Truthful Art, The: Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication (Voices That Matter)

In brief: this is an excellent book. Packed full of excellent examples from across the world. Clearly written, easy to digest and well structured. Cairo knows his subject very well. First of all, this book looks and feels nice. It gets lots of praise in the insidde cover pages and, like Nigel Holmes says, you too might be horrified upon reading this book at how much you didn't know. Me too. But I don't think it's really a cover-to-cover read anyway; more of a life-long companion/resource text. The book really is packed full of stuff - so much so that I found myself wondering how he could get so much in there but somehow keep me interested - it's a real barnstormer. I've added a few images so you can see the kinds of thing Cairo covers - including a chart on his weight to make a point! Nice touch. The Truthful Art is a hugely impressive work and absolutely worth every penny. I work in a University and teach and research this kind of stuff but it's not pitched at too high a level - but at the same time it's full of depth and nuance. What can I say? Highly recommended. A real achievement and the best book of its kind I have seen.

I've read many data visualisation books over the years and this has to be one of my favourites... having felt that I've mastered the 'basics' of what makes a good vis, I was looking for something that took my thinking on a few levels and covered the topic in more depth, which is what this book offers. I've been a fan of Alberto's work for a while, particularly due to his focus on how to tell stories from often complex data in way that engages a wide range of audiences, something often overlooked by others when trying to make data look 'pretty'! This book helps to reinforce the need for science behind your visuals and as a result I find myself dipping into it time and time again, particularly the stats and mapping sections. A great book that always leaves me feeling motivated!

Great book! Helped me immensely during the writing of my dissertation. It is well-research, academic and in-depth, at the same that it is accessible and easy to follow for those venturing in the field of data visualization. It is not a guidebook on how to create or code the graphics; instead, it exposes theories and practices on the communication of data, with interesting remarks throughout and a critical examination of the existing literature. It's mainly focused on data journalism, but it can be translated to all realms of data visualization. It's a must for anyone interested in telling data stories effectively, beautifully and truthfully.

50% content, and 50% ranting about other people. That said, good material, useful quotes and references and links to further reading. Would recommend.

What I like about Alberto Cairo 's work and advice is that it is practical, especially in corporate / less data literate settings Page after page of stunning graphics, each with multiple links to further examples and sources. Even if you think that you know all about data visualisation, you should still make time to read this because it will make you think about new ways of presenting data

This book is full of very meaningful examples, well explained and easy to read. Definitely a must both if you want a grasp on infographics or find further inspiration for your work.

A good book and makes many interesting points, ironically for a book about visual communication the paperback version is let down by the visuals which are rendered with unreadably small text - illustrating these points with unreadable graphics undermines things.

The start of the acknowledgements section starts with: "I always chuckle when someone calls me an expert", and the end of the index ends with "Zappa, Frank". Well this should make Alberto laugh heartily - the breadth and variety of examples throughout the book is huge, a testament to the author's deep knowledge and experience. The style of the book is friendly and informal throughout which makes it feel less like a textbook and more like a book that you can pick up and read from start to finish.in a few settings (as indeed I did). The underlying theme is the need for visualisations to be true representations of data and to show that in the best way possible, so focuses on statistical accuracy and the need for critical thinking. However the easily readable conversational style and huge number of examples (many of them current) make all chapters easily accessible, such that the book feels like it is pitched at anyone with an interest in visualisation, from hobbyists to professional journalists or visualisers. Well worth the read for anyone in the field - once you're done, there's always the author's previous complementary book: "The Functional Art" to check out too,