24 August 2007

Andrew Alderson and Neil Mackay at the Book Festival

From 17 August. Originally published in ThreeWeeks.

"Does anyone here know anything about finance?" This small question catapulted Andrew Alderson, a former investment banker, to de facto Chancellor of the Exchequer for southern Iraq. Alderson's 'Bankrolling Basra' is by turns hilarious and depressing - by his estimation, the team of Brits that he worked with in Basra had the region stabilised before they were withdrawn. Neil Mackay's 'The War On Truth' has fewer anecdotes and more rage. The book argues that the British and American public was manipulated into the war based on cherry-picked intelligence and lies - a work of solid investigative journalism to be sure, but Mackay also finished by reading a section where he describes exactly how Tony Blair should commit suicide. Give peace a chance indeed.

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