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Potterism (Handheld Classics Ser.)
by Rose MacaulayRose Macaulay’s 1920 satire on British journalism and the newspaper industry will be back in print in the UK for the first time in seventy years. It will be published alongside a new collection of her pacifist writing from 1916 to 1945, Non-Combatants and Others: Writings Against War (ISBN 9781912766307). Potterism is about the Potter newspaper empire, fake news and anti-Semitism during the First World War and into the 1920s. When Jane and Johnny Potter are at Oxford they learn to despise their father’s popular newspapers, though they still end up working for the family business. But Jane is greedy, and wants more than society will let her have. Mrs Potter is a well-known romantic novelist, whose cheap novelettes appear in the shop-girls’ magazines. She has become unable to distinguish fact from fiction, and her success gives her an unhealthy estimation of her own influence. Arthur Gideon resists the fake news and gushing sentiment peddled by the Potter press, but an unexpected tragedy binds him even closer to their influence. The Introduction is by Sarah Lonsdale, senior lecturer in journalism at City University London, and the author of the Introduction to Handheld Press’s best-selling edition of Rose Macaulay’s What Not
50 Things About Us: What We Really Need to Know About Britain
by Mark Thomas50 THINGS ABOUT US is a fast and furiously funny journey through our national memory. It's about money, history, songs, gongs, wigs, unicorns, guns, bungs, sods of soil and rich fuckers.'Patriotism is often the point where history and advertising intersect, and it was that brand of nationalism that Rees-Mogg and Johnson attempted to sell. It is a brand that can only hark backwards; a nostalgic nationalism built on half histories and wishes … The kind of patriotism where the poetry of John Betjeman sits alongside blaming migrants for TB.'But that is not our story. In fact, it is far from the narrative so many of us are a part of.'From self-deceptions on size, stature and space (clue: there's more than enough for everyone if we lose the golf courses) to the living links between empire, slavery, money and power, this is Mark Thomas' quest to remind us of the true and shared greatness of modern Britain.Structured as a list of fifty crucial 'Things', and fresh from a lock-down spent interviewing hundreds of NHS workers for the Wellcome Collection permanent archive, this is Mark Thomas at his provocative, passionate best.
Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society
by Ronald J. DeibertHow to comprehend and correct the negative impact of the internet on politics, the economy, the environment and humanity? Reset is a fast-paced, compelling exposé and a rallying call for clear change.Drawing on the cutting-edge research of the Citizen Lab, the world-renowned digital security research group he founded, Ronald J. Deibert exposes the influence of the communications ecosystem on civil society. He tracks a mostly unregulated surveillance industry, innovations in technologies of remote control, superpower policing practices, dark PR firms and highly profitable hack-for-hire services feeding off rivers of poorly secured personal data. He also unearths how dependence on social media and its expanding universe of consumer electronics creates immense pressure on the natural environment.Determined to find solutions, Deibert has written a unique, readable and forward-looking book. In order to combat authoritarian practices, environmental degradation and rampant electronic consumerism, Deibert urges for very specific restraints on tech platforms and governments to reclaim the internet for civil society. It's time for us to push RESET.'Deibert is a rare hybrid who combines an advanced understanding of computer technology with a rich background in political science. He is also a legend in security and tech circles.' Misha Glenny'Although Deibert shares Higgins' appetite for the fight, he is much more mindful of the immense scale of the challenge.' Financial Times
The Book of Change: Images to Inspire Revelations and Revolutions
by Stephen EllcockA brilliant awakening to our vast shared potential and creative energy for change, from the beloved social media curator Stephen Ellcock.Featuring 240 reproductions of art, photography and objects, selected from cultures through history and across the globe, as well as from living artists such as Zanele Muholi, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Ellen Gallagher, Shirin Neshat and Gillian Wearing, this is an extraordinary collection of powerfully inspiring imagery on the nature of challenge and change.'Perfect for our time.' Adrian Searle, Guardian'In compiling The Book of Change my aim was to combine fragments of the visual culture of the past - drawing upon as many different traditions, geographical locations and eras as possible - with work by contemporary artists and photographers and illustrators, extracting inspiration from the raw material of the world to create a unique patchwork that attempts to reimagine existence.'By reassembling, repurposing and repositioning fragments of the past and combining them with new visions and fresh ways of seeing, a collage of unfamiliar, unspoiled possibilities can emerge, exorcizing the ghosts of struggles, failures and traumas past, providing glimpses of a better world, of overgrown paths in the clearing, of potential routes out of crisis into a brighter, bolder future.' 'Itinerant image-scavenging art-fugitive Stephen Ellcock returns with a new book revealing that beneath his acerbic, feral and rarefied exterior lies a large, kind and generous heart. When you get right down to it, in life and art, love is the message, and The Book of Change brings forth the codes, keys and surreal visions leading to brighter days.' Simon Armstrong, Tate Modern'Stephen Ellcock brightens our dark world.' Kara Walker, artist
