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The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

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TELLS<br />

troops, even at a great distance. <strong>The</strong> idea that Napoleon<br />

tucked his hand into his waistcoat comes from a famous<br />

painting by Jacques-Louis David, where Napoleon<br />

appears in his study in the Tuileries Palace, assuming this<br />

posture. What's interesting is that Napoleon didn't actually<br />

sit for this portrait - the artist did it from memory. It's quite<br />

likely that Napoleon's posture in the picture is a painterly<br />

conceit rather than a faithful depiction <strong>of</strong> how he actually<br />

stood. At the time it was customary for important men to<br />

be represented in paintings with their hand in their waistcoat,<br />

even when they didn't habitually adopt the posture.<br />

This convention was established in Europe and America<br />

long before Napoleon had come to power, and there's<br />

even a portrait <strong>of</strong> George Washington in which he's adopting<br />

this posture. Washington is remembered for many<br />

things, but not for standing around with his hand in his<br />

waistcoat.<br />

We all know people with signature tells - for example,<br />

the guy who can't stop shaking his foot, or the woman<br />

who repeatedly curls her hair round her fingers in an<br />

unusual way. Most people recognize the signature tells <strong>of</strong><br />

famous people today - like Princess Diana's 'head-cant',<br />

Margaret Thatcher's 'eye-flash', or President Reagan's<br />

'head-twist' - but they don't understand what these tells<br />

reveal about the person concerned. In the chapters that<br />

follow we will look at these tells and uncover their true<br />

meaning.<br />

Transposed <strong>Tells</strong><br />

When you see someone tapping their foot you can<br />

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