Anthony “Tony” Jack

This is a very important and strongly evidence-based book which blows away many misconceptions about lying and our ability to detect it. It draws on extensive experimental work by the author and colleagues. The book explains, and gives many examples of, good psychological experiments. It uses these experiments to build an account that replaces folk misconceptions about lying with a far better scientific theory. That theory is a considerable advance on prior work, the best known of which is by Paul Eckman who inspired and advised on the 'Lie to Me' drama series. Levine's work is based on better science and undercuts a lot of Eckman's claims. This is a book for people who enjoy scientific / empirical argument. It is written in an accessible and well written academic style, rather than a popular style. That is, it concerns itself with making an academic argument about why one scientific theory is better than another, rather than with telling a story for more general public consumption. If you want a story which is written in a narrative style that is more immediately relevant to everyday life and issues in the news, rather than why we should believe one theory over another, then read Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers." Gladwell's book is also excellent, makes extensive use of Levine's work, and links directly to controversies that have dominated the news in recent years. I write this as a professor at a research university with a PhD in psychology who is interested in and supportive of effective public communication of science.