Title: Roger Bacon and the Manuscript
Product review: It is possible (and probably even quite likely) that the mysterious manuscript at the heart of the Goldstone's The Friar and the Cipher is not by Roger Bacon, but to fully believe that would be to lose the story of Bacon that fills more than half the book. Bacon is an interesting character and his story is quite fascinating and fairly well told but it is to the reader's benefit that the book is able to include, through its history of the manuscript, a host of other characters ranging from the court of Elizabeth to World War I cryptographers, and beyond. Francis Bacon is even wedged in there a bit. Sometimes the books feels a little padded but this padding, at least, keeps the reader's attention as the centuries are spanned. A pleasant read.
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