Observer's Best Art Book of the Year, 2018

In 2007, Bolton Crown Court sentenced Shaun Greenhalgh to four years and eight months in prison for the crime of producing artistic forgeries. Working out of a shed in his parents' garden, Greenhalgh had successfully fooled some of the world's greatest museums. During the court case, the breadth of his forgeries shocked the art world and tantalised the media. What no one realised was how much more of the story there was to tell.

Written in prison, A Forger's Tale details Shaun's notorious career and the extraordinary circumstances that led to it. From Leonardo drawings to L.S. Lowry paintings, from busts of American presidents to Anglo-Saxon brooches, from cutting-edge Modernism to the ancient art of the Stone Age, Greenhalgh could - and did - copy it all. Told with great wit and charm, this is the definitive account of Britain's most successful and infamous forger, a man whose love for art saturates every page of this extraordinary memoir.

"A masterpiece of masquerade...a brilliantly wily reflection on the seductions of art and corruptions of the art world." - The Telegraph

"A remarkably lively account...fascinating." - The Times

"Greenhalgh has a likable voice, pitched midway between Arthur Daley and Philip Marlowe. And, unsurprisingly, he has an eye for detail...The lingering impression is of a man beguiled by image-making." - The Observer

"Here is riveting and affecting Northern realism: Greenhalgh's knowledge is as daunting as it is inspiring." - The Spectator

"A lively account of a man who put his genuine talent and love of art to deplorable use." - Daily Mail

"An indispensable addition to any rogues' library." - Sunday Independent (Ireland)

"A great holiday read." - Artists and Illustrators

"Nothing if not lively" - Sunday Times Books of the Year