Private Eye is required reading, as much for its straight journalism as for its satire, and the Annual has long been a fail-safe gift. As usual it takes the form of a scrap book of pieces from the year's Private Eye magazines, focusing on humorous pieces. Consequently, the book largely comprises short satirical squibs, along with spoof newspaper articles and letters and longer serials such as Never Too Old--a romantic novel based on the life of Rupert Murdoch which is as sharp on the genre as it is about the protagonists. Through these pieces, the Annual builds up a comprehensive overview of the year's news stories from Alan Clark's death to Big Brother with stories such as the Dome and the state of the rail service receiving extra scrutiny. These sections are particularly rewarding--the Railtrack disaster, for example, is covered from all sides in a variety of media, so that one spoof article highlights the attitude of hacks to train crashes, while another reports on Prescott's "firm undertaking to spend as much money as was necessary to close the stable door after the recent 'bolting' incident". At the same time a cartoon represents Blair telling Prescott "Good thinking, John--we've privatised the blame".

Cartoons feature strongly throughout. The Eye has some of the best artists in the country working for it and most are represented here, ranging from the black humour of McLachlan and Honeysett, whose scratchy line drawings have a beautiful delicacy which renders their subjects all the more disturbing, to the keenly observed social commentary of Heath, Pilbrow and Ken Pyne.

In the cartoon which forms the frontispiece of the annual Hunter observes that "A book is not just for Christmas". Although the Private Eye Annual is often to be found under the tree on Christmas morning, it gives pleasure throughout the year. --Anoushka Alexander

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

Ozzie's Cocaine Breast Milk, 21 Sep 2008
The comedian and political activist takes on the gun trade in this book and shows how a good mind for Cluedo, a knowledge of legal loopholes and a telephone is all he needs to sell arms to Zimbabwe or any other dispicable regime. It's so easy in fact that as part of his experiment a bunch of school kids and a Catholic Nun also set themselves up as arms dealers and can ship mines and grenades across the world.

As one of the reviews on the back of the book says this is "John Pilger with jokes" and the book is laugh out loud funny, though it is laughter tinged with despair given the seriousness of the topic at hand and murky grey morals of the world Thomas manages to infiltrate.

In between chaining himself to buses or embarrasing politicians he manages to trick Indonesian generals into admitting to war crimes on camera or flog torture equipment and manacles with the tagline "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela". His righteous anger is suffused throughout and yet to his own surprise he grows fond of the minder sent to keep an eye on him at an Arms Fair, feels doubt about shopping a dealer (who lives in Brockley!) to the authorities as he believes the dealer has a young daughter and whilst out in Western Sahara he finds his own expectations confounded when he thinks he's supporting a noble and just cause against imperialism and foreign occupation but see's also that the rebels glorify in the deaths of their enemies and hoard trinkets taken from the dead bodies of Moroccan troops.

Thought provoking and eye opening. I look forward to, especially as someone with Colombian heritage, the next one in which he turns his gaze towards the Cola industry

Who said Politics was boring?, 21 Apr 2008
I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words.
The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here.
It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.



Startling, Informative, Hilarious, Essential Reading!, 31 Jan 2008
It's not often that "Arms Trade" and "Satirical Comedy" get mentioned in the same sentence, but those phrases would sit fine with this book. Mark Thomas has transformed from a stand-up comic that went on demonstrations into a political activist that does stand-up, and in a way this book documents that.

His C4 show, the Mark Thomas Comedy Product, used to poke fun at the police and his stand up shows would announce his great plan for getting junk mail reduced (get all the freebies sent to Michael Heseltine's address). As his ideas developed, they got wilder, until he had this idea of attending an arms fair as a PR man. And so the book begins.

Being able to describe such a subject matter with humour is an awesome achievement, and the description of the Penis of Peace is just one example of taking the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of a page.

The encounter with the man who sold Michael Ryan his gun is intrigiung, and the stand off with the Hindujas is engrossing.

If you like proper political satire, and you want the facts that BAE don't want you to know, then you need to read this book.

Brave, well-written, funny, important, a must-read, 03 Oct 2007
A well-written account of Mark Thomas' investigations into, and brave confrontations with, arms brokers up to 2006. It's important to note that this is arms brokering rather than arms use and so while there are guns and torture weapons on display, this book isn't set in a warzone- it is set in the bizarrely convoluted and loophole-ridden world of British politics, EU embargoes, Channel 4 exposes and large arms trade fairs at London's ExCeL centre.

