author

Joel Moody

1834–1914

Best known for a bold attempt to solve a famous literary mystery, this nineteenth-century writer explored big arguments about authorship, history, and ideas. His surviving books suggest a taste for controversy and for tackling subjects other writers left alone.

1 Audiobook

Junius Unmasked

Junius Unmasked

by Joel Moody

About the author

Joel Moody was a nineteenth-century author, born in 1834 and deceased in 1914. Public catalog records connect him with at least two works that are still traceable today: Junius Unmasked; or, Thomas Paine the Author of the Letters of Junius and the Declaration of Independence and The Science of Evil.

His best-documented title is Junius Unmasked, which is listed by Project Gutenberg and presents an ambitious claim about the identity of the writer behind the famous Junius letters. That kind of argument gives a good sense of his interests: Moody appears to have been drawn to difficult historical questions, debate, and sweeping interpretations.

Reliable biographical detail about his personal life is limited in the sources I could confirm, so it is safest to remember him mainly through his books. Even from that small record, he comes across as a writer willing to take on large, provocative subjects and make his case with confidence.