" Catch Me if You Can meets Coming to America in this epic tale of one of the greatest scammers of all time."-NPR Shortlisted for the Mark Lynton History Prize * A New York Times Notable Book of the Year * A New Yorker , NPR, Newsweek , The Economist, TIME, Slate, and WIRED Best Book of the Year The astounding, never-before-told story of how an audacious Ghanaian con artist pulled off one of the 20th century's longest-running and most spectacular frauds. When Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that colonialism hadn't already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation's inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country's gold overseas. Into this big lie stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty in Ghana and trained in the United States, John Ackah Blay-Miezah declared himself custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece--if only you would “invest” in Blay-Miezah's fictitious efforts to release the equally fictitious fund. Over the 1970s and '80s, he and his accomplices-including Ghanaian state officials and Nixon's former attorney general--scammed hundreds of millions of dollars out of thousands of believers. Blay-Miezah lived in luxury, deceiving Philadelphia lawyers, London financiers, and Seoul businessmen alike, all while eluding his FBI pursuers. American prosecutors called his scam “one of the most fascinating--and lucrative--in modern history.” In Anansi's Gold , Yepoka Yeebo chases Blay-Miezah's ever-wilder trail and discovers, at long last, what really happened to Ghana's missing wealth. She unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements, international finance, and postcolonial betrayal, revealing how what we call “history” writes itself into being, one lie at a time. Winner of the Jhalak Prize * Winner of the Plutarch Award for Biography “[T]his little-known story unfolds like Catch Me if You Can .” ― The Washington Post “Reading Anansi's Gold is like watching a heist movie … all about improvisation, unforced error, unlikely escape.” ― Dan Piepenbring, Harper's “Yepoka Yeebo's riveting Anansi's Gold traces the outlines of Blay-Miezah's life, shedding light on how he perpetrated his deceptions for years while living in incredible opulence. The author delves into archives across the Atlantic, digs up criminal proceedings and conducts interviews with victims and associates alike, in the process telling us not just about Blay-Miezah, but about the world that enabled him to thrive.” ― New York Times Book Review “Skillfully interweaves archival material, F.B.I. records, and interviews to recount the saga of [a] con man's career, and to reflect on how lies can be leveraged in the creation of national histories.” ― The New Yorker “The sprawling story of Blay-Miezah's outsize life and wayward career is told with mordant aplomb by first-time author Yepoka Yeebo … While [the book] reflects a daunting amount of research, it reads like a picaresque novel … Compelling.” ― The Wall Street Journal “An enthralling rags-to-stolen-riches story, a thrilling true-crime caper, and a sharp indictment of a world that allows scammers like Blay-Miezah to thrive.” ― TIME “A wild tale . . . Yeebo's substantial research - based on interviews, archives, government reports, and the like - is nothing less than awe inspiring, and her prose is careful and self-assured, often outraged, sometimes dryly amused . . . Anansi's Gold is a fascinating story brilliantly told.” ― The Boston Globe “ Catch Me if You Can meets Coming to America in this epic tale of one of the greatest scammers of all time.” ― NPR “In her thrilling new book, Yepoka Yeebo tells the jaw-dropping story of a man behind a scam called 'one of the most fascinating – and lucrative – in modern history' … the ever-proliferating grifter-lit bookshelf is on the verge of collapsing under its own weight, but Yeebo's contribution to the category stands out … meticulously researched.” ― The Guardian “A wild, juicy ride.” ― Los Angeles Times “Stylish and substantive, Yepoka Yeebo's Anansi's Gold is a non-fiction masterpiece, artfully weaving Blay-Miezah's remarkable exploits into the fabric of history. Highly recommended.” ― The Philadelphia Inquirer “Rigorously researched and beautifully written.” ― CrimeReads “In this absorbing true crime narrative, Yeebo details the fascinating story of this audacious con artist.” ― Town & Country “Absorbing . . . A colorful, eye-opening account.” ― Newsweek, Favorite Books of 2023 “Yeebo pulls off something near-magical here. She excavates an overlooked historical narrative as juicy as any true-crime blockbuster, where every detail is both fastidiously researched and complet