Books like Great Exploration Hoaxes

I was wary of this one right from the first, because I tend to like it when authors don't warn me in their introductions that I may find their initial chapters too dry and academic.I have an interest in both explorers and hoaxes though, so I wanted to read about the stories. The book is arranged chronologically, and covers Sebastian Cabot, Louis Hennepin, Robert Drury, James Bruce, Samuel Adams, Frederick Cook, Robert Peary, Richard Byrd, Cesare Maestri, and Donald Crowhurst. There is strong evidence that some of these men faked their achievements, but other cases are a little more murky. One of the most interesting chapters was about James Bruce, a man widely suspected of hoaxing during his lifetime but later exonerated. I got the sense that Drury was included largely because of the possible Defoe connection, that section didn't fit in very well.When the book delved into the facts of these cases it was fairly good, but the author kept going off on a messy (and heavily hedged) argument about the background and mental state of exploration hoaxers. Phrases like "Oedipal confusion" were used. It's like he didn't trust that the massive drama surrounding these alleged adventures would have been enough to read about.My sense of who the intended audience was also got muddy at times. Climbing jargon was heavy in a few spots, which was not a big deal, but the author would sometimes make references that sent me running to Wikipedia or omit basic geographical information about the spots under discussion.