Born Liars: Why We Can't Live Without Deceit [Paperback]

'A dazzling exploration of this universal trait, from an exciting new talent. Read Born Liars, and you'll be stimulated, surprised, and thoroughly entertained. Believe me' Richard Wiseman.

'Born Liars is a genuine achievement: a lively, engaging read that also makes a bold argument about the role of lying in our lives' Steven Johnson.

'An absolutely fascinating tour of this most uniquely human of talents: the ability to lie' Jonah Lehrer.

'Born Liars reads like the very best of detective stories - an illuminating, surprising and highly entertaining investigation of our daily lies' Kate Fox.

'...consistently startling and fascinating book ... It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories. It will also make you see yourself, and the world around you, in a new light' Daily Mail.

'His range of references is fascinating ... I loved the irony and ingenuity of this book' The Times.

'A consistently startling and fascinating book ... It's erudite yet wears its learning lightly and is full of terrific stories.' Daily Mail. 'His range of references is fascinating ... I loved the irony and ingenuity of this book' The Times. 'Born Liars is a genuine achievement: a lively, engaging read that also makes a bold argument about the role of lying in our lives' Steven Johnson. 'An absolutely fascinating tour of this most uniquely human of talents: the ability to lie' Jonah Lehrer. 'an illuminating, surprising and highly entertaining investigation of our daily lies' Kate Fox. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Our attitudes to lying are confused and contradictory - you might even say, self-deceiving. On the one hand we hate lies, and liars. On the other, we all indulge in fibs, tall tales and fantasies. If lying is wrong, why do we all do it - both to others, and to ourselves? In Born Liars, Ian Leslie argues that, far from being a bug in the human software, lying is central to who we are; that we cannot understand ourselves without first understanding the dynamics of deceit. Using a vivid, panoramic style, he explores the role of deception and self-deception in our childhoods, our careers, and our health, and the part played by lies - both black and white - in art, advertising, sport, politics and war. Drawing on thinkers as varied as Augustine, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Ian McEwan and Marlon Brando, he takes the reader on an exhilarating tour of ideas that brings the latest news about deception back from the frontiers of evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy. Born Liars is crammed with colourful stories; we'll meet Benjamin Franklin in Paris as he takes on Franz Mesmer, the man who claimed to heal his patients by touching them with iron rods. We'll hear about a spy who beat a lie detector, a man accused of cheating his way to a million pounds on a TV game show, and we'll peer inside the minds of Bill Clinton and Saddam Hussein. Born Liars takes us on a fascinating journey which makes us question not only our own relationship to the truth, but also virtually every daily encounter we have.

In Born Liars, Ian Leslie takes the reader on an exhilarating tour of ideas that brings the latest news about deception back from the frontiers of psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, and explores the role played by lies - both black and white - in our childhoods, our careers, and our health, as well as in advertising, politics, sport and war. Drawing on thinkers as varied as Augustine, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and Joni Mitchell, the author argues that, far from being a bug in the human software, lying is central to who we are; that we cannot understand ourselves without first understanding the dynamics of deceit. Born Liars is crammed with gripping stories. We join a young doctor on the beach at Anzio in 1944 as he discovers that the best way to help his wounded patients is to lie to them, to peer inside the mind of Saddam Hussein, hear about a spy who beat a lie detector, and meet a man found guilty of cheating his way to a million pounds on national TV.

Ian Leslie lives in London, combining careers in advertising and writing. His first book, To Be President (Politicos, 2008), was described by Adam Boulton as 'brilliantly capturing the drama and emotion of Obama's successful run for the White House' and was extracted by Granta. He regularly appears as an analyst of American politics on Sky and the BBC. He has written about politics, culture, marketing, and psychology for Prospect, the Guardian and The Times.