The Century of Deception

The Century of Deception PDF Author: Ian Keable
Publisher: Saqi Books
ISBN: 1908906456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
'Utter joy! A delicious romp through the heyday of balderdash and grand-scale deception, penned by one of the country's finest magical minds.' Derren Brown In 1749, a newspaper advertisement appeared declaring that a man would climb inside a bottle on the stage of a London theatre. Although the crowds turned up in their hundreds to witness the trick, the performer didn't. Over the following decades, elaborate pranks would continue to bamboozle audiences across England. In The Century of Deception, magician and magic historian Ian Keable tells the engrossing stories of these eighteenth-century hoaxes and those who were duped by them. The English public were hoodwinked time and time again, swallowing whole tales of rapping ghosts, a woman who gave birth to rabbits, a levitating Frenchman in a Chinese Temple and outrageous astrological predictions. Not only were the hoaxes widely influential, drawing in celebrities such as Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift, they also inflamed concerns about 'English credulity'. 'Fake news' and 'going viral' may be modern terms, but as this entertaining, eye-opening book shows, these concepts have been with us for centuries. 'A fascinating, witty and beautifully-written book.' Matt Lucas 'Ian Keable's brilliant book has opened my eyes to an incredible world of hoaxers and deceivers that I didn't know even existed. A cracking read filled with extraordinary stories.' Andy Nyman 'A masterful and fascinating journey into a hitherto hidden world of history, mystery and hoaxes.' Richard Wiseman

The Century of Deception

The Century of Deception PDF Author: Ian Keable
Publisher: Saqi Books
ISBN: 1908906456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
'Utter joy! A delicious romp through the heyday of balderdash and grand-scale deception, penned by one of the country's finest magical minds.' Derren Brown In 1749, a newspaper advertisement appeared declaring that a man would climb inside a bottle on the stage of a London theatre. Although the crowds turned up in their hundreds to witness the trick, the performer didn't. Over the following decades, elaborate pranks would continue to bamboozle audiences across England. In The Century of Deception, magician and magic historian Ian Keable tells the engrossing stories of these eighteenth-century hoaxes and those who were duped by them. The English public were hoodwinked time and time again, swallowing whole tales of rapping ghosts, a woman who gave birth to rabbits, a levitating Frenchman in a Chinese Temple and outrageous astrological predictions. Not only were the hoaxes widely influential, drawing in celebrities such as Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift, they also inflamed concerns about 'English credulity'. 'Fake news' and 'going viral' may be modern terms, but as this entertaining, eye-opening book shows, these concepts have been with us for centuries. 'A fascinating, witty and beautifully-written book.' Matt Lucas 'Ian Keable's brilliant book has opened my eyes to an incredible world of hoaxers and deceivers that I didn't know even existed. A cracking read filled with extraordinary stories.' Andy Nyman 'A masterful and fascinating journey into a hitherto hidden world of history, mystery and hoaxes.' Richard Wiseman

Strategic Denial and Deception

Strategic Denial and Deception PDF Author: Roy Godson
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412835208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
Does foreign denial and deception threaten the interests of contemporary democracies? Strategic denial and deception (D&D) has emerged as a little understood challenge to security in general, and the intelligence community in particular. To gain advantages, adversaries seek to deny critical information about their own activities and capabilities, and to decieve foreign governments. In recent years, Iraq, India, Somalia, Colombian criminal groups, and terrorists, for example, have all used D&D successfully against the United States. Denial and deception is a low cost, potentially high impact to level political, military, and economic playing fields, particularly against strong opponents. Concerns about the threat of denial and deception have waxed and waned since the end of World War II. Sometimes it shaped assessments about the former Soviet Union, for example. At other times, such as the end of the Cold War, such threats appear to fade into insignificance. This volume considers whether globalization, proliferating communication technologies, and the dissemination of vast amounts of information make effective foreign denial and deception more or less likely. Contributors also examine whether more information and data sources make policymakers better informed or simply create confusion. Drawing on lessons learned from historical experiences, the authors propose ways to minimize future challenges. Chapters include "Elements of Strategic Denial and Deception," by Abram Shulsky; "Conditions Making for Success and Failure of D&D," by Barton Whaley; "Conditions Making for Success and Failure of D&D," by M.R.D. Foot; "Conditions Making for Success and Failure of D&D," by J. Bowyer Bell; "Arms Control," by Lynn M. Hansen; and "Prescription: Detecting Deception-Practice, Practitioners, and Theory," by Barton Whaley and Jeffrey Busby. While there are previous books about celebrated D&D cases, from Troy to Pearl Harbor and D-Day, no work attempts to assess how these instruments of denial and deception can be used in the early twenty-first century. This book will be of interest to students, security planners, and general readers interested in political science, security, and foreign and military policy.

The Arts of Deception

The Arts of Deception PDF Author: James W. Cook
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
In The Arts of Deception, James Cook explores the distinctly modern mode of trickery designed to puzzle the eye and challenge the brain. Upsetting the normally strict boundaries of value, race, class, and truth, the spectacles offer a revealing look at the tastes, concerns, and prejudices of America's very first mass audiences.

The Age of Deception

The Age of Deception PDF Author: Mohamed ElBaradei
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
ISBN: 1429961384
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
For the first time, the Nobel Prize laureate and "man in the middle" of the planet's most explosive confrontations speaks out—on his dealings with America, negotiations with Iran, reform and democracy in the Middle East, and the prospects for a future free of nuclear weapons. For the past two decades, Mohamed ElBaradei has played a key role in the most high-stakes conflicts of our time. Unique in maintaining credibility in the Arab world and the West alike, ElBaradei has emerged as a singularly independent, uncompromised voice. As the director of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, he has contended with the Bush administration's assault on Iraq, the nuclear aspirations of North Korea, and the West's standoff with Iran. For their efforts to control nuclear proliferation, ElBaradei and his agency received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. Now, in a vivid and thoughtful account, ElBaradei takes us inside the international fray. Inspector, adviser, and mediator, ElBaradei moves from Baghdad, where Iraqi officials bleakly predict the coming war, to behind-the-scenes exchanges with Condoleezza Rice, to the streets of Pyongyang and the trail of Pakistani nuclear smugglers. He dissects the possibility of rapprochement with Iran while rejecting hard-line ideologies of every kind, decrying an us-versus-them approach and insisting on the necessity of relentless diplomacy. Above all, he illustrates that the security of nations is tied to the security of individuals, dependent not only on disarmament but on a universal commitment to human dignity, democratic values, and the freedom from want. Probing and eloquent, The Age of Deception is an unparalleled account of society's struggle to come to grips with the uncertainties of our age.

Hoax: A History of Deception

Hoax: A History of Deception PDF Author: Ian Tattersall
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
ISBN: 0316503703
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 487

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Book Description
An entertaining collection of the most audacious and underhanded deceptions in the history of mankind, from sacred relics to financial schemes to fake art, music, and identities. World history is littered with tall tales and those who have fallen for them. Ian Tattersall, a curator emeritus at the American Museum of Natural History, has teamed up with Peter Néaumont to tell this anti-history of the world, in which Michelangelo fakes a masterpiece; Arctic explorers seek an entrance into a hollow Earth; a Shakespeare tragedy is "rediscovered"; a financial scheme inspires Charles Ponzi; a spirit photographer snaps Abraham Lincoln's ghost; people can survive ingesting only air and sunshine; Edgar Allen Poe is the forefather of fake news; and the first human was not only British but played cricket. Told chronologically, HOAX begins with the first documented announcement of the end of the world in 2800 BC and winds its way through controversial tales such as the Loch Ness Monster and the Shroud of Turin, past proven fakes such as the Thomas Jefferson's ancient wine and the Davenport Tablets built by a lost race, and explores bald-faced lies in the worlds of art, science, literature, journalism, and finance.

