Hoax

This is history as it should be written, where academic excellence meets gripping storytelling. Superb – Alice Loxton, author of ELEANOR
Hoax is a deft, thrilling work of social history that draws striking contemporary parallels … a pacy, thoughtful, compassionate history * TLS *
Wild, weird and wonderful … Maddy Pelling takes readers on a thrill ride through the filthy streets and dank rooms of Georgian England where the lies and deceptions that fooled a nation were born. Pelling is an expert storyteller, teasingly unravelling her tales, holding the reader as spellbound as those who fell for these hoaxes centuries earlier. A scintillating pleasure of a book – Hallie Rubenhold, author of THE FIVE
Rich in detail, outlandish superstitions and seedy curiosities … an entertaining read that vividly brings to life its motley cast of rogues, frauds and unfortunates * The Times *
Playful but powerful, Pelling is a magnetic writer who leads us by the hand through a fascinating and slippery world – Lucy Worsley
Madeleine Pelling relates in vivid detail the stories of these three imposters … Pelling reminds us that our own technological age is also especially prey to misinformation and fake news * FT *
Written with narrative flair and rigorous scholarship, Pelling is a truly skilled guide to the Enlightenment – Helen Carr, author of SCEPTRED ISLE
Pelling finds exciting new ways to tell important stories – Dan Snow, creator of HISTORY HIT
An intimate investigation of past mentalities that not only shines a light on how previous generations made and unmade truth in the public sphere but also holds a mirror to our own times – Malcolm Gaskill, author of THE RUIN OF ALL WITCHES
Fascinating, gripping, brilliantly written, Hoax goes deep into the heart of eighteenth century Britain, its secrets and lies, crime and punishment, and the enthralling tale of three women. Maddy Pelling takes us on a journey to find out - what is truth? – Kate Williams, author of RIVAL QUEENS
With her signature blend of wit, scholarship, and narrative verve, Pelling guides us through the darker corners of Georgian England and beyond. Hoax is told with the confidence of a historian who knows exactly how to uncover a lie, even those that have been buried for 300 years… – Anthony Delaney, author of QUEER GEORGIANS
This engrossing history by Pelling delves into culpability and complicity, exposing a hidden realm of moral panic, tall tales, and true crime from a significant era of hoaxes – Blackwell’s
PRAISE FOR WRITING ON THE WALL * - *
This is the real eighteenth century – Dan Snow
A wonderful, vibrant account – Susie Dent
Fascinating… A history of the eighteenth century through lost voices of the people who lived through it * The Times *
A secret history like no other… a fascinating dip into our ancestors’ lives * BBC History Magazine *

Madeleine Pelling is co-host of History Hit’s popular After Dark podcast and author of Writing On the Wall. She is an award-winning cultural historian, author, and broadcaster. A regular contributor for television and radio, she also writes for The Guardian, The Independent, BBC History Magazine, and History Today, amongst others.

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