Prominent on the cover of this encyclopedia of deception is a medallion, placed between wide horizontal bars of grey and black, of a man with a Pinocchio-like nose. Cunning and deception, ranging from naughty pranks to serious criminality, are here ranked alphabetically by name and case.

The text is beautifully presented in two columns with a vertical hairline and a number of footnotes. At the back there is an extensive thematically based index in which it is conspicuous that the largest category is that of science and pseudoscience. The commercial falsification of brands and the faking of paintings are the categories containing the most familiar names. Thanks to its comprehensive preface and a handsomely typographed list of sources this is one encyclopedia that won’t be caught out in an untruth.