Born on January 27th, 1935 in Colombes, near Paris, Henri Abel Abraham Haddad is better known under the name of David Stein. During his life, he assumed no less than fourteen pseudonyms including, but not limited to, Philippe Ducrest, Georges Delaunay, Alain, Philippe or Michel Leroy, Jacques Bergerot, Philip Gray or Harcourt, Roger Delorme, Michel de Rivais or Anceline, Guy Lefranc, Jacques Alain de Villene, Claude Zekri...

Of all the forgers in history, here is one who will be remembered for a long time by the art world. With his worn-out rock star look, it is hard to believe that Wolfgang Beltracchi authored over 300 fake paintings. He claims to have imitated a hundred different painters, including the cubists Georges Valmier and Fernand Léger, the expressionist Johannes Molzahn, the German Max Ernst, the Frenchmen Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy and André Derain. A counterfeit bounty estimated at over 19 million euros...

Clifford Irving is the author of several thrillers as well as a book published in 1969 by McGraw-Hill which tells the life of the forger Elmyr de Hory. The success of this book gives him the idea to write another one : a biography of Howard Hughes, the former owner of RKO film studios, distinguished aviator and owner of the TWA airline, big industrialist and casino operator. Irving assures his publisher that he is in close personal contact with the billionaire...