Transparency is today a central legal concept in many - if not most – national and international legal orders, and a concept that is widely discussed in legal doctrine. Yet, in the book The Transparency Paradox. Questioning an ideal, Ida Koivisto brings new fuel to the discussion on the concept of transparency and its role and function in the legal culture of the society today. The trigger for conducting the investigation, Koivisto explains, is the notion that the contemporary perception of ‘the transparency turn’ in national and international law has occurred without sufficient conceptual analysis. Foremost, it is the argument that transparency promises legitimacy that is critically assessed, namely the presumption that ‘when we can witness with our own eyes what is happening in the chambers of power, we can control it and, when needed, even overthrow it’. In the book, Koivisto dissembles this argument step by step via what is referred to as the Truth-legitimacy trade off; contrary to common beliefs, transparency cannot deliver both.