It's more jaw-droppingly staggering than it is funny, but it is funny. The humour is mostly one long string of incredulousness ("can you believe that these schoolchildren were able to buy these grotesque sting sticks just from a few phone calls?"), as well as coming from some of the variety of characters Thomas meets- both arms brokers and activists- who Thomas will warmly laugh with, as well as laugh at. The sheer warmth and obvious importance of the subject is easily enough to get you through the occasional slightly dense paragraph of lists or regulations details.

Thomas throws in just a little introspection and self-depreciation for good measure, as he talks about trying to come to terms with this new position working for "the Man" instead of his previous absolutely anti-Government point of view.

Overall a brilliant book. Book readers and everybody else in Britain would be better off if there were far more people writing like, but most importantly behaving like, Mark Thomas.

Serious Comedy Product, 29 Sep 2007
A hearty recommendation. Thomas is a likeable narrator and his mix of anger, despair and hope at the world and the morals of its inhabitants is touching. The book chapters his (somewhat successful) attempts to change legislation on arms trading, weaving facts and figures with a narrative of his visits abroad, to parliament, to arms fairs and to police stations as he switches between posing as arms brokers and buyers and participating in direct action against them. Stand-out sections include his recruiting school-age 'arms dealers' to shame the Irish government and his accompaniment around an arms fair by an affable minder who is able to knowledgably and loudly describe the killing potential of various displayed weapons as Thomas films on his camcorder, much to the discomfort of the stallholders. Superb!

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

Ozzie's Cocaine Breast Milk, 21 Sep 2008
The comedian and political activist takes on the gun trade in this book and shows how a good mind for Cluedo, a knowledge of legal loopholes and a telephone is all he needs to sell arms to Zimbabwe or any other dispicable regime. It's so easy in fact that as part of his experiment a bunch of school kids and a Catholic Nun also set themselves up as arms dealers and can ship mines and grenades across the world.

As one of the reviews on the back of the book says this is "John Pilger with jokes" and the book is laugh out loud funny, though it is laughter tinged with despair given the seriousness of the topic at hand and murky grey morals of the world Thomas manages to infiltrate.

In between chaining himself to buses or embarrasing politicians he manages to trick Indonesian generals into admitting to war crimes on camera or flog torture equipment and manacles with the tagline "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela". His righteous anger is suffused throughout and yet to his own surprise he grows fond of the minder sent to keep an eye on him at an Arms Fair, feels doubt about shopping a dealer (who lives in Brockley!) to the authorities as he believes the dealer has a young daughter and whilst out in Western Sahara he finds his own expectations confounded when he thinks he's supporting a noble and just cause against imperialism and foreign occupation but see's also that the rebels glorify in the deaths of their enemies and hoard trinkets taken from the dead bodies of Moroccan troops.

Thought provoking and eye opening. I look forward to, especially as someone with Colombian heritage, the next one in which he turns his gaze towards the Cola industry

Who said Politics was boring?, 21 Apr 2008
I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words.
The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here.
It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.



Startling, Informative, Hilarious, Essential Reading!, 31 Jan 2008
It's not often that "Arms Trade" and "Satirical Comedy" get mentioned in the same sentence, but those phrases would sit fine with this book. Mark Thomas has transformed from a stand-up comic that went on demonstrations into a political activist that does stand-up, and in a way this book documents that.

His C4 show, the Mark Thomas Comedy Product, used to poke fun at the police and his stand up shows would announce his great plan for getting junk mail reduced (get all the freebies sent to Michael Heseltine's address). As his ideas developed, they got wilder, until he had this idea of attending an arms fair as a PR man. And so the book begins.

Being able to describe such a subject matter with humour is an awesome achievement, and the description of the Penis of Peace is just one example of taking the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of a page.

The encounter with the man who sold Michael Ryan his gun is intrigiung, and the stand off with the Hindujas is engrossing.

If you like proper political satire, and you want the facts that BAE don't want you to know, then you need to read this book.

