During the 19th and 20th centuries, many pseudo-folklore texts and falsified descriptions of folk beliefs appeared in Russia and other Slavic countries. Over time, the forgeries were exposed, but their undoubted literary merits and the mark they left on the history of culture make them very interesting and sometimes funny reading.

The book includes Russian translations of the Kraledvor and Zelenogorsk manuscripts - famous forgeries of Czech epic poetry; folklore and mythological falsifications that arose in Russia in the 19th century (including “Belarusian folk legends” by P.M. Shpilevsky), as well as works of the so-called “Soviet folklore”: songs composed in the epic spirit about the leaders - Stalin, Voroshilov, etc. , laments for the death of Kirov, etc. The articles accompanying the publication of the texts reveal the mechanisms of creating literary hoaxes based on folklore.

The book is addressed to philologists and historians, as well as all readers interested in folklore and national history.