Kevin Blankinship

A 13th-century guide to fraud and skulduggery

The Book of Charlatans, commissioned by a Turkish sultan, is a mesmerising account of the quacks and tricksters operating at the time

Quack medicine in the medieval Ottoman empire. Credit: Getty Images
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  • The Book of Charlatans

    Jamal al-Din Abd al-Rahim al-Jawbari, translated by Humphrey Davies

    NYU Press, pp. 524, £17

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