Empire of Deception

Empire of Deception PDF Author: Dean Jobb
Publisher: Algonquin Books
ISBN: 1616204966
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
“A rollicking tale that is one part The Sting, one part The Great Gatsby, and one part The Devil in the White City.” —Karen Abbott, author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy In a time of unregulated madness, nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. It was the perfect place for a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz to entice hundreds of people to invest as much as $30 million--upwards of $400 million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama. It was an ingenious deceit, one that out-Ponzied Charles Ponzi himself. In this rip-roaring tale of greed, financial corruption, dirty politics, over-the-top and under-the-radar deceit, illicit sex, and a brilliant and wildly charming con man on the town and then on the lam, Empire of Deception proves that the American dream of easy wealth is truly a timeless commodity. “Captivating . . . Dean Jobb tells the story of Leo Koretz, a legendary con artist of Madoffian audacity, with terrific energy and narrative brio.” —Gary Krist, author of Empire of Sin “A brilliantly researched tale of greed, ambition, and our desperate need to believe in magic, it’s history that captures America as it really was--and always will be. A great read.” —Douglas Perry, author of Eliot Ness “Reads like a Gatsby-Ponzi mashup . . . Kudos to Jobb for unearthing this overlooked story and bringing to life a charming, witty, naughty, iconic American crook.” —Neal Thompson, author of A Curious Man “The granddaddy of all con men, Leo Koretz gives Jobb the opportunity to exhibit his impressive research and storytelling skills . . . A highly readable, entertaining story.” —Kirkus Reviews

Deception's Princess

Deception's Princess PDF Author: Esther M. Friesner
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0449818632
Category : Arranged marriage
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
In Iron Age Ireland, Maeve, the fierce, willful youngest daughter of King Eochu of Connacht, is caught in a web of lies after rebelling to avoid fosterage with another highborn family and an arranged marriage.

Masters of Deception

Masters of Deception PDF Author: Al Seckel
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
ISBN: 9781402705779
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Rings of seahorses seem to rotate and butterflies seems to transform into warriors right on the page. Astonishing creations of visual trickery by masters of the art, such as Escher, Dali, and Archimbolo make this breathtaking collection the definitive book of optical illusions. Includes an illuminating Foreword by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hofstadter.

Great Deception

Great Deception PDF Author: Christopher Booker
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780826476524
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
As the European Union moves towards adopting the constitution which will mark its final emergence as a 'United States of Europe', The Great Deception shows how the most ambitious political project of our time has, for more than 50 years, been based on a colossal confidence trick - the systematic concealment from the peoples of Europe of what the aim of this project has always been since its inception in the late 1940s.

A Genius for Deception

A Genius for Deception PDF Author: Nicholas Rankin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199756716
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
In February 1942, intelligence officer Victor Jones erected 150 tents behind British lines in North Africa. "Hiding tanks in Bedouin tents was an old British trick," writes Nicholas Rankin. German general Erwin Rommel not only knew of the ploy, but had copied it himself. Jones knew that Rommel knew. In fact, he counted on it--for these tents were empty. With the deception that he was carrying out a deception, Jones made a weak point look like a trap. In A Genius for Deception, Nicholas Rankin offers a lively and comprehensive history of how Britain bluffed, tricked, and spied its way to victory in two world wars. As Rankin shows, a coherent program of strategic deception emerged in World War I, resting on the pillars of camouflage, propaganda, secret intelligence, and special forces. All forms of deception found an avid sponsor in Winston Churchill, who carried his enthusiasm for deceiving the enemy into World War II. Rankin vividly recounts such little-known episodes as the invention of camouflage by two French artist-soldiers, the creation of dummy airfields for the Germans to bomb during the Blitz, and the fabrication of an army that would supposedly invade Greece. Strategic deception would be key to a number of WWII battles, culminating in the massive misdirection that proved critical to the success of the D-Day invasion in 1944. Deeply researched and written with an eye for telling detail, A Genius for Deception shows how the British used craft and cunning to help win the most devastating wars in human history.