REVIEW: Fakes, Scams & Forgeries by Brian Innes and Chris McNab
For as long as historical annals have been kept, they have recorded the frauds and fakes that have been imposed upon innocent dupes. Perhaps the earliest Christian story of all is that which tells of the deception that Jacob practiced on his unsuspecting father Abraham, pretending to be his brother Esau; and today the theft of identity is reported to be the most rapidly spreading crime. And throughout the ages works of art and literature, coinage, and documents of all kinds have been forged for profit, personal status – and even out of pure mischief. Fakes, Scams and Forgeries details many of the most notorious acts of forgery, fraud and fakery that have taken place over the centuries, describing how they were perpetrated, their acceptance by those who considered themselves experts, and how – often after many years – they were eventually detected. As well as providing entertaining and in-depth profiles of famous forgers and legendary frauds, the text deals with the many modern scientific techniques that have been developed for the examination of suspect materials.
Review
This book details both what is often faked and why. Profit isn’t always the only reason as some forgers want the thrill or vindication of “putting one over on the experts.” As interesting as what techniques are used to expose fakes are those used by forgers to create their forgeries.
Nations spend considerable time and effort staying ahead of counterfeiters but talented and obsessive counterfeiters can still manage to fool even the experts as did one British man whose work was declared by a US Treasury agent to be the best forgeries he’d ever seen.
The forgery of a Gauguin midlevel painting was discovered when the original and the forgery went up for auction at the exact same time. Oops. During the investigation, it was discovered that the man who owned the original had had a series of forgeries done of original works he owned, the provenance had been used to authenticate the forgeries and he had made a tidy profit. One early 20th century forger had to admit to what he did in order to avoid being convicted as a wartime collaborator with the Nazis.
Diaries and biographies of famous people have been faked from Jack the Ripper, Hitler, and Howard Hughes. In the 1980s, a rare documents dealer hoaxed the Mormon Church with several letters, among other things, in a case that ended with two murders and the forger’s imprisonment for life. Piltdown Man and the Cardiff Giant were concoctions created to be prehistorical hoaxes. Billions of dollars have been and continue to be bilked from people due to computer spam, “Hello, I’m from the IRS” phone calls, and dubious matchmaking sites for people who are “looking for love.”
From a Kaiser’s grandson, to a Czar’s son, to a lost Russian Grand Duchess, impersonating royalty was popular. Pretending to be a wealthy high society heiress served Anna Sorokin well … for a while. There are instances of religious fakes such as the Shroud of Turin and when medical cures are longed for, there will be someone trying to pitch their new “cure all” invention.
Fakes, scams and forgeries have been with us for thousands of years and there doesn’t appear to be any slow down in them. The book covers a wide range of people’s attempts to dupe, con, and exploit others, is filled with photographs, and can be dipped into at whatever point interests a reader. B
~Jayne
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sounds fascinating . will check it out thanks Jayne
Oh. hardcover only and $29.99. Oh well.
@Sirius: Oh, darn. I hoped that when the book was released, it would have a digital edition (none was listed on Amazon before the release date – which sometimes happens – only for a digital version to become available on the release date). And due to supply chain issues (?) the release date kept jumping around from September to late October to earlier October.