by Ian KeableThe Century of Deception

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THE CENTURY OF DECEPTION The Birth of the Hoax in Eighteenth-Century England IAN KEABLE

‛Fake news’, ‛going viral’ and ‛social media’ may be phrases from the twenty-first century but the concepts were all born in a series of absurdist events some 250 years ago.

England, 1749. A newspaper advertisement appears stating that a man will climb inside a bottle on the stage of a London theatre. Unfortunately, although the audience turns up, the conjurer doesn’t. Earlier in the same century a woman said she was giving birth to rabbits; later a new Shakespearian play was supposedly discovered and performed – like the Bottle Conjurer for one night only.

In THE CENTURY OF DECEPTION the magician and historian of conjuring Ian Keable tells the stories of these and several other eighteenth-century hoaxes including a sociopathic liar, a hilarious astrological prediction, a rapping ghost and a Frenchman attempting to go airborne in a Chinese temple.

Hoaxes, of course, have always been around. But this was the era when they were first extensively reported, vividly depicted and reliably described – as well as forensically investigated. They were also widely influential, drawing in many celebrities of the day such as Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift and inflaming concerns about ‘English credulity’.

Embracing history and society, literature and the theatre, medicine and religion, satirical prints and paintings, imprisonment and capital punishment, and questions of ‘whodunit’ and ‘whydunit’, this entertaining and eye-popping book reveals how these hoaxes provide the perfect mirror for reflecting universal truths about our susceptibility to being duped.

IAN KEABLE obtained a first-class degree from the University of Oxford in philosophy, politics and economics, qualified as a chartered accountant and then became a professional magician. A member of The Magic Circle with gold star, he has won several awards for his unique brand of comedy magic and is the author of three books for the general public as well as three works for professionals including Stand-Up: A Professional Guide to Comedy Magic and Charles Dickens Magician: Conjuring in Life, Letters and Literature. He has made numerous appearances on television including ‘New Faces’, the predecessor to ‘Britain's Got Talent’, and has written and presented programmes for BBC Radio. An accredited lecturer for The Arts Society, he gives talks on cartoons, satirical prints and eighteenth-century hoaxes. He still performs as a magician at corporate events and private parties and also does a show about Dickens's interest in conjuring and spiritualism. He is married with two children and lives in London.

Agent: Peter Tallack

Publisher: Westbourne Press Publication: 7 September 2021 Status: Manuscript Length: 80,000 words

All rights available excluding UK & Commonwealth (Westbourne Press)