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Fibbing, prevaricating, stretching the truth, white lies, of omission, of commission. Lying is so pervasive that we have countless words for it. But have you ever considered why you believed a lie you were told? The Truth About Lies is buttressed by a winning mixture of history, psychology, and science. Focusing on the many kinds of lies we see -- The Lies We Tell Each Other, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, and The Lies We All Agree to Believe -- Raden explores everything from swindles to cons to the long game to the big lie, including:- Why anyone still plays a shell game and gambles when they know the house is stacked against them- Goldbricking and the misleading nature of "facts"- Why faith and fraud are so closely connected- Hoaxes, hysteria and the madness of crowds- Why we're all probably part of a pyramid scheme- How the truth can sometimes sound like a lieA penetrating, funny, and informed history that adds fresh detail even to well-known stories, Raden's book is an eye-opening primer that decodes how we behave and function, and reveals how lying shapes our experience of the world around us.