Authenticity

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What to expect

‘Wide-ranging, witty and fresh … a stimulating read. Authentic fun’
Tim Harford, Financial Times Best Summer Books 2022

‘Brilliantly witty, profoundly illuminating, Alice Sherwood is a master storyteller’ Simon Schama

‘Thought-provoking and beautifully written’ Adrian Wooldridge, Washington Post

‘A sweeping and persuasive manifesto … witty and wide-ranging … a pleasure’
Literary Review

‘Terrific … the sheer breadth of her subject matter is extraordinary’
Matthew d’Ancona, Tortoisemedia.com

‘Alice Sherwood is the real deal’ Marcus du Sautoy

‘Fascinating and hugely entertaining’ Brian Eno

‘Unfailingly compelling and often shocking’ Philip Mould, presenter of Fake or Fortune?

‘Riveting … captivating … a thoroughly enjoyable debut’ Financial Times

We live in an age when the pursuit of authenticity – from living our 'best life' to eating artisan food – matters more and more to us, but where the forces of inauthenticity seem to be taking over. Our world is full of people and products that are not what they seem. We no longer know whether we are talking to a person or a machine. But we can fight back – and this award-winning book shows us how.

Authenticity argues that, although our counterfeit culture is shaped by the most powerful forces of evolution, economics, and technology, we can still come together to reclaim reality.

Along the way, we meet the world's greatest impostor, who finally became what he'd pretended to be; the wartime counterfeiter who fooled a nation; nature's most outrageous deceivers; the artist who encouraged people to forge his pictures; the 'authentic' brand that was anything but. But we also meet people living unexpectedly rewarding lives in virtual worlds, and foot soldiers in the 'armies of truth' who are taking down today's conspiracies and cons.

Provocative, insightful and original, Authenticity is that once-in-a-generation revelation: a work rich in histories but supremely and urgently of our own time. You'll never think about deception and reality in the same way again.

Critics Review

  • ‘I loved this book. Fast, funny start, and absolutely fizzing with interesting ideas from art, science, history, commerce, fashion and beyond … Most of the stories here were quite new to me, and all of them were fun and thought-provoking … Strongly recommended’
    Tim Harford, Timharford.com

    ‘A sweeping and persuasive manifesto … Sherwood’s study takes in an astonishing range of subject matters … This is a profoundly academic book, but … the research is worn so lightly that it reads as easily as a work of popular science … A witty and wide-ranging call to arms that … turns out to be a pleasure’ Literary Review

    ‘All credit to Alice Sherwood for her courage, resourcefulness and sheer imagination … What makes Authenticity so terrific is that she is in no way bound by the intellectual paradigms, scholarly maps or political assumptions of her predecessors. Indeed, the sheer breadth of her subject matter is extraordinary: from the lessons of evolution and the art world to … the growing industry of fact-checking’
    Matthew d’Ancona, Tortoisemedia.com

    ‘Both thought-provoking and highly entertaining, with extraordinary and intriguing anecdotes’ Royal Society of Literature, Giles St. Aubyn Awards

    ‘Alice Sherwood is the real deal when it comes to exploring authenticity … she takes the reader on a wonderful rollercoaster of a ride to prepare them to recognise what’s real and what’s illusion’ Marcus du Sautoy

    ‘Beautifully written, hugely readable and completely fascinating– a book for smart thinkers everywhere’ Mary Ann Sieghart, author of The Authority Gap

    ‘Authenticity demonstrates that although those who wish to deceive us sometimes seem to have the upper hand, it’s down to the individual to fight for authenticity’ Elliot Higgins, author of We Are Bellingcat

    ‘This is a trailblazing book’ Rory Sutherland

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