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Oak Island Mystery: Solved

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed reading this book. I was not familiar with Oak Island or the TV show. This is a well researched book about the history of the island and an update of her previous book. Oak Island has been the subject of treasure hunting and supernatural stories for many years. This book provides a historical context for activities on the island. I really liked reading about the history of the island. I learned a lot about the history of Canada and England. The text is accompanied with a lot of historical illustrations. There is some repetition and overlap in the chapters, If you are looking for supernatural explanations you maybe disappointed in this book. However if you are looking for an historical look at the island you will enjoy this book.

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Unlike the current television show this book presents the facts and history of Oak Island in a clearly non-fiction manner. There are charts, maps , articles, deeds and other factual material presented in a no-nonsense narrative. An interesting read for those of us who have had our interest peaked by the mystery that is Oak Island.

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Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

If you have been a fan of this series then you know what this book is all about. And honestly if you have not been then do NOT start with this book. It gives away too much.

That being said I have enjoyed the series and enjoyed the accompanying books that I read.

This is the final one, which is why I suggest not starting with this one.

Very well written and a very interesting subject. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to give anything away.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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No conspiracy or supernatural-based American urban fantasy would be complete without a tale of the Oak Island Money Pit. The authors, having done extensive research on the legends and discoveries of the island in the past, present an in-depth analysis on the history of the money pit and the aspects that have furthered the mysteries surrounding the island. While detailed topographical and geological analyses are not too exciting to read without possessing an interest in the topics, the logic applied to the pit and the authors’ suspicions of the truth behind it remove any further mystery from Oak Island and its legends.

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Any fan of the television show, Oak Island, will enjoy this book. It covers many theories and is a good review of the the history of Nova Scotia. She did a lot of research an has several very plausible explanations about the money pit, the water tunnels and the various rock formations. Ms Steele originally published this book in 2014 and has updated and expanded it into the final chapter. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This is a very well written, total story coverage of Oak Island and it's much pursued treasure. Tales of the treasure have been passed on since the early 1700s, possibly earlier. In the past couple of years we have been able to witness the two Michigan brothers who have turned their labor into many segments for TV
This book is authored by two, a scientist and a historian. It goes into great detail about what has been done by humans on the island and comes quickly to a conclusion many readers aren't hoping for.
This may be a problem, as most readers will want to skip to the back and find out what the treasure is and where it is.
I love archaeology even in it's minutiae. For those like me, this excellently crafted story will be fascinating.

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The Oak Island Mystery Solved: The Final Chapter
by
Joy A. Steele and Gordon Fader

3 Stars

Oak Island is a tiny island just off the coast of Nova Scotia that has been the site of what is perhaps the world’s best known treasure hunt for more than 200 years. I’ve said in other reviews that I have become convinced that something extraordinary happened on the island sometime in the distant past, but that I truly have no idea what that something was. Authors Joy Steele and Gordon Fader have a very different theory of what occurred on the island. They see it not as the site of a fabulous buried treasure but as the home of an ancient manufacturing operation. They contend that the island was the home of a British naval stores operation in 1720; that is, pine tar and pitch, two items essential to the 18th century British navy, were produced on the island.

Steele and Fader contend that they have virtually proven their naval stores theory. I don’t find their “proof” to be any more convincing than any of the myriad buried treasure theories that have been proposed over the years. However, it is, like most everything about Oak Island, fascinating. In fact, based solely on how interesting I found the subject matter of the book I would have awarded it a 4 star rating. However, the writing and, even more, the editing are so poor that I couldn’t give the book more than 3 stars overall. As just one of many examples, a discussion of the geology of the island states “the base bedrock of the region, the Halifax slates, are 450 million years old and of Cambrian-Ordovician age. On top of them are Windsor limestones that are 300 million years old.” However, just a few pages later we are told “the slates cover a large part of NS [presumably NS is Nova Scotia, the text doesn’t specify] and are very old sediments, approximately 300 million years. Overlying the slates … are limestones of 70 million years called Windsor rocks.” So which is it? Do the bedrock layers date to 450 million years and 300 million years or to 300 million years and 70 million years? If you’re going to try to impress me of your expertise and convince me that your theory is the truth at least be consistent with your facts.

Still, the theory is very different and certainly interesting, and for that alone the book is worth your time.

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The author clearly did her research before writing this book. I am a fan of the Oak Island mystery and was excited to learn some new things and hopefully a reasonable conclusion to the mystery. While the author has an interesting perspective I do not think that their theory was supported as well as it could have been and I don't feel that the mystery has been solved. I don't want to spoil anything but the authors theory goes against a lot of popular theories and after the author shared their theory they attempted to explain why some of the most well known aspects of the Oak Island mystery were not relevant. I felt that this section was not successful and the author did not convince me that certain things found on the island are not relevant to the mystery. Also there were some things that the author touched on but did not fully explain and to me that seemed to imply that the author had no reasonable explanation and that these things just didn't fit in with the theory so were going to be disregarded. Also, while this book was well written and well researched the author spent too much time discussing the history of naval stores and tar making. I understand that this was important to the authors conclusion but the level of detail that was provided was unnecessary. If you're an Oak Island enthusiast and you're looking for another theory check this book out. However, if you're just interested in learning more about Oak Island in general I would look for a different book.
Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Oak Island. The Oak Island Mystery. I’d never heard of it and I’m glad to have discovered something new. Oak Island has a mystery and it may or may not have been solved. Many people have found the mystery compelling and some have lost their lives to it. The long-running series on The History Channel is now on its 7th series, I believe. The book I got from NetGalley had the subtitle of The Final Chapter, suggesting that there is no more to be said. But that has never stopped anyone saying it, so I would hazard a guess that we haven’t heard the last of the Oak Island Mystery. But as for me, I’ve heard all I need to right now. I’ve also heard far too much about naval stores and the making of pitch, tar and other such naval necessities, about which this book goes into in great detail. If you’re caught up in the mystery and remain fascinated by every aspect of it, then this book will be for you. If, like me, a Wikipedia article would have sufficed, then I can’t recommend the book – although admittedly the research is impressive, the illustrations helpful and the thesis intriguing. However, it’s definitely one just for the enthusiast.

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I had read about the Money Pit on Oak Island several years ago, but the article was only two pages and written in the 1970s. When I saw Oak Island Mystery: Solved, I wanted to see what else there was to know.

This is the second edition, and includes additional information not found in the first version. Reading through the book, I found out that was a lot more to know than I expected. A history of what is known about the area and the supposed treasure is provided, as well as details about the expeditions to delve the secrets of the Money Pit. Items found during the expeditions, and theories are explored so that you have a good idea of what has gone on in the years people have worked there.

I found the different artifacts and theories of the treasure’s origins interesting. I won’t spoil the conclusion of the book, but I was surprised at what the authors determined to be the true story. However, it does make sense with the evidence provided.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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I have been fascinated by the story of the Oak Island pirate treasure since I was a kid, although that fascination has waned a little with the long running (and very dull) TV series about two brothers pouring a ton of money into finding something that may not exist. Steele, who has long loved Oak Island herself, more for its rich history and fragile ecosystem than for any pirate treasure, looks into the plausibility of there being any real pirate booty hidden there. I’m not going to give away her conclusions, but suffice it to say that the aforementioned brothers will (hopefully) run out of money before they can do any more damage to the island.If you are interested in the facts along with the lore, and Steele does separate the two, you will find this more interesting than any TV show

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