"A Global History of Lies" starts in the present. We consider how a confluence of technological, economic, political and social forces has reshaped the contours and possibilities of misinformation and disinformation and their role in the development of rumors, conspiracy theories, and hoaxes. We then trace the arc of conspiratorial thinking and rumors from the sixteenth century through the era of Trump, Putin, Bolsonaro, Orban, and Erdogan.