History does not happen in a vacuum. Decisions made in one decade set the conditions for events in subsequent decades. Likewise, yesterday's "deciders" author tomorrow's history. Wilderness of Mirrors is the backstory of key historical events and figures. It is NOT however, the history of good decisions made by wise leaders. Quite the contrary. The question is then, how do these immoral and unethical master manipulators stay in power? It's all very predictable. They engage the levers of power available to them - or someone they know - revising history, expunging their part in the rolling disaster. In other words, they lie to protect themselves. When the lie succeeds - and most of the time it does - they go on to make worse decisions, impacting even more people as they climb the rungs of political power. The history books are written by these agents of power, forever codifying the cacophony of lies as the official record. Wilderness of Mirrors weaves important historical events and consequential characters from 1928-1983 into an inconvenient tapestry of scandalous truth. The story is really three stories braided into one. First, the accidental discovery of the world's first antibiotic in 1928. Though the discovery happened in Great Britain, it changed the course of American history - causing a chain of events that included epidemics, contaminated vaccines, cancer, AIDS, a "Medical Manhattan" project, assassination plots, government scandals, and a lethal bio-weapon. Second, the development of competing spy agencies after World War II. Created in 1945 to be the front lines in a new kind of warfare - covert intelligence - between the dueling ideologies of communism and democracy. Though the rivalry was between the United States and the USSR, both intelligence communities exported their enmity for one another to the far corners of the world. And third, the birth of the notorious - if you believe the textbooks - Lee Harvey Oswald in 1949. Though patriotic to a fault, "Oswaldkovich" was set up by his own government to be the patsy in the Crime of the Century - the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Conveniently, his death permanently foreclosed on a trial, covering up Oswald's CIA connections, a bio-weapon project in New Orleans, and the plot to kill JFK. Convenient indeed, especially for the CIA. In all three cases, the history books tell it wrong or not at all. Wilderness of Mirrors is the story behind the story - the interesting stuff no one told you about in history class.
About the Author: Barry Jones is a high school history teacher at Franklin High School in Williamson County, Tennessee - near Nashville. Previous titles authored by Mr. Jones include - Flagrant Foul (2008), Letters to Toby (2012), and Coup d' Etat (2014). Without exception, in his twenty years in the classroom, the JFK assassination, the Watergate Scandal, and the CIA's "Medical Manhattan" Project have generated more student interest than any other topic. This novel, Wilderness of Mirrors, is more-or-less a literary interpretation of his years teaching these subjects. Mr. Jones is a family man. He and Katrina have been married twenty-seven years. Together, they have four children - daughters Shelby and Casey, and sons Toby and Sammy. The Jones's make their home in Fairview, Tennessee. A public speaker, Mr. Jones is available upon request. For information, feel free to contact the author at the following e-mail address: Blj34_37146@yahoo.com