Imprisoned in a remote Turkish POW camp during the First World War,two British officers,Harry Jones and Cedric Hill,cunningly join forces.
To stave off boredom,Jones makes a handmade Ouija board and holds fake seances for fellow prisoners. One day,an Ottoman official approaches him with a query: could Jones contact the spirits to find a vast treasure rumoured to be buried nearby
Jones,a lawyer,and Hill,a magician,use the Ouija board - and their keen understanding of the psychology of deception-to build a trap for their captors that will lead them to freedom.
The Confidence Men is a nonfiction thriller featuring strategy,mortal danger and even high farce - and chronicles a profound but unlikely friendship.
Publisher: Profile Books LtdISBN: 9781788162722Number of pages: 352Weight: 273 gDimensions: 198 x 128 x 30 mmEdition: Main
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Fox,a former senior obituary writer for The New York Times and the author of three previous books,unspools Jones and Hill's delightfully elaborate scheme in nail-biting episodes that advance like a narrative Rube Goldberg machine,gradually leading from Yozgad to freedom by way of secret codes,a hidden camera,buried clues,fake suicides and a lot of ingenious mumbo jumbo. At moments,The Confidence Men has the high gloss of a story polished through years of telling and retelling.'- The New York Times
'The Confidence Men couldn't have come along at a better time.This story of two unlikely con artists - young British officers who use a Ouija board to escape from a Turkish prisoner-of-war camp - is a true delight,guaranteed to lift the spirits of anyone eager to forget today's realities and lose oneself in a beautifully written tale of an exciting and deeply moving real-life caper.'- Lynne Olson,author of Madame Fourcade's Secret War
'Margalit Fox is one of the premier narrative storytellers we have today,and The Confidence Men is a wonderfully entertaining brew of history,thrills,and ingenuity,one that highlights the rare occasion when con artistry is employed for the greater public good.'- Sarah Weinman,author of The Real Lolita and editor of Unspeakable Acts: True Tales of Crime,Murder,Deceit & Obsession
Praise for Conan Doyle for the Defence:
'Like a good murder mystery,Conan Doyle for the Defence is a fast-paced read that twists and turns with the panache of a Holmes short story.'- Paula Byrne,The Times
'This is a first-class book: pacy,insightful and lucid'- James McConnachie,The Sunday Times
'lucid and engaging'- Allan Massie,Scotsman
'(Fox) has researched her fascinating,fast-paced story with impressive acuity,sketching an informative portrait of the Edwardian mindset.'- Mail on Sunday
'An engrossing book'- Nick Rennison,Daily Mail
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