H.L. Mencken once described lying as “necessary and unavoidable.” Half-truths and harmless fibs tend to make life easier. Dutch writer Roelf Bolt was more interested in the whoppers – the big lies that separate fools from their money and the crackpot theories, miracle cures, hoaxes, and academic frauds that have deluded countless trusting souls. The Encyclopaedia of Liars and Deceivers, his eclectic collection of 150 stories of fakers, forgers, and con artists, is an overlooked true crime classic filled with enough cautionary tales to make anyone as cynical as Mencken.
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