Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Hoaxes

Encyclopedia of Hoaxes
1 volume: Illustrations, Bibliography, Index

This entertaining book tells the story of some of the many hoaxes perpetrated throughout history. The author defines a hoax as a tale, object or other occurrence made with the intent to deceive. The book does not deal with frauds made for the purpose of obtaining money which the author considers as swindles, not hoaxes. Thus the book does not talk about Ponzi schemes or Bernie Madoff’s shady deals, but instead describes occurrences such as the Pulitzer Prize awarded in 1981 to Janet Cooke for a false story about a heroin addict, the curse of King Tut, the Loch Ness monster, the Bermuda triangle, and the “Elvis is alive” hoax along with many others.

The time period covered is very long, beginning with Plato’s description of the lost continent of Atlantis continuing until the late twentieth century. Each article gives a short description of the event and gives the sources and reasons why the author considers it a hoax. There is also a short article describing the psychology behind the belief in hoaxes, or why some people are willing to be fooled. If you are interested in learning more about any of the hoaxes each article has a short bibliography with recommendations for more reading.