Balleisen's lucid, engagingly written mix of institutional and legal history, behavioral economics, and entertaining anecdotes illuminates this land of bilk and money.
Publishers Weekly Balleisen casts a gimlet eye on the passing parade of hucksters and charlatans, peppering a narrative long on theory with juicy asides that build toward a comprehensive catalog of 'Old Swindles in New Jargon'... Ranging ... Read moreamong the disciplines of history, economics, and psychology, Balleisen constructs a sturdy narrative of the many ways in which we have fallen prey to the swindler, and continue to do so, as well as of how American society and its institutions have tried to build protections against the con. But these protections eventually run up against accusations of violating 'longstanding principles of due process,' since the bigger the con, the more lawyers arrayed behind it.
Kirkus Meticulously researched and completely fascinating.
Melissa Jacoby, Credit Slips An ambitious exploration of two centuries' worth of swindles, bogus stock schemes and corporate crime. [Balleisen's] keen insights and the breadth of his knowledge keep the reader engaged, and he introduces plenty of shady characters and ingenious fraudulent schemes to boot.
Dean Jobb, Chicago Review of Books Balleisen ... provides a lively and informative account of chicanery in the United States in the past 200 years.
Glenn C. Altschuler, Tulsa World Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff lives up to its title as a chronicle of American con men and their brilliant, morally bankrupt schemes throughout history... Researched with scholarly detail, yet thoroughly accessible to readers of all backgrounds, Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff is as engrossing as it is educational! Highly recommended.
Midwest Book Review Superb... In chronicling a century-long tradition from caveat emptor to caveat venditor the author delivers not only an enjoyable romp through the history of fraud, with a fascinating case of characters ... but delivers some fundamental lessons about social identity, reputation capital and trust. Utterly absorbing.
Dave Birch, Financial World This is a story with many volumes still to come.
Enlightened Economist The confidence scam, of course, is as old as American capitalism. In a new book, Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff, the Duke University professor Edward J. Balleisen argues that fraud has been a central feature of our freewheeling economy from the start, making it hard to tell scams from legitimate businesses and hard to tell aggressive sales tactics from outright deception
especially in innovative industries.
Carina Chocano, New York Times Magazine Show Less