A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Greatest Hoaxes, Fakes and Frauds

See Larger Image	List Price: $15.00 Our Price: $10.20 Your Save: $ 4.80 ( 32% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) Written By: Michael Farquhar Average Customer Rating:


Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 001.95 EAN: 9780143035442 ISBN: 0143035444 Label: Penguin (Non-Classics) Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: 2005-05-31 Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Release Date: 2005-05-31 Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Related Items A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans: Pirates, Skinflints, Patriots, and Other Colorful Characters Stuck in the Footnotes of History The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy Royalty's Strangest Characters: Extraordinary But True Tales from 2,000 Years of Mad Monarchs and Raving Rulers (Strangest series)
Editorial Reviews: We may say that honesty is the best policy, but history—to say nothing of business, politics, and the media—suggests otherwise. In this infinitely citable book, the author of two bestselling treasuries of scandal recounts some of the greatest deceptions of all time. With what forged document did the Vatican lay claim to much of Europe? Who wrote Hitler’s diaries? Why do millions still believe the vague doggerel that Nostradamus passed off as prophecy? Organizing his material by theme (con artists, the press, military trickery, scientific fraud, imposters, great escapes, and more), Michael Farquhar takes in everything from the hoodwinking of Hitler to Vincent "the Chin" Gigante’s thirty-year crazy act. A Treasury of Deception is a zestful, gossipy exposé—and celebration—of mendacity. A Treasury of Deception also includes: • Ten tricksters from scripture • Ten great liars in literature • Ten egregious examples of modern American doublespeak • Ten classic deceptions from Greek mythology
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Terribly Written, Oddly Biased... Comment: I feel like this book was written for the sole purpose of making money. Granted, I suppose many books are that way, but this just seemed lazy and seemed to make rather strong assumptions about what must necessarily have been true and untrue in certain situations without any backup. It should have just been a fun read, but I kept thinking "How do you figure that??" It's rare for me to get up and walk out on a movie... and similarly rare for me to have the same reaction to a book, but I did with this one. Customer Rating: Summary: Readable but Imperfect Comment: I read and enjoyed the author's book on royal scandals, and I bought this one thinking it would be comparably entertaining and interesting. Unfortunately, I must say that although the book is readable and sometimes enjoyable, it does have many weak parts, where deception is discussed in overly general terms or, conversly, where it consists of trivialities, such as the Clinton/Lewinsky episode. In addition, a person with an average culture will find no more than a few new stories. Finally, it sometimes appears as if the author aspired the book to be a compendium of all time deceptions and lies (including appendices on those told in the Bible stories and Greek myths, in the process butchering many of these and modern day American politics), which it can never be and is far from being. Instead, the author should have done more research and told stories which are less mundane, and less well known. Customer Rating: Summary: Absorbing Comment: What I liked most about the book was the author's no nonsense style. The problem with many history books is the historian often takes a long winded way to explain facts. Michael gets straight to the point and only narrates details that are neccessary . Each story is only a few minutes long, so if you did not like one, there is another one to look forward to. Customer Rating: Summary: Deception Throughout History Comment: In seventy chapters organized into ten parts (themes), plus four appendices, the author does an absolutely superb job of illustrating how deception of various sorts has played (and surely continues to play) such a prominent role in human history. As is standard in this author's books, the writing style is clear, friendly, quite engaging, extremely witty and lots of fun to read. In short, the book is almost impossible to put down. This excellent book can be enjoyed by everyone, especially history buffs. Anyone who finds history a rather boring subject but is fortunate enough to read this book (or any of this author's other "Treasury" series books) is in for a rare treat and the bonus realization that reading history can be great fun. Customer Rating: Summary: Great Book about Frauds Comment: This is a very interesting book about different frauds from around the world. Some examples from the book: 1.Nostradamus' predictions 2.Piltdown man 3.various Nazi lies and hoaxes 4.Clifford Irving's whopper of a lie when he said that he was writing a biography about Howard Hughes 5.A lady in the 1600's giving birth to rabbits 6.Various royal hoaxes dealing with pretenders to thrones 7.Boys with plenty of school spirit who got the Lincoln Museum to look purple 8.plenty other stories to keep you amused for hours. More Reviews