A Century of Swindles

Ponzi Schemes, Con Men, and Fraudsters

A Century of Swindles
Railey Jane Savage
RRP:
NZ$ 47.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 38.39
Paperback
h230 x 155mm - 258pg
1 Nov 2021 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9781493053681
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The Con Man' s Formula: Hope + Fear = DesperationFrom the Gilded Age, through WWII, America was rife with ne' er-do-wells with their never-ending search for the next Big Score. Between 1850, and 1950 lawlessness melded with ingenuity, fueled by optimism and ruthlessness: America was dangerous, and buzzing, and where opportunity came to take flight. At anyone' s expense. The gall and gumption of these hustles strain credulity. Fake diamond fields? War with Canada? Sir Francis Drake' s unclaimed fortune? All was fair in the quest for something-for-nothing. The scammers in this volume range from Soapy Smith, the King of the Frontier Con Men, to the eponymous Ponzi; from the undeniably unscrupulous, to the ill and ill-advised. Fans of clever schemes and schadenfreude alike will be entertained by these tales of the rise and fall of some of America' s greatest hucksters.
"Chiselers, cheaters, swindlers and their marks: This lively and witty survey of a colorful period of enterprising and audacious cons reads like a rapid-fire telegraph from another time. Railey Jane Savage' s perspective is historical, but - one very real lesson from this entertaining and deeply researched book is that, as long as people want to get rich quick, there will also be enthusiastic schemers dangling dreams on a dime. The only thing that has really changed between those times and this . . . are the hats. " - Amy Dickinson, Ask Amy advice columnist, NPR contributor, and NY Times bestselling author of Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things Railey Jane Savage relishes language almost as much as she does her delicious characters, and her book travels swiftly through the ages in some top-notch storytelling. She struts that fine line between an enchantment with her swindlers' deeds and a skeptical independence that pins them in place with historical contextualization--an unbeatable combination. --Amy Reading, author of The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con
Railey Jane Savage is an editor and artist. She has an expensive English degree from Smith College, which has proven 100% worth the time, money, and agony that comes with a liberal arts degree. Savage loves her family and lives happily with two ill-behaved cats in Ithaca, New York.

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