Is It True‪?‬

In ‘Is It True?’, Max Cryer explores the truth or otherwise of facts and beliefs we may have always been told are true, but which on closer examination may not be. In a wide-ranging book encompassing social history, language, music, politics, the natural world and much more, we discover the truth behind some of our most cherished beliefs. Always fresh and amusing, Max Cryer will take you on a journey through your acquired knowledge, testing whether it is really up to scratch.


Max Cryer has many years’ experience of researching and writing on aspects of language and social history. A well-known broadcaster and entertainer, he hosts a weekly radio show on the English language. In a long career, he has been a schoolteacher, a compere and television host, as well as a performer on the opera stage in London and in cabaret in Las Vegas and Hollywood. Now a full-time writer living in Auckland, he has written many books, including Who Said That First?, Love Me Tender, The Godzone Dictionary, Curious English Words and Phrases, Preposterous Proverbs and Every Dog Has Its Day.