Tim Harford is an excellent communicator on economics and all-things-statistical. His previous books, his writing for the Financial Times, and his work as presenter of More or Less on BBC radio, all make him perfectly qualified for writing this book. And yet, for me, it didn't quite live up to expectations.

In particular, I recall Harford's "Handy, postcard-sized guide to statistics" - a longish article published in the Financial Times based around advice on dealing with statistics that fit on a postcard. That article, which covers much the same ground as this book, was snappy, clear and compelling. The book, however is at times somewhat laboured - slow and repetitive. It feels like a book proposal gone wrong - a book-length version of the postcard - which failed to recognise that what made the original work so well was it's brevity.

It's a perfectly adequate book, well worth reading, on a important subject - understanding and questioning the statistical claims that fly around in the media, on social media and elsewhere. But for me, it just doesn't come to life in the way his previous work has done.

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Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy, provided in return for an honest review.