A History of Ambition in 50 Hoaxes (History in 50)
Book Details
Author(s)Gale Eaton
PublisherTilbury House Publishers
ISBN / ASIN0884484920
ISBN-139780884484929
AvailabilityNot yet published
Sales Rank4,496,961
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
Short:
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.
Main:
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.
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.
Main:
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.
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