"For two decades, a Ghanaian con man surfed a wave of lies and luck, living large on multiple continents while swindling 'millions upon millions of dollars' ... Even as [Yeebo] catches readers up in what often reads like a breathless caper, the author takes care to ground them in what matters most: Ghana and its sadly 'fragile' history ... Utterly absorbing." –Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"Brilliantly illuminates the stranger-than-fiction career of Ghanaian fraudster John Ackah Blay-Miezah in this thrilling true-crime account." -
Publishers Weekly (starred review) "With Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo has achieved something remarkable, brilliantly reframing the independence era under Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, while vividly illuminating the tawdriness of its aftermath with an unforgettable tale of corruption. This is African history and storytelling of the first order." –
Howard W. French, author of BORN IN BLACKNESS "This captivating story of a gifted con artist and his abettors is not only a sheer pleasure to read, but also a profound inquiry into how a lie becomes a legend. Yepoka Yeebo contends with a history shrouded in forgetting and a protagonist who trailed falsehoods in his wake. Her tenacious reporting and relentless pursuit of truth are nothing short of heroic." –
Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of THE FEATHER THIEF "An unflinching look at history that illuminates both the past and the present. Meticulously and impressively researched, Anansi's Gold is a sharply written and highly engaging account of Blay-Miezah's life, of politics and society in Ghana, and of the rapaciousness and cruelty of colonization and of external involvement in Africa. An essential work by a great writer." –
Peace Adzo Medie, author of HIS ONLY WIFE "Anansi's Gold is as gripping as a heist movie, with a sparkling cast and a plot that is stranger than fiction. Yepoka Yeebo tells a tale from another time, but in an era of fake news and too-good-to-be-true cryptocurrency scams, it feels thrillingly contemporary." –
Tom Standage, author of A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 6 GLASSES "This hugely important and riveting book tells a true story of avarice and ambition that is centered on Ghana but reveals a web of lies and deceit on a vast international scale. At the heart of this utterly compelling narrative is a theme of real urgency today: the political and social dangers and the terrible harm caused by the deliberate falsification of the past." –
Susan Williams, author of WHITE MALICE "This astonishing book reveals not just Ghana's history as you've never read it before, but some of the most important global events of the twentieth century. An impressive feat." –
Afua Hirsch, author of BRIT(ISH)
