In 1917 John R. Brinkley promoted an outlandish surgical fix for male virility and used advertising and radio to amass wealth and fame. The book traces how one man’s medical claims found a receptive public and how early mass media amplified a dangerous con.

The narrative follows the determined efforts of a medical adversary to expose Brinkley and brings the reader through courtroom battles, regulatory struggles, and the rise of commercial broadcasting. It examines how promotion, politics and the promise of quick cures intersected in early 20th‑century America.

Why readers turn to Charlatan

• Investigative biography of a notorious medical fraud
• History of advertising and early radio influence
• Legal and regulatory showdown with national implications
• Context for the 2016 Sundance documentary inspired by the story

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