The Humbugs of the World: an account of humbugs, delusions, impositions, quackeries, deceits and deceivers generally, in all ages

In this tome, P.T. Barnum takes the reader on a tour of flakes through history, describing the ways in which even the brightest fell for the conmen and hucksters of their times. Man's need for reassurance goes back to the days of the Delphic oracles and beyond, thus arguing that Barnum's observations still hold true universally, and not just in the America of the 1800's. There have always been those desperately seeking to believe the improbable and impossible, and with them, those willing to provide confirmation.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891), was an American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. In Brooklyn, New York in 1871, he established "P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Circus", a traveling amalgamation of cir-, menagerie and museum of "freaks", which by 1872 was billing itself as "The Greatest Show on Earth".

A little warning is in place. You don't read this book in search of any proto-political correctness. You read it to learn just how little changes through the centuries. The Internet would have been Barnum's playground: speech-code utopianism and trigger warnings be damned

Highly recommended for the inquisitive - and tolerant - reader.

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