverness alone. They need families desperate to recover missing loved ones, officials who trust documents without investigating them, communities attracted to prestige, or societies eager to embrace a comforting story. The book is therefore as much about belief as deception.
Vale also gives proper recognition to investigators, journalists, genealogists, and other persistent individuals who refused to ignore inconsistencies. Most of these cases were not solved through a single brilliant revelation. They were unraveled because someone noticed a suspicious photograph, questioned an official account, demanded a blood test, or continued investigating after everyone else had lost interest.
The writing is vivid and often has the pace of a thriller, yet the author remains careful about the historical record. He distinguishes documented facts from disputed claims and avoids inventing thoughts or conversations merely to make the stories more dramatic. A substantial bibliography, organized by chapter, demonstrates the seriousness of the research, although readers seeking academic documentation might also have appreciated numbered endnotes tied to particular statements.
The final chapter, concerning World War II double agent Juan Pujol García—code-named GARBO—provides an especially satisfying conclusion. Unlike most of the book’s subjects, Pujol used invented identities in the service of something larger than himself. His story complicates the book’s moral landscape by demonstrating that deception can sometimes protect lives rather than destroy them.
To Be Not to Be will appeal to readers of true crime, biography, historical mysteries, psychology, and unusual history. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and impressively wide-ranging, it reveals that identity is not merely something recorded on a certificate or passport. It is also a story that other people must be willing to believe.