Queen Elizabeth II: The events, characters and voices that inspired 'The Crown'
by Deborah Hart Strober Gerald StroberAN EXTRAORDINARY LIFETIME, TOLD IN THE WORDS OF THOSE WHO WERE THERELieutenant Commander Michael Parker, equerry-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, speaking about the death of King George VI:'The Queen was really bowled over. Forlorn. Fully conscious of the fact that she was Queen, and that she must tend to affairs immediately, but at the same time carrying the load of this new, awful news. A brave person. Gosh! If I loved her before, boy did I love her after that!' Queen Elizabeth II paints a spirited, global portrait of a life lived in service. It is packed full of fascinating eye-witness accounts; from the early years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign - the shocking death of her father and the adjustment required of a newly married couple - through to the children's marriages, the death of Princess Diana, and Prince Harry and Meghan's move to the United States.It features interviews from diverse sources: staff (recognisable from their portrayals in The Crown), family and friends, such as Lady Pamela Hicks, and public figures including Rabbi Julia Neuberger, Michael Heseltine and Andy Burnham. Originally published in 2002, it also contains memories from crucial figures now lost to us, such as Winston Spencer Churchill and Nelson Mandela.This extraordinary oral history presents revealing view into the workings of Buckingham Palace and the strengths and weaknesses of the Royal Family, asking questions about conflict and change, and the monarchy's journey as colonial institution.With a broad spectrum of views on Queen Elizabeth II - from her role as leader of the Commonwealth to her personality in private - this unique book offers a remarkable insight into our Monarch.'Both of us having dogs, mine being my seeing eye dog, Her Majesty and I had something in common and we always used to talk about ours. During Vladimir Putin's state visit to the United Kingdom, my dog barked at the Russian visitor and Her Majesty patted him, as if to say: ""Good dog! Good dog!""' David Blunkett
The Threat: Why Digital Capitalism is Sexist - And How to Resist
by Lilia GiugniWhy has the digital revolution been damaging for so many women? And what can be done about it?The Threat explores today's digital capitalism through the prism of the women who are harmed by it globally. Some of them are victimised through digital devices. Others are exploited while producing them. And some don’t even have access to the Internet, but are brutally raped in wars funded by the minerals that make our tablets work. With the help of individuals' stories and interviews, activist and academic Dr Lilia Giugni explores how millions of women across the world are violated, exploited and marginalised due to processes of technological change. She unpacks the tight intersections between technology, patriarchy and capitalism - exposing the profit-driven market in which our digital devices are designed and built, and the patriarchal society that shapes who gets to use them and how. Above all, Lilia Giugni gives us very practical ideas to help us take back the tech: turning technology into a truly emancipatory force and a leverage to create a better and more just future for women and for all. 'A brilliant and engaging exposé of how the forces of capitalism and patriarchy penetrate our digital world - and what women can do to fight back.' Hannah Jewell, author of ;100 Nasty Women of History
Unresolved
by Philip St. LawrenceInteresting and intelligent, Maggie Taylor is in a relationship with the rakish Onslow Ratcliffe - two civil servants supposedly on the same side negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU. With her love of history, Maggie studies lessons from Churchill, but also the story of Alfred the Great’s darkest hour in his own fight for freedom. As we follow his incredible story with her, she discovers the folly of Britain’s ‘negotiation’ as Downing Street sells the Withdrawal Deal. Amidst mayhem in London and high drama in Brussels, she realises she is an accomplice to Britain’s humiliation and calculated betrayal. “Remoaners rumbled and Brexiteers betrayed are twin themes in this tale of an Establishment plot. Conspiracy theorists will love its portrayal of a flouted Referendum, a sabotaged negotiation and an outraged electorate. Of course, that couldn’t really happen in 21st century Britain.... could it?” Julian Lewis MP. (Chair, Commons Defence Select Committee)
Inadequate: The system failing our teachers and your children
by Priya Lakhani Robert HalfonThe world of education is in a state of failure. Our teachers are quitting in droves, their natural passion for education stifled. Your children are being let down by a system unfit for our rapidly-changing world, leaving them wholly unprepared to survive the age of AI and automation.Pulling no punches, education technologist and entrepreneur Priya Lakhani OBE outlines how badly we have failed, and who is to blame. With a foreword from Robert Halfon MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee, Priya charts a course for a brighter future. From feeble government reforms to growing mental health crises, Priya leaves no stone unturned in exposing the Inadequate state of education.
