Here are the bare bones of the story:
A skilled forger makes a fortune painting (and selling) fake Vermeers in the 1920s and 1930s. During the Nazi occupation of Holland, van Meegeren sells one of his fakes to Goering. When the Nazis are defeated, the artist confesses that the painting is a fake: Better to admit the crime of forgery than face public censure and prosecution for having looted a real Vermeer from a Jewish family fleeing persecution. Van Meegeren portrayed himself as "master-forger as misunderstood genius." He turned to forgery only because the critics had savaged his own works; he duped Goering as a patriotic gesture of resistance. His story was a success: he was treated very gently when he came to trial for the forgeries that were discovered (starting with the one that he had sold to Goering).
How did he manage to deceive people in 1945? How did this rogue pass himself off as a hero? Some of this was due to his cleverness --- he was an extremely successful master forger and was, when he wanted, good at manipulating people. But some of his final success was due to the spirit of the times. The legend was much more desirable than the truth: the tale of "the small man who outwitted the larger world," of the clever man who had fooled the world's greatest art experts, resonated in a world that was sick of war and eager for heroes.
I found myself getting bogged down in the detailed description of the many people involved in passing off the forgeries in the 1930s. But for a reader with more background and interest in art history, the details from the 1920s and 1930s would be fascinating. And the book was much more interesting in its description of the Netherlands during World War II. One photo tells a poignant story. The caption reads: "Amsterdam 'Hunger Winter' of 1944-1945. Public canteens allotted children 1/2 liter of soup per day, on days when food was available." The children's faces show the human cost of the German plunder of material, people and food from occupied Holland, and gives a glimpse of why retribution was harsh and at times violent against Dutch who had collaborated with the occupying forces.
Lopez set out to "unvarnish" the legend of van Meegeren. He succeeds in his task, and has written a book that will be appreciated by people even outside the art world.