Thomas B. Allen (author)

Thomas B. Allen (born 1929) is an American author and historian. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland. He is also the father of science fiction writer Roger MacBride Allen. Allen is a contributing editor to National Geographic. Allen has co-authored numerous books with Norman Polmar. He has also written numerous mystery novels.

Publication and film

His most famous book to date is Possessed.^[1] It is a retelling of the true story of a teenage boy (whom Allen identified by the pseudonym Robbie Manheim) from Mt. Rainier, Maryland who went through the rite of exorcism in 1949. Allen tracked down the sole survivor of the team that performed the exorcism, Father Walter Halloran as well as a copy of the diary kept by the team leader, Father William S. Bowdern. It was upon this case William Peter Blatty based the events of his novel, The Exorcist. First published in hardcover in 1993, the book was reissued as a revised paperback in 2000 to coincide with the release of a made-for-cable film Possessed (2000 film)^[2] starring Timothy Dalton as Father Bowdern. Since publication of the book, Allen has been a frequent guest on talk shows, entertainment shows and history shows that discuss exorcism in general, demonic possession and the case his book details.

Speaking in 2013, Allen "emphasized that definitive proof that the boy known only as 'Robbie' was possessed by malevolent spirits is unattainable. Maybe he instead suffered from mental illness or sexual abuse — or fabricated the entire experience." According to Allen, Halloran also "expressed his skepticism about potential paranormal events before his death."^[3]

Criticism

Allen's Possessed has been criticized by Mark Opsasnick, who wrote that it contained questionable or inaccurate material, such as misidentifying the location as Mount Rainier, Maryland rather than Cottage City, Maryland.^[4]

Bibliography

• Allen, Thomas B. War Games: The Secret World of the Creators, Players, and Policy Makers Rehearsing World War III Today. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987. ISBN 0070011958
• Allen, Thomas B., and Sam Abell. The Blue and the Gray. [Washington, D.C.]: National Geographic Society, 1992. ISBN 0870448765
• The Shark Almanac: A Fully Illustrated Natural History of Sharks, Skates, and Rays
• Remember Pearl Harbor: Japanese And American Survivors Tell Their Stories
• Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War
• Allen, Thomas B., F. Clifton Berry, and Norman Polmar. War in the Gulf. Atlanta: Turner Pub, 1991. ISBN 1878685015
• Allen, Thomas B., and Norman Polmar. Code-Name Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan and Why Truman Dropped the Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0684804069
• Rickover with Norman Polmar
• Allen, Thomas B., and Cheryl Harness. George Washington, Spymaster: How America Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2004. ISBN 9781417769261
• Dickson, Paul, and Thomas B. Allen. The Bonus Army: An American Epic. New York: Walker & Co, 2005. ISBN 0802714404
• Mr. Lincoln's High Tech War (2008) with Roger MacBride Allen
• Time Capsule: The Book of Record (2010) with Roger MacBride Allen
• Allen, Thomas B., and Norman Polmar. Ship of Gold. Annapolis, Maryland : Naval Institute Press, 2014. ISBN 1591140722 Previously published in 1987 by Macmillan Publishing Company.

References

External links

• Thomas B. Allen His Homepage
• Thomas B. Allen video discussing his book Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War.
• Interview at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
• Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War a lecture by Thomas B. Allen on his book at the Library of Congress