Confessions Of A Non-Violent Revolutionary: Bean Stew, Blisters, Blockades and Benders – The True Story of a Peace Activist in Thatcher’s Britain
by Chris SavoryBritain in the 1980s – strikes, the dole, IRA bombings, CND demos, poll tax riots, vegetarian food, radical feminism and an international build-up of weapons guaranteeing ‘mutually-assured destruction’.Rejecting the privileges that life offers him, Chris Savory seeks to redress wider injustices in society by rejecting future wealth, power and status to follow his ideals. He throws himself into political struggle – living in poverty, sleeping in tents and on floors, braving the mud and cold, surviving on bean stews and wholemeal bread – to the general disapproval of respectable society. His aim? To bring about a non-violent revolution, disarmament and an eco-feminist-socialist utopia! Oxford University in 1980 opens up a world of opportunity, but the threat of imminent nuclear war pushes Chris to make life-changing decisions. Alienated by the casual superiority of his peers, he abandons essay-writing and sherry with the Dean to embark on a constant round of organising and protesting – peace-camps, marches, illegal direct actions, communes and anarchist street theatre. The triumph of Thatcherism and the defeat of progressive politics leaves him feeling despair, anger and isolation. But having given everything to fight the system, how can he re-enter mainstream society?At the heart of this memoir is a deeply honest and heartfelt human story, spiced with humour and colourful details of the 1980s’ counterculture. In an age of climate crisis and Extinction Rebellion, Confessions Of A Non-Violent Revolutionary is a thought-provoking and engaging record of a previous wave of mass civil disobedience and an opportunity to learn lessons from the recent history of grassroots political struggle. ‘… Insights into how individual action can play a role in avoiding Armageddon.’ – Billy Bragg ‘Terrific – thoroughly engaging and a real page-turner … wonderfully evocative, thought-provoking and a fascinating window into a world which until recently seemed almost old-fashioned, but now has a particular resonance in our re-politicized age.’ – Jason Webster, author of Violencia ‘Intriguing – a fascinating and racy record of a life which will find many resonances in its readers. Particularly striking is its sense of journey through idealism, disillusion, and the yet remaining conviction that the struggle is not lost.’ – Harvey Gillman, author of A Light that is Shining
The Basic Income Pocketbook
by Annie MilerThe current social security system is unwieldy, complex, unjust and unfit for purpose. It is a Gordian Knot that cannot be unraveled or reformed. It must be cut through and replaced by a system fit for the 21st century. A BI is just such a system. It redefines the relationship between the state, society and the individual. This innovative book provides a new perspective on Basic Income - a regular, unconditional payment to every citizen resident in the country. This concise book has been rigorously researched and thus will appeal to academics and policy makers, as well as to the general reader who is concerned about the current state of social security in the UK. Find out how a BI can make a difference to your life.