Brave, well-written, funny, important, a must-read, 03 Oct 2007
A well-written account of Mark Thomas' investigations into, and brave confrontations with, arms brokers up to 2006. It's important to note that this is arms brokering rather than arms use and so while there are guns and torture weapons on display, this book isn't set in a warzone- it is set in the bizarrely convoluted and loophole-ridden world of British politics, EU embargoes, Channel 4 exposes and large arms trade fairs at London's ExCeL centre.

It's more jaw-droppingly staggering than it is funny, but it is funny. The humour is mostly one long string of incredulousness ("can you believe that these schoolchildren were able to buy these grotesque sting sticks just from a few phone calls?"), as well as coming from some of the variety of characters Thomas meets- both arms brokers and activists- who Thomas will warmly laugh with, as well as laugh at. The sheer warmth and obvious importance of the subject is easily enough to get you through the occasional slightly dense paragraph of lists or regulations details.

Thomas throws in just a little introspection and self-depreciation for good measure, as he talks about trying to come to terms with this new position working for "the Man" instead of his previous absolutely anti-Government point of view.

Overall a brilliant book. Book readers and everybody else in Britain would be better off if there were far more people writing like, but most importantly behaving like, Mark Thomas.

Serious Comedy Product, 29 Sep 2007
A hearty recommendation. Thomas is a likeable narrator and his mix of anger, despair and hope at the world and the morals of its inhabitants is touching. The book chapters his (somewhat successful) attempts to change legislation on arms trading, weaving facts and figures with a narrative of his visits abroad, to parliament, to arms fairs and to police stations as he switches between posing as arms brokers and buyers and participating in direct action against them. Stand-out sections include his recruiting school-age 'arms dealers' to shame the Irish government and his accompaniment around an arms fair by an affable minder who is able to knowledgably and loudly describe the killing potential of various displayed weapons as Thomas films on his camcorder, much to the discomfort of the stallholders. Superb!

Some great answers in this short book, 02 Feb 2008
A good collection of stupid answers to quiz questions.

Occasionally the right answers are not obvious (and not provided) but mostly the howlers are very funny.

I was at school with Marcus but have not seen him since, but his books are always worth buying.

Disappointing, 27 Jan 2008
I have really enjoyed reading Marcus Berkmann's books, particularly Brain Men. I was expecting some laugh out loud wrong answers in this book but never really managed anything more than a smile.
Knowing that the author is a very knowledgable man, I suspect that wrong answers he finds funny are not quite so for the less educated of us.
Some are just basically wrong answers and mistakes that quite a few of us would make. Nevertheless its cheap and cheerful!

Great little book, 29 Dec 2007
I always think books like this are perfect for the bath or snuggling up with in an armchair. It is funny, inoffensive and relaxing. It pokes fun at people without being too sour.
There are some corking examples of stupidity here, some answers that defy belief and others that will have you roaring with laughter. And none have appeared in issues of Private Eye - so worry not about reading ones you may have read before.
Dumb Britain is a great idea and there will surely be sequels. Maybe it'll go on to rival the 'Colemanballs' books for longevity...

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

Ozzie's Cocaine Breast Milk, 21 Sep 2008
The comedian and political activist takes on the gun trade in this book and shows how a good mind for Cluedo, a knowledge of legal loopholes and a telephone is all he needs to sell arms to Zimbabwe or any other dispicable regime. It's so easy in fact that as part of his experiment a bunch of school kids and a Catholic Nun also set themselves up as arms dealers and can ship mines and grenades across the world.

As one of the reviews on the back of the book says this is "John Pilger with jokes" and the book is laugh out loud funny, though it is laughter tinged with despair given the seriousness of the topic at hand and murky grey morals of the world Thomas manages to infiltrate.

In between chaining himself to buses or embarrasing politicians he manages to trick Indonesian generals into admitting to war crimes on camera or flog torture equipment and manacles with the tagline "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela". His righteous anger is suffused throughout and yet to his own surprise he grows fond of the minder sent to keep an eye on him at an Arms Fair, feels doubt about shopping a dealer (who lives in Brockley!) to the authorities as he believes the dealer has a young daughter and whilst out in Western Sahara he finds his own expectations confounded when he thinks he's supporting a noble and just cause against imperialism and foreign occupation but see's also that the rebels glorify in the deaths of their enemies and