Author and Boston Globe journalist Mark Arsenault will discuss his new book July 14 at 7 p.m. in Barrington. Arsenault will appear at Barrington Books to share his new historical biography of a World War I-era editor, propagandist, de facto spy, and one of the most fascinating characters in Rhode Island’s unusually colorful history.

Arsenault’s nonfiction book, “The Imposter’s War” [Pegasus Books, 2022], is the story of former Providence Journal editor John Revelstoke Rathom, though that was only a fake name he called himself. Rathom’s personal biography was comprised mostly of lies and his entire identity was an invention, all intended to hide a secret in his past.

In the years immediately before the U.S. joined World War I, Rathom was among the most famous journalists in America. He was nationally known for his scoops about German espionage and propaganda in the U.S., which were republished in newspapers in every state in the country.

Rathom was also a magnet for trouble, often embroiled in scandal. A young Franklin Delano Roosevelt once sued Rathom for libel, after the former friendly acquaintances turned enemies. In the end, the U.S. Department of Justice blackmailed Rathom into silence. When Rathom pushed back the DOJ ruined him, and then history forgot him.

Drawing on declassified FBI files and other primary sources, “The Imposter’s War” tracks the life history and vast influence of the enigmatic Rathom, following the trail all the way to Rathom’s native Australia, where Arsenault discovered Rathom’s true identity and the secret he was so desperate to hide.

Arsenault, a staff reporter for The Globe, worked at the Providence Journal from 1998 to 2008.

WHAT:  Barrington books hosts author Mark Arsenault for a reading and signing of “The Imposter’s War.”

WHERE: Barrington Books

WHEN: July 14 at 7 p.m.

MORE INFO: https://www.barringtonbooks.com/event/author-event-mark-arsenault-imposters-war-press-propaganda-and-newsman-who-battled-minds