THE GIANT AND HOW HE HUMBUGGED AMERICA by Jim Murphy
In 1869, a farmer in upstate New York unearthed a giant–a ten-foot-tall stone man who seemed to have lain in the ground for centuries. Was it an ancient statue? Or a petrified human from an age of giants? Coming in the midst of a flurry of discoveries of dinosaur bones and fossils, people were thrilled by the discovery of what could be a real giant’s body and the giant became a money-making sensation. But some scientists questioned the stone giant’s origins. It wasn’t long before they uncovered the truth about one of the biggest scams in American history.
If you like “strange but true” tales or stories about con-artists and swindlers, you’ll love The Giant! For more true stories about con-artists of the past, check out Duped! by Andreas Schroeder.
Susan the Librarian 