Customer Reviews

The Big Book of Hoaxes: True Tales of the Greatest Lies Ever Told! (Factoid Books)

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...And this is the birth record of the ages! All the major frauds, fables and fallcies that suckered many, in an enjoyable readable form. From the piltdown man, to the War of the Worlds panic broadcast, to the cloning of a human being. It's all here, even the story of the man who actually sold the Brooklyn Bridge(yes, there was such a man...would I lie to you?)

That's what the overall great series "Big book of.." offers. Comic art of the finest order and incredible historical value.
In this case, it's hoaxes or seeing it another way the ability of humans to be fooled in the most unlikely and bizzare ways, a process that more than often has led in a dramatic change in the course of history.

For those that are familiar with the "Big book.." series the comics offered here are nothing less than gems as some of the greatest comic makers colloborate to put this together.
But if you use these books as reference points (their bibliographies are treasures for such a use) you're bound to wind up with a very in-depth knowledge of history, one that's far-distanced from the mainstream-polished version you've been served up to now.
Some of the stories on display on this book might be somewhat known, most are not, but what's even more impressive is that some seem too outrageous to even be close to the truth. Sadly, for the record of human history all of them are 100% real.

Highlights include:
-the story of F.Kreisler who duper critics into thinking he was playing pieces of great composers but had instead composed them on his own. And this for decades! One of the great embarrasments for the world of critics and a lesson to be discovered.
-the infamous Hitler diaries, a definitive case showing that money and greed dictates the "news".
-The BBC riot panic and the very similar but far more sophisticated "War of the worlds" by O.Welles
-The Boxer rebellion in China, instigated by 4 journalists and a fake story they put up in Denver!
-Sawing Manhattan in half (!!!!)and how 1000s of workers were actually convinced that this "project" was to take place, showed up on the day it was supposed to start only to find none of the "organisers" there...
-Brian Hughes the king of pranksters as well as another prankster who actually managed to sell New York..
-the much unknown to many tulip hysteria in Holland.

These are of course just a few of the tens of stories included in this truly great book. As most of the "Big book of..." are slowly taken out of print you should make sure you can get what's still available. It looks like you should hurry especially if you are a dedicated comic fan and if you simoultaneously appreciate comics that reflect the facts.

Hoaxes is right up there with Unexplained and Urban Legends as one of the best Big Books out there. The stories are well written without being overly wordy (ahem, Conspiracies!), the artwork from dozens of contemporary comic artists is imaginative and engaging, and above all, it definitely invites re-reading. Highly recommended.

This is the seventh volume in Paradox Press's "Big Books" series, and it's another winner! It's a book of lies, but all-true stories about them. From the Piltdown Man to Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, it's all unbelievably good.

This book will make an informative, entertaining, off-the-wall addition to my reference library. I'm planning on buying more of this "Big Book of..." series.

...then be sure to pick up the book TURN ME ON, DEAD MAN by Andru J. Reeve. It's the true saga of the story behind the infamous "Paul-Is-Dead" hoax of 1969, when millions believed a persistent rumor that Beatle Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash, his death kept a secret while the Beatles replaced him with a lookalike and planted "clues" to his death on subsequent Beatles albums. It's an amazing story and Reeve explores the who-what-and-whys of the story, explaining how this hoax was perpetrated and who was behind it. One of the most talked-about books of the year -- and it's available right now, right here at Amazon.com !!!

"An Amazing Book! I couldn't put it down!" -- Dr. Heritage Smith, folklorist and urban legends historian