The Great White Hoax

Praise for The Great White Hoax: ""The catalogue of racist hoaxes and misinformation in Kadish’s book provides a valuable template for modern readers to critically examine today’s hyper-partisan news media. . . . Thoughtful and timely."" —Library Journal (starred review) ""This meticulous and captivating account makes a disturbing case that America is easily swayed by racist cons."" —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The Great White Hoax brilliantly illustrates how the myth of so-called white supremacy is a fraud which has been perpetuated by journalists, authors, and politicians.” —Steven W. Thrasher, author of The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide “Kadish’s beautifully written, endlessly fascinating, and stunningly insightful book brilliantly reveals that for most of American history hucksters have used scientific fraud to justify white supremacy, subjugate the ‘other,’ gain political power, and augment their bank accounts. The Great White Hoax masterfully demonstrates that the recent bout of racism catalyzed by Donald Trump is not an aberration in American history, but rather a depressing return to form.” —Jonathan Peter Spiro, author of Defending the Master Race “Philip Kadish reveals that our time of fake news and alternative facts is not much different from Abraham Lincoln’s era of humbug—the period of P.T. Barnum’s crowd-thrilling frauds and Melville’s shape-shifting confidence man. Anyone interested in the intersection of race, politics, and public lies in America will want to read this book.” —David S. Reynolds, Bancroft Prize–winning cultural historian and author of John Brown, Abolitionist and Walt Whitman’s America “Philip Kadish shines a provocative light on an important moment in America’s racial history . . . a timely and illuminating exploration.” —Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop