CROOKS AND CONMEN tells the rue stories of the great confidence tricksters who stand out in the history of crime. Sometimes their 'cons' had tragic consequences, such as the great financial fraud in Paris in the 1890's which led to the suicide of ten bankers. More often, they result in embarrassment—and sometimes they cause hilarity. From Count Victor Lustig who sold the Eiffel Tower—twice!—to the forged Hitler Diaries and from Clifford Irving, who produced a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes, to Elmyr de Hory, who was the great art faker of modern times, these stories describe the fantastic lengths some people will go to pull off swindles and subterfuges that are simply breathtaking in their audacity.