Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t - Paperback

by Tom Phillips (Author)

This is a book about TRUTH--and all the ways we try to avoid it--from the bestselling author of Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up.

We live in a "post-truth" world, we're told. But was there ever really a golden age of truth-telling? Or have people been lying, fibbing and just plain bullsh*tting since the beginning of time?

Tom Phillips, editor of a leading independent fact-checking organization, deals with this question every day. In Truth, he tells the story of how we humans have spent history lying to each other--and ourselves--about everything from business to politics to plain old geography. Along the way, he chronicles tales like:

• the world's oldest customer service complaint
• how Bill Gates and Steve Jobs first sold products that didn't work yet
• the Great Moon Hoax of 1835
• the surprisingly dishonest career of Benjamin Franklin

Sharp, witty and with a clear-eyed view of humanity's checkered past, Truth reveals why people lie--and how we can cut through the bullsh*t.