The Reality Game: A gripping investigation into deepfake videos, the next wave of fake news and what it means for democracy
by Samuel WoolleyTHIS ISN'T AN EPISODE OF BLACK MIRROR. THIS. IS. THE. FUTURE. 'A mind-blowing and essential book for a future that's practically already here. This book scares the hell out of me, but if we listen to Woolley's wake-up call, then I also have hope.' Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is BrokenThe problem of online disinformation is only getting worse. Social media may well play a role in the US 2020 presidential election and other major political events. But that doesn't even begin to describe what future propaganda will look like. As Samuel Woolley shows, we will soon be navigating new technologies such as human-like automated voice systems, machine learning, 'deep-fake' AI-edited videos and images, interactive memes, virtual reality and augmented reality. In stories both deeply researched and compellingly written, Woolley describes this future, and explains how the technology can be manipulated, who might control it and its impact on political strategy. Finally, Woolley proposes strategic responses to this threat with the ultimate goal of empowering activists and pushing technology builders to design for democracy. We may not be able to alter how the internet was used to challenge democracy in years past but we can follow the signals to prevent manipulation in the future - and to use these powerful new tools not to control people but to empower them.
Rein Gold
by Elfriede Jelinek2004 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Elfriede Jelinek's Rein Gold reconstructs the events of Wagner's epic Ring cycle and extends them into the present day. Originally written as a libretto for the Berlin State Opera, Rein Gold is a 'buhnenessay', an essay for the stage, structured in the form of a dialogue between Wotan, father of the gods, and his favourite daughter, Brunnhilde, in the third act of The Valkyrie. The book opens with Brunnhilde diagnosing her father Wotan to be a victim of capitalism because he, too, has fallen into the trap of wanting to own a castle he cannot afford. In stream of consciousness monologues, Brunnhilde and Wotan touch on a number of events from the days of the Nibelungen Saga to the 2008 financial crisis caused by the US subprime mortgage crisis and the role of banks therein, and through Marx's ideas as developed in Das Kapital, written almost contemporaneously with Wagner's Ring cycle. While rooted in Wagner's libretto, this sophisticated mesh of interwoven ideas also covers recent and current events, such as the way world leaders act in times of financial crisis, or the murders committed by the German neo-Nazi NSU group. Jelinek offers fascinatingly rich context for current political debates, as well as some intriguing new ideas, while never straying far from her leitmotif, the birth of capitalism.
Things Are Against Us
by Lucy Ellmann‘There are three kinds of strike I’d recommend: a housework strike, a labour strike, and a sex strike. I can’t wait for the first two.’Things Are Against Us is the first collection of essays from Booker Prize-shortlisted Lucy Ellmann. Bold, angry, despairing and very, very funny, these essays cover everything – from matriarchy to environmental catastrophe to Little House on the Prairie. Ellmann calls for a moratorium on air travel, rages against bras, gives Doris Day and Agatha Christie a drubbing, and pleads for sanity in a world that – well, a world that spent four years in the company of Donald Trump, that ‘tremendously sick, terrible, nasty, lowly, truly pathetic, reckless, sad, weak, lazy, incompetent, third-rate, clueless, not smart, dumb as a rock, all talk, wacko, zero-chance lying liar’.Things Are Against Us is electric. It’s vital. These are essays bursting with energy, and reading them feels like sticking your hand in the mains socket. Lucy Ellmann is the writer we need to guide us through these crazy times.
Burden of Service: Reminiscences of Nigeria's former Attorney-General
by Mohammed Bello AdokeIn 2011, the Nigerian government brokered a $1.3 billion deal between Royal Dutch Shell, Eni S.p.A. of Italy and Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd of Nigeria for one of Africa’s richest oil fields (“OPL 245”). The transaction—finalised after thirteen years of mutual suspicion, bitter litigation, emotional blackmail and dirty intrigues—has caught global attention and attracted criminal proceedings. The middlemen are now in jail and officials of the international oil companies are facing trial in an Italian court over alleged corruption. Mohammed Bello Adoke was the Nigerian Attorney-General who gave the legal advice on the complicated transaction. He saved his country from an impending $2 billion award in favour of Shell by the International Centre for the Settlement of International Disputes (ICSID), an organ of the World Bank. But he has been hounded, victimised, scandalised and forced into exile for his service to his fatherland. In recounting his five-year experience in government, Bello Adoke reveals the details of the billion-dollar oil deal and unveils the web of local and international intrigues, deceit, lies and conspiracy around an avoidable scandal.
Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals
by NJ AyukEnergy can and must work better for Africans. Billions at Play, the follow up to NJ Ayuk’s Big Barrels, tells us how. As OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo says in his foreword, Ayuk is a dreamer. But he is a dreamer with an action plan and through this book, he gives Africans the tools to get more from the energy industry. How did Africa get here and what comes next? How do African countries and societies get the most value from their resources? What exactly can African leaders do to put their countries on a sustainable, profitable path? And how can all parties win in Africa’s energy deals of the coming decades? Ayuk expertly argues the case for greater female empowerment, better governance and more responsive national oil companies. He points the way to a more powerful African presence on the world stage through African OPEC membership and through energy value chain development, and examines America’s role in Africa. A career dedicated to advocacy and deal-making in African energy make NJ Ayuk the most qualified individual to show how energy can indeed work harder and act as the engine for African growth. Building on the success of his first book Big Barrels: African Oil & Gas and the Quest for Prosperity, NJ Ayuk in Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals gives us his unique take on what leaders and investors can do to sign deals and build success in this complex business. Big Barrels gave us the African success stories. Billions at Play explains how energy can help achieve the African Dream.
The World's A Minefield
by Felix M TempleA new type of autocratic politician dominates the political landscape. With the deliberate appointment by the Prime Minister of an unsuitable candidate for the top job of C in MI6, trouble begins. The new man sweeps people out. Most of them die by accident or suicide. Sir Charles, a loyal subject and member of a family that has been part of the ruling elite for generations, knows he will be next. He and his colleagues from Australia, France, and the United States of America have to find out why they are being attacked. They must meet the challenge; failure will mean certain death. Caught up in the maelstrom facing the security services of the western world, the plans of a crook go drastically awry when one of his political contacts dies in a young man’s bed. The international threads of business intertwine with the greed of politicians as a few loyal officers save the Service. Love blossoms between those caught up in the business, and in a small house outside Marrakesh, Katharine acts to lift the black pain inflicted upon her after the brutal death of her lover in 1973.
The First Law of Fate
by Felix M TempleThe Russians, Chinese and Americans are planning to control satellites. The French program secret additional functions to a satellite. The Italians are working for a number of Gulf States to include secret interception facilities.The Russians know about the French plans, so do the British. Secret files are hacked from some US military systems.François Duhamel investigates for the DGSE. CIA agent Bruce Waller flies to Paris. Sir Charles Beresford of MI6 has to work out why the President of the US thinks there is a British double agent. The three friends work together for their mutual benefit. The British think Michael Cocke is responsible. The Turks buy intelligence from him. They believe he has double-crossed them. The Russians obtain a copy of American agents in Russia, and the British discover a list of Russian agents in the Middle East. The Indians obtain a Chinese document they give to MI6. As the problems are resolved, Michael Cocke’s life is expendable. The Turks hand him over to the Russians; the Americans and Russians have time to get their officers out; the Chinese agree not to attack the British in exchange for the return of the secret document; the French avoid a collapse of the government.
Operation Jihadi Bride: My Covert Mission to Rescue Young Women from ISIS - The Incredible True Story
by Clifford Thurlow John Carney'Jihad isn't a war. It's an objective. An aberration. If there are young women with children, lost boys... If they are trapped in that hell and we can get them out, don't we have a duty to do so? Every person we can bring back is living proof that Islamic State is a failure.'Ex-British Army soldier John Carney was running a close protection operation for oil executives in Iraq when the family of a young Dutch woman asked him to extract her from the collapsing 'Islamic State' in Syria. Hearing first-hand about the naive young girls, many from the West, who'd been tricked, sexually abused and enslaved by ISIS, he knew only one thing - he had to get them out of that living hell.This is the incredible true story of how - armed with AK-47s and 9mm Glocks - Carney launched a daring, dangerous and deadly operation to free as many of them as he could. From 2016 to 2019, he led his small band of committed Kurdish freedom fighters into the heart of the Syrian lead storm.Backed by humanitarian NGOs, and feeding intel to MI6, Carney and his men went behind enemy lines to deliver the women and their children to the authorities, to deradicalization programmes and fair trials.Carney, a born soldier, was moved to action by the women's terrifying stories. He and his men risked their lives daily, not always making it safely home...Gripping, shocking and thought-provoking, Operation Jihadi Bride tackles the complex issue of the jihadi brides head on - an essential read for our troubled times.
Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on B.S.
by Jess Phillips'There's nobody else at Westminster quite like Jess Phillips. She is fearless and funny, riotous and rebellious, maverick and mischievous.' The Times'Jess Phillips is a heroine' J.K. Rowling This is a very powerful little book.It offers inspiration to those of us who want to speak out at a time when many of us feel the world isn't listening.Jess Phillips - no stranger to speaking truth to power herself - will help you dig deep and get organised, finding the courage and the tools you need to speak up and make a difference.As well as offering inspiration and hope from her own experiences Jess talks to the accidental heroes who have been brave enough to risk everything, become whistle-blowers and successfully fight back. Entertaining, empowering and uncompromising, TRUTH TO POWER is the little book we all need to help us call time on the seemingly unstoppable tide of bullshit in our lives.
Where Did I Go Right?: How the Left Lost Me
by Geoff Norcott***'Few people walk the line of thought provoking and laugh out loud funny like Geoff Norcott.' - Romesh Ranganathan'Where Did I Go Right? is sharp, considered, insightful, and helped me make sense of "the other side". And because Geoff Norcott is so funny, it unfortunately means I can't dismiss his views entirely. It's so important to have a friend you can disagree with but still admire and Geoff can be that friend to you!' - Katherine Ryan"I've always thought the benefit of having batsh*t parents is it increases the chance of you growing up funny. It's certainly worked for Geoff Norcott." - David Baddiel'Voting Conservative is like buying a James Blunt album: loads of people have done it, but weirdly you never meet them ...'Comedian Geoff Norcott should have been Labour through and through. He grew up on a council estate, both of his parents were disabled, and his Dad was a Union man. So, how was it that he grew up to vote Tory?In this courageously honest and provocative memoir, Geoff unpicks his working-class upbringing and his political journey from left to right. Raised by a fierce matriarch and a maverick father on a South London council estate where they filmed scenes for The Bill, Geoff spends his youth attempting to put out kitchen fires with aerosols and leaping in and out of industrial skips. But as he reaches adolescence, his political views begin to be influenced by major events including the early 90s recession, the credit crunch, and a chance encounter with Conservative PM John Major.As an adult, Geoff begins to have the gnawing feeling that the values and traditions he grew up with no longer match Labour's. And, as Brexit appears, he feels even more like a double agent operating behind enemy lines.Written with warmth, wit and often laugh-out-loud humour, Where Did I Go Right? is Geoff's attempt to understand why he ended up voting 'for the bad guys', and why blue-collared conservatism could be here to stay.Praise for Geoff Norcott:'A mature, sharp take on modern politics' - The Sunday Times'Gently abrasive, but that's what makes him so entertaining... with a sharp, self-knowing wit' -The Times'Geoff Norcott genuinely has something original to say' - New European'A refreshingly brilliant new comedic voice' - Spectator'Norcott is an out-and-out rebel' - Express
Very Bad People: The Inside Story of the Fight Against the World’s Network of Corruption
by Patrick Alley*****'Reads like a John le Carré novel but is, in fact, very real.' - The Big Issue'Very Bad People would be a hugely enjoyable thriller if it wasn't all true.' - Isabella Tree, author of Wilding'Global Witness are fearless.' - Gordon Roddick, Campaigner and Co-Founder of the Body Shop'Part true crime tale, part investigative procedural, this is the account of the brilliant and necessary superheroes of Global Witness, whose superpower is the truth.' - Edward Zwick, Director of Blood Diamond 'Very Bad People reads like a non-stop high-speed chase as our fighters against corruption hunt down a litany of criminals and con-men, some on the fringes of our society, some embedded high up within it. It's a great story and an important one.' - David Farr, Screenwriter, The Night Manager'The story told in this book of three youthful idealists who go from eating cold baked beans in a drafty London flat to the Thai-Cambodian border where they posed as traders in illegally felled timber is simply riveting. Don't miss it.' - Misha Glenny, author of McMafia'Alley has produced a clear-eyed account of a world poisoned by dark money, and a welcome reminder that resistance is possible. As it turns out, his book is even more timely than he could have