Century of Deception - The Birth of the Hoax in the Eighteenth Century

Klappentext 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 jokes and fanciful tales would continue to bamboozle people across England. In The Century of Deception, magician and 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''. Zusammenfassung Embracing history and society, literature and theatre, medicine and religion, this hugely entertaining book reveals our susceptibility to being duped. 'Fake news', 'going viral' and 'social media' may be modern terms, but as this eye-opening book shows, these concepts have been with us for centuries.

Product details

• Authors: Ian Keable, Keable Ian
• Publisher: Saqi Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.09.2021
• EAN: 9781908906441
• ISBN: 978-1-908906-44-1
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; England, Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, European History, HISTORY / Modern / General, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, British & Irish history, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General, Social and cultural history, Disinformation and misinformation, GAMES & ACTIVITIES / Magic, Conspiracy Theories, Hoaxes & deceptions, Conjuring & Magic, C 1700 To C 1800, Conjuring and magic