The Shock Doctrine

In this groundbreaking book, the bestselling author of No Logo exposes the gripping story of how America’s ‘free market’ policies have come to dominate the world — through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries. At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq’s civil war, a new law is unveiled that would allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly out-sources the running of the ‘War on Terror’ to Halliburton and Blackwater. After a powerful tsunami devastates the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts. New Orleans’s residents, still scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be reopened. These events are examples of what Naomi Klein calls ‘the shock doctrine’: the use of public disorientation following massive collective shocks — wars, terrorist attacks, natural disasters — to push through unpopular economic measures often called ‘shock therapy’. Sometimes, when the first two shocks don’t succeed in wiping out all resistance, a third is employed: that of the electrode in the prison cell or of the Taser gun. Based on breakthrough historical research and four years of on-the-ground reporting in disaster zones, The Shock Doctrine explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Disaster capitalism — the rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies that are reeling from shock — did not begin with September 11, 2001. Klein traces its intellectual origins back 50 years to the University of Chicago’s economics department under Milton Friedman, whose influence is still felt around the world.

Do Ants Have Arseholes?

How easy is it to fall off a log? Where is the middle of nowhere? Do we really have no bananas? The readers of OLD GIT magazine are a batty, befuddled, potty-mouthed bunch, who seem to spend a significant chunk of their spare time corresponding with the publication’s popular letters page. Do Ants Have Arseholes? is a very funny, very silly collection of questions and answers taken from this column, none of which has any basis whatsoever in fact. A must for all those who relish a heady mixture of shaggy-dog stories, toilet humour and utter lack of insight.

Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

The first-person account of a 25-year-old who fought in the war in Sierra Leone as a 12-year-old boy. ‘My new friends have begun to suspect that I haven’t told them the full story of my life. “Why did you leave Sierra Leone?” “Because there is a war.” “You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?” “Yes, all the time.” “Cool.” I smile a little. “You should tell us about it sometime.” “Yes, sometime.”’ This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. Ishmael Beah, now 25-years-old, tells a rivetting story: how at the age of 12 in Sierra Leone, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By 13, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found he was capable of truly terrible acts. This is a rare and mesmerising account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty. Ishmael Beah came to the United States when he was 17, and graduated from Oberlin College in 2003. He lives in New York City.

Things Fall Apart

Okonowo is the greatest warrior alive. His fame has spread like a bushfire in West Africa and he is one of the most powerful men of his clan. But he also has a fiery temper. Determined not to be like his father, he refuses to show weakness to anyone — even if the only way he can master his feelings is with his fists. When outsiders threaten

the traditions of his clan, Okonowo takes violent action. Will the great man’s dangerous pride eventually destroy him?

The Saint, the Surfer ...

In this guide, Robin Sharma shows you how to access your inner gifts and reshape your

whole outer life in the process. He offers lessons on how to conquer stress, balance life and feel good about yourself.