Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t

Description

'TOM PHILLIPS IS A VERY CLEVER, VERY FUNNY MAN' Greg Jenner This is a book about TRUTH - and all the ingenious ways, throughout history, that we've managed to avoid it. We live in a 'post-truth' age, we're told. The US has a president who openly lies on a daily basis (or who doesn't even know what's true, and doesn't care). The internet has turned our everyday lives into a misinformation battleground. People don't trust experts any more. But was there ever really a golden age of truth-telling? As the editor of the UK's leading independent fact-checker, Tom Phillips deals with complete bollocks every day. Here, he tells the story of how we humans have spent history lying to each other - and ourselves - and asks an important question: how can humanity move towards a truthier future? PRAISE FOR HUMANS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HOW WE F*CKED IT ALL UP: 'F*cking brilliant' Sarah Knight, THE LIFE CHANGING MAGIC OF NOT GIVING A F*CK 'Very funny' Mark Watson, comedian 'In dark times, it's reassuring to learn that we've always been a bunch of clueless f*cking nitwits' Stuart Heritage, DON'T BE A DICK, PETE 'A light-touch history of moments when humans have got it spectacularly wrong... Both readable and entertaining' Telegraph

Tom Phillips is the editor of Full Fact, Britain's leading independent fact-checking organisation. Previously he was the editorial director of BuzzFeed UK, where he divided his time between very serious reporting on important issues... and making jokes. Tom's first book, HUMANS: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up, was published in 2018, and has since been translated into more than 30 languages. Tom's second book, TRUTH: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t was published in 2019 and has so far sold in 20 territories.

For Tom Phillips and HUMANS: This book is brilliant. Utterly, utterly brilliant. Apart from the epilogue which is idiotic. In dark times, it's reassuring to learn that we've always been a bunch of clueless f*cking nitwits - Don't Be a Dick, Pete A light-touch history of moments when humans have got it spectacularly wrong... Both readable and entertaining - Telegraph If you find yourself looking at the news and wondering how humanity has got so many things wrong, over and over again, this book is a very funny answer to just that question' Tom Phillips has proven beyond a doubt that humans are goddamn lucky to be here and are doing nearly nothing to remain relevant and viable as a species - except, that is, for writing witty, entertaining, and slightly distressing-but-ultimately-endearing books about same. And if you care to avoid orbiting the earth in a space-garbage prison of your fellow humans' design, you should probably read it - The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck Tom Phillips is a very clever, very funny man, and it shows. If Sapiens was a testament to human sophistication, this history of failure cheerfully reminds us that humans are mostly idiots - A Million Years and a Day Chronicles humanity's myriad follies down the ages with malicious glee and much wit . . . a rib-tickling page-turner - Business Standard