Filled with anecdotes and bizarre characters, this book is the story of how the world's most successful art dealer and an eminent art critic formed a secret partnership to fleece and fool their multi-millionaire clients This fascinating and highly entertaining book proves that even the richest and shrewdest people have at least one weak spot. Thus the desire to acquire "culture" blinded Andrew Mellon, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and others to the unscrupulous dealings of two major figures of the early 20th-century art world: art dealer Duveen and art critic, historian, and connoisseur Berenson. Simpson's access to the Duveen archives and formerly confidential record and account books reveals a secret agreement: Berenson was to receive a percentage of all art sales he helped Duveen consummate, whether through a knowingly false (or correct) attribution to a famous artist or through dealing with clients on Duveen's behalf. Simpson tells his tale well and is not without sympathy for Duveen and Berenson. The story should interest those who follow the art world as well as those who enjoy a good story about wheelers, dealers, con artists, and the very rich. Patricia R. Hausman, Williamsburg Regional Library, Va. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.