Michael Specter Books

There is so much confusing and conflicting information about the world in which we live that the truth can be impossible to find. The rise of modern scepticism against 'fake news' is to be celebrated, but this cultural shift has led to a world where opinion is as valuable as fact. The existence of climate change; the safety behind eating genetically modified foods; and the effectiveness of herbal remedies over newly developed medicines are all hotly debated subjects and yet the science, rather than the rhetoric, is almost unanimous. Denialism brilliantly exposes the irrational pseudoscience and scare-mongering that increasingly get in the way of the truth and sensible decision-making. Specter demonstrates how key areas of modern life from basic health, to the environment and overall scientific progress are being dangerously misdirected and why facts must be put back to the heart of our judgements and belief.

"Michael Roberts is the Jean Cocteau of the fashion world," wrote the celebrated New Yorker editor Tina Brown in 1997, welcoming her new fashion editor to the most prestigious magazine in the world. Having already served for many years as a style editor ( The London Sunday Times , Vanity Fair ) and having produced numerous illustrations, photographs, paintings and columns of fashion criticism for various media, Roberts had already had his name coupled with Cocteau's, but his striking visual style is collected here for the first time. From evocative pen-and-ink sketches to acrylic paintings to intensely witty New Yorker covers created from cut paper, these works capture the fads, foibles and fashionability of our times. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue , in her introduction to "this beautiful book" calls them "fiendishly accurate satire." And the shoe guru Manolo Blahnik writes, "His drawings grasp fashion moments like a photo could never do." That a major part of the book was created through the painstaking method of paper collage especially appeals to the internationally famed fashion designer John Galliano. He writes, "I have avidly collected his work, along with doing my own collages, for years, and I am honored to be a part of this book."