hoped.' - Irish Times'This book is inspirational. It shows how young people with sufficient passion and intelligence have the capacity to go after some of the most powerful governments and corporations and shame, humiliate and just push governments to support important reforms that can make this a more decent world.' - Frank Vogl, Co-Founder of Transparency InternationalArms trafficking, offshore accounts and luxury property deals. Super-yachts, private jets and super-car collections. Blood diamonds, suspect oil deals, deforestation and murder. This is the world of Global Witness, the award-winning organisation dedicated to rooting out worldwide corruption. And this is co-founder Patrick Alley's revealing inside track on a breath-taking catalogue of modern super-crimes - and the 'shadow network' that enables them. VERY BAD PEOPLE is about following the money, going undercover in the world's most dangerous places, and bringing down the people behind the crimes. Case by case we see maverick investigators pitched against warlords, grifters and super-villains who bear every resemblance to The Night Manager's Richard Roper. One dictator's son spent $700 million in just four years on his luxury lifestyle.As they unravel crooked deals of labyrinthine complexity, the team encounter well-known corporations whose operations are no less criminal than the Mafia. This network of lawyers, bankers and real estate agents help park dirty money in London, New York, or in offshore accounts, safe from prying eyes.Patrick Alley's book is a brilliant, authoritative and fearless investigation into the darkest workings of our world - and an inspiration to all of us who want to fight back.
Deep Fakes and the Infocalypse: What You Urgently Need To Know
by Nina SchickIt will soon be impossible to tell what is real and what is fake.Recent advances in AI mean that by scanning images of a person (for example using Facebook), a powerful machine learning system can create new video images and place them in scenarios and situations which never actually happened. When combined with powerful voice AI, the results are utterly convincing.So-called 'Deep Fakes' are not only a real threat for democracy but they take the manipulation of voters to new levels. They will also affect ordinary people. This crisis of misinformation we are facing has been dubbed the 'Infocalypse'. Using her expertise from working in the field, Nina Schick reveals shocking examples of Deep Fakery and explains the dangerous political consequences of the Infocalypse, both in terms of national security and what it means for public trust in politics. She also unveils what it means for us as individuals, how Deep Fakes will be used to intimidate and to silence, for revenge and fraud, and how unprepared governments and tech companies are. As a political advisor to select technology firms, Schick tells us what we need to do to prepare and protect ourselves. Too often we build the cool technology and ignore what bad guys can do with it before we start playing catch-up. But when it comes to Deep Fakes, we urgently need to be on the front foot.
Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy
by Talia Lavin"One of the marvels of this furious book is how insolent and funny Lavin is; she refuses to soft-pedal the monstrous views she encounters." - The New York Times"Lavin writes like her hands are on fire, forcing us to take a hard look at our ugliest truths." - Pamela Collof, The New York Times Magazine & Pro Publica Talia Lavin is every fascist's worst nightmare: a loud and unapologetic young Jewish woman, with the online investigative know-how to expose the tactics and ideologies of online hatemongers. Outspoken and uncompromising, Lavin's debut uncovers the hidden corners of the web where extremists hang out, from white nationalists and incels to national socialists and Proud Boys.In stories crammed with catfishing and gatecrashing, combined with extensive, gut-wrenching research, Lavin goes undercover as a blonde Nazi babe and a forlorn incel to infiltrate extremist communities online, including a whites-only dating site. She also discovers the network of disturbingly young extremists, including a white supremacist YouTube channel run by a 14-year-old girl with nearly one million followers. Ultimately, she turns the lens of anti-Semitism, racism, and white power back on itself in an attempt to dismantle and quash the online hate movement's schisms, recruiting tactics, and the threat it represents to politics and beyond. Shocking, provocative and humorous in equal measure, and with a take-no-prisoners attitude, Culture Warlords explores some of the vilest subcultures on the internet and how they're doing their best to infiltrate the mainstream. And then she shows us how we can fight back."Culture Warlords is a necessary and urgent read that could not have come at a much better time. Thoroughly researched and engaging, this debut demonstrates the work of a fearless reporter." - Morgan Jerkins, New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing
