The True Stories Behind History's Most Infamous Women

01 Sarah GoodThe beggar of Salem02 Mary Ann CottonThe arsenic widow03 Lizzie BordenThe forty whacks04 Mata HariThe spy who danced05 HatshepsutThe king who was erased06 Lucrezia BorgiaThe poison ring07 Mary IBloody Mary08 Elizabeth BathoryThe Blood Countess09 Marie AntoinetteLet them eat cake10 Elizabeth PackardThe madwoman of Jacksonville11 Mary MallonTyphoid Mary12 Grace FryerThe Radium Girls 01 Sarah GoodThe beggar of Salem02 Mary Ann CottonThe arsenic widow03 Lizzie BordenThe forty whacks04 Mata HariThe spy who danced05 HatshepsutThe king who was erased06 Lucrezia BorgiaThe poison ring07 Mary IBloody Mary08 Elizabeth BathoryThe Blood Countess09 Marie AntoinetteLet them eat cake10 Elizabeth PackardThe madwoman of Jacksonville11 Mary MallonTyphoid Mary12 Grace FryerThe Radium Girls

Why this exists

You already know the legends. Nobody showed you the paper.

You have watched hours of these stories, often late, often while doing something else with your hands. You know the poison ring, the blood bath, the cake and the forty whacks. And you have noticed what keeps going missing. Viewers put it better than we can:

"THIS is what history class in school should include."A viewer comment on a history documentary

"We never hear about the individuals or the little instances."A viewer comment on a history documentary

Most retellings give a woman ninety seconds and one lurid line. That line was usually written by the men who judged her, the papers that sold her, or a playwright three centuries later. So this book does one thing twelve times. It puts the legend on the table, stamped MYTH. Then it tells her whole life, opens the documents, and shows you who wrote each one.

Some legends fall apart. Some hold up better than you'd like. And some end where the paper ends. When that happens, the file says so.

A free lesson from the book

Ask who held the pen

Here is the method on a legend you know by heart. First the version everyone repeats. Then the same story, checked line by line against the documents.

MYTH

Before: the rhyme

Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

Who wrote it? Nobody knows. It appeared after the trial, from people who never heard the evidence.

After: the record

Doesn't hold up"Her mother." Abby Borden was her stepmother, married to Andrew since 1865.

Four more Borden claims, page 16.

Who wrote it?A clerk, an enemy, a newspaper, a playwright, or nobody at all.
When?On the day, eight years later, or three centuries later.
What did they gain?A conviction, a sale, revenge, a better story.

Use those three questions on the next dark history video you watch, including ours. The book does it for twelve women, with the sources named, and marks all 60 claims.

Buy the 12 case files$27

$27 plus local tax. Instant 67-page PDF. Secure Stripe checkout. All sales are final.

At checkout, add the Source Spotter Cheat Sheet or the Case File Templates, $7 each.

What's inside

Twelve files in three parts, 67 pages

Every file has the same pieces: the legend, her whole life, a dated timeline, the key documents with who wrote them, the one document the legend leans on, how the legend grew, five claims with verdicts, what the record left out, where she is now, and one source you can read yourself tonight.

PART I

Accused

Four women tried in court.

Sarah Goodp. 8
Mary Ann Cottonp. 12
Lizzie Bordenp. 16
Mata Harip. 20

PART II

Rewritten

Five whose stories their enemies wrote.

Hatshepsutp. 25
Lucrezia Borgiap. 29
Mary Ip. 33
Elizabeth Bathoryp. 37
Marie Antoinettep. 40

PART III

Locked away

An asylum, an island and a factory.

Elizabeth Packardp. 45
Mary Mallonp. 49
Grace Fryerp. 52

Plus the archive desk

A worked example: one document, six questionsp. 4

Seven ways a legend growsp. 5

The verdict board: all 60 claimsp. 56

Twelve questions the record can't answerp. 57

Where every record livesp. 59

A blank case file of your ownp. 61

The words of the archive, a glossaryp. 64

Who made thisp. 65

Sources and credits for every casep. 66

Sold separately at checkout, $7 each: the Case File Templates, spare pages for every woman you research, and the Source Spotter Cheat Sheet, who wrote it and why on one page.

Turn the pages

Real pages from the book

No blurred previews. These are the pages exactly as you'll get them.

Case file 01, Sarah Good, opening page with the legend stamped MYTH — Every file opens with the legend, stamped MYTH.

A page with the key document, how the legend grew, and five verdicts — The key document, how the legend grew, and the verdicts.

Worked example: reading one document step by step — The method, run once on a real Salem record.

Seven ways a legend grows, a table — Seven ways a legend grows, with examples from the files.

Sarah Good's dated timeline and the table of documents with who wrote each — A dated timeline, and every document with who held the pen.

A blank case file page to fill in — A blank case file for a woman of your own.

Buy the 12 case files$27

$27 plus local tax. Instant 67-page PDF. Secure Stripe checkout. All sales are final.

At checkout, add the Source Spotter Cheat Sheet or the Case File Templates, $7 each.

Who made this

The Veilbound Archive

We read old files aloud, late at night, and we try never to raise our voices. These stories don't need it. Every woman deserves her whole life told, not just her worst day, and "we don't know" is an honest ending when the record runs out. 13 of the 60 claims in this book end there.

12women, from about 1479 BC to 1938

48key documents, each with who wrote it

60claims tested against the record

12sources you can start from home

What this book won't do

Invent a quote, a last word or a thought. Every quoted line names the document it comes from.
Clear a woman the record convicts. Mary I's fires were real, and the file says so.
Use suffering for shock. No gruesome pictures, only period etchings, never passed off as records.

Not for you if you want gore or a quick list of shocking facts.

Questions

Before you open the file

I've seen documentaries on most of these women. Is this the same story?

No. Documentaries tell the story. This shows you the paper underneath it: who wrote each source, when, and what each famous claim rests on. It's the part a 40-minute video has no time for, and you can keep it and reread it.

Is it graphic?

It's honest about what happened, and calm about it. There are no gruesome images, and violence is described only as far as the evidence needs.

How do I get it, and can I read it on my phone?

Right after checkout you download a 67-page PDF. It's set at a book page size that reads well on a phone, tablet or laptop, and prints well too.

Can I get a refund?

All sales are final. This is a digital download you get right away, so we don't offer refunds. This doesn't affect any rights you have by law. That's why the contents, page numbers and six real pages are all here, so you can check before you buy.

Something's wrong, or I have a question.

Write to veilbound@awakeup.shop. Corrections to the record are welcome too.

That is the record. Here is what it left out.

Twelve women, read from the documents up.

The next twelve files come in the second edition. Leave your email to hear first.

One evening's documentary costs you two hours. This is the evidence under twelve of them, yours to keep.

Buy the 12 case files$27

$27 plus local tax. Instant 67-page PDF. Secure Stripe checkout. All sales are final.

At checkout, add the Source Spotter Cheat Sheet or the Case File Templates, $7 each.

Not ready yet?

The Source Checklist, free

A blank printable page for the next document you meet: three questions to ask of it, with room to check three sources. Bring it to any documentary, book or family paper.