A History of Ambition in 50 Hoaxes (History in 50)
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- €12.99
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- €12.99
Publisher Description
What do the Trojan Horse, Piltdown Man, Keely Motor Company, and Ponzi Scheme have in common? They were all famous hoaxes, carefully designed and bolstered with false evidence.
The con artists in this book pursued a variety of ambitions—making money, winning wars, mocking authority, finding fame, trading an ordinary life for a glamorous one—but they all chose the lowest, fastest road to get there. Every hoax is a curtain, and behind it is a deceiver operating levers and smoke machines to make us see what is not there and miss what is. As P.T. Barnum knew, you can short-circuit critical thinking in any century by telling people what they want to hear. Most scams operate on a personal scale, but some have shaped the balance of world power, inspired explorers to sail uncharted seas, derailed scientific progress, or caused terrible massacres. A HISTORY OF AMBITION IN 50 HOAXES guides us through a rogue’s gallery of hustlers, liars, swindlers, imposters, scammers, pretenders, and cheats. In Gale Eaton’s wide-ranging synthesis, the history of deception is a colorful tour, with surprising insights behind every curtain.
Fountas & Pinnell Level Z+
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This addition to the History in 50 series explores hoaxes and the motivations behind them. "There is something artistic about a fine hoax," Eaton writes. "Like a good novel or a conjurer's trick, it creates an alternative reality." Proceeding chronologically, she recounts each ruse in brief entries that also include maps, sidebars, and other supplemental information. In the case of an 18th-century man, William-Henry Ireland, his desire for recognition by his father led him to forge false letters and even a play supposedly written by Shakespeare. In 19th-century New York, the Fox sisters were instrumental in the rise of Spiritualism, even though they revealed that their spiritual communications had been faked. In a broad-ranging and fascinating study of artifice, Eaton raises intriguing questions about human instincts, especially the ones to deceive and believe. Simultaneously available: A History of Travel in 50 Vehicles. Ages 12 up.