Death Deserved (Blix & Ramm #1)
by Thomas Enger Jørn Lier HorstPolice officer Alexander Blix and celebrity blogger Emma Ramm join forces to track down a serial killer with a thirst for attention and high-profile murders, in the first episode of a gripping new Nordic Noir series…‘Grim, gory and filled with plenty of dark twists … There’s definitely a Scandinavian chill in the air with this fascinating read that loses none of its terror and fun in translation’ Scottish Sun‘A stunningly excellent collaboration … a brutal tale of fame, murder, and reality TV that gets the pulse racing’ Russel McLean‘An exercise in literary tag-teaming from two of Norway’s biggest crime writers with a bold new take on the serial-killer-as-twisted-artist … the start of a series with potential’ Sunday Times ________________Oslo, 2018. Former long-distance runner Sonja Nordstrøm never shows at the launch of her controversial autobiography, Always Number One. When celebrity blogger Emma Ramm visits Nordstrøm’s home later that day, she finds the door unlocked and signs of a struggle inside. A bib with the number ‘one’ has been pinned to the TV.Police officer Alexander Blix is appointed to head up the missing-persons investigation, but he still bears the emotional scars of a hostage situation nineteen years earlier, when he killed the father of a five-year-old girl. Traces of Nordstrøm soon show up at different locations, but the appearance of the clues appear to be carefully calculated … evidence of a bigger picture that he’s just not seeing…Blix and Ramm soon join forces, determined to find and stop a merciless killer with a flare for the dramatic, and thirst for attention.Trouble is, he’s just got his first taste of it… ________________‘Everything about this crime novel sings, the relationship between Blix and Emma, which is complex, but also the relationship between Blix and Fosse and Kovic. The past bleeds into the present and the clever melding of the strands of the story and the slow reveal of details that propel the story is masterly. This tale often surprises or shifts in subtle ways that are pleasing and avoid cliché. As the opener for a new series this is a cracker, long live the marriage of Horst and Enger’ New Books Magazine‘Death Deserved is a fast-moving, punchy, serial killer investigative novel with a whammy of an ending. If this is the first in the Blix and Ramm series, then here’s to many more!’ LoveReading‘A clever, gripping crime novel with personality, flair, and heart’ Crime by the Book
Sister (Oslo Detectives)
by Kjell Ola DahlThe Oslo Detectives are back in another chilling slice of Nordic Noir … Frølich searches for the mysterious sister of a young female asylum seeker, but when people start to die, everything points to an old case and a series of events that someone will do anything to hide…‘Impossible to put down’ Guardian‘Absorbing, heart-rending and perfectly plotted’ Denzil Meyrick‘A masterclass in plotting, atmosphere and character that finely balances shocking twists with the coppers’ complicated personal lives’ Sunday Times ________________Suspended from duty, Detective Frølich is working as a private investigator, when his girlfriend’s colleague asks for his help with a female asylum seeker, who the authorities are about to deport. She claims to have a sister in Norway, and fears that returning to her home country will mean instant death.Frølich quickly discovers the whereabouts of the young woman’s sister, but things become increasingly complex when she denies having a sibling, and Frølich is threatened off the case by the police. As the body count rises, it becomes clear that the answers lie in an old investigation, and the mysterious sister, who is now on the run…A dark, chilling and up-to-the-minute Nordic Noir thriller, Sister is also a tense and well-plotted murder mystery with a moving tragedy at its heart, cementing Kjell Ola Dahl as one of the greatest crime writers of our generation. ________________‘Kjell Ola Dahl’s novels are superb’ William Ryan‘Suspenseful, beautifully and clearly written, with a sure-footed plot, this is a book that thrills’ Live & Deadly‘Dark, stylish and suspenseful … the perfect example of why Nordic Noir has become such a popular genre’ Readers Digest‘If you have never sampled Dahl, now is the time to try’ Daily Mail