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When was the last time you read a grand statement, accompanied by a large number and wondered whether it could really be true? Statistics are vital in helping us tell stories - we see them in the papers, on social media and we hear them used in everyday conversation - and yet we doubt them more than ever. But numbers - in the right hands - have the power to change the world for the better. Contrary to popular belief, good statistics are not a trick, although they are a kind of magic.

The world is often full of bamboozling headlines and numbers that don't add up. But don't panic. Within these pages you will transform into a Truth Detective, hunting down the truth about the world around you. You will meet heroic truth detectives, such as Florence Nightingale who started a revolution with a pie chart. You will encounter dastardly villains who have tried to trip us up with dodgy data and misinformation. And you will learn how being smart and savvy with numbers, will help you be smart and savvy about everything else in life too.

Se trata de los números y los datos que manejan las estadísticas, indispensables en el relato con el que se construye hoy en día la actualidad política, económica y social. Y para comprender la realidad cambiante y compleja en la que vivimos no se necesita un doctorado en matemáticas. Basta un poco paciencia y sentido común, pero sobre todo, se requiere la curiosidad que Tim Harford, autor de El economista camuflado, sabe contagiar a sus lectores para observar el mundo con otros ojos.