This book was written by an investigative journalist who became obsessed with Van Gogh and uncovered a suprising number of details about his life. You'd think that, by the early 1970's, pretty much every aspect of Van Gogh's life would have been known. Such was not the case. Without revealing what he found out, let's just say that the author discovered major revelations about his life that profoundly affect one's understanding of why Van Gogh did what he did. He also discovered that the Van Gogh family did much to cover up the less "proper" details of Van Gogh's life.