Hoax: A History of Deception: 5,000 Years of Fakes, Forgeries, and Fallacies

An enthralling exploration of the most audacious and underhanded deceptions in the history of mankind, from sacred relics to financial schemes to fake art, music, and identities.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 29 March 2018
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc

From sacred relics to financial schemes to fake art, music, and identities, this captivating exploration delves into the most audacious and underhanded deceptions in the history of mankind. World history is replete with tales of tall tales and those who have fallen for them. Ian Tattersall, a curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, and Peter Névraumont, an award-winning book producer, have collaborated to create this anti-history of the world, in which Michelangelo fakes a cupid; the holy foreskin is venerated; arctic explorers search for an entrance into a hollow Earth; a woman is elected Pope; and people can survive on only air and sunshine.

Told chronologically, HOAX begins with the first documented announcement of the end of the world from 365 AD and winds its way through controversial tales such as the Loch Ness Monster and the Shroud of Turin, past proven fakes such as the Thomas Jefferson's ancient wine and the Davenport Tablets built by a lost race, and explores bald-faced lies in the art world, journalism, and archeology.

Weight: 920g
Dimension: 244 x 199 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780316503723