Camp: The Lie That Tells the Truth

Camp style, in behaviour, clothing, artistic output or emotions, has never been properly explored or defined. Jean Cocteau, as camp a figure as Paris has ever produced, said in Vanity Fair in 1922, 'I am a lie that tells the truth.' This paradox is the basis of Philip Core's personal definitions of camp, seen from the inside. His savagely witty depicts of more than two centuries of camp find it embodied in personalities and places, objects and artefacts.

He has written a Who's Who and a What's What of camp, a deceptively descriptive and factual lexicon, allowing the reader to build up a kaleidoscopic picture of camp through the ages. It is complemented with 150 rare and stunning photographs and a vivacious foreword by England's foremost authority on surrealism, eccentric behaviour and hats - jazz singer George Melly.