Fakes and Forgeries: The True Crime Stories of History's Greatest Deceptions: The Criminals, the Scams, and the Victims [Hardcover]

Brian Innes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–From forged documents to funny money to bogus identities and faux antiquities, Innes captivates readers with tales of intrigue and deception that span the centuries. He offers easy-to-comprehend explanations of scientific investigative techniques such as thermoluminescence, carbon dating, and chemical analysis of ink. The text is richly illustrated with photos, maps, art reproductions, and news clippings, and further supplemented by decorative sidebars (labeled Forger's Files) with biographical sketches of the scam artists and the outcomes of their hoaxes. Famous incidents include the 1908 faked prehistory Piltdown man discovered in Britain, definitively declared a hoax in 1953; the multivolume Hitler Diaries, forged by an East German dealer in Nazi relics who sold serialization rights to major publishers; and the activities of a respected 19th-century Shakespearean scholar who altered existing historical manuscripts by inserting details he made up himself and subsequently published as discoveries. A discussion of the Vinland Map, currently valued at more than $20 million if authentic, represents a continuing mystery. Additional chapters address topics as diverse as Botticelli brush strokes, and the role of desktop publishing and laser printers in counterfeiting. The index facilitates searching for specific events or names, but the contents are equally well-suited to browsing or pleasure reading.–Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest; 1st ed edition (October 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762106255
• ISBN-13: 978-0762106257
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Art history student review, May 17, 2007

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K.T.G. "Karina" (Monterrey, Mexico) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Fakes and Forgeries: The True Crime Stories of History's Greatest Deceptions: The Criminals, the Scams, and the Victims (Hardcover)

The book is very well researched with lots of pictures, clear explanations and covers a lot of topics, my problem was that I was interested in painting forgeries and there are very little of this here. If your interest is forgeries and scams in general this is a good thing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Interesting, May 5, 2007

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cooperandre (Fullerton, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fakes and Forgeries: The True Crime Stories of History's Greatest Deceptions: The Criminals, the Scams, and the Victims (Hardcover)

Overall this is an awesome book, it gives a brief history of the worlds most famous forgeries and fakes, from Art, money, and documents to religious and medical works, made by some very interesting and crafty people. I highly recommend this book, however if you are interested in one particular subject you may not like that its really brief on each subject, or if you are looking into a new line of work, this book doesn't exactly give you a "how to" on making your own money sorry, even still this book is a very interesting read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, unless you find a bargain price..., September 22, 2008

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fakes and Forgeries: The True Crime Stories of History's Greatest Deceptions: The Criminals, the Scams, and the Victims (Hardcover)

Although this volume carries a 2005 publication date, while reading it I kept thinking that the text smacked of a writing style much older than that. I have a high interest in the subject matter, but to me, the prose was dull, the photos not all that helpful, and the organization of it confusing. One problem may be that it tries to cover too many topics: currency, art, documents, prehistoric objects, identity theft, con men and women, phony science and fraud to bolster beliefs. Each subject is worthy of an entire book. I also thought, when I began, that the writer seemed to be aiming at a young audience, but I changed my mind as the text wore on. Perhaps I am just not in sync with the intentions of Reader's Digest in producing this particular overview of these crimes and criminals. Often, to my mind, the author spends too many paragraphs on a dull story, and too few on a more interesting forgery or fake. There are better books out there which cover nearly the same territory. I read one only a year or so ago. If you can find a used copy of this for under ten bucks, you won't feel cheated, but this one alone will not satisfy your appetite for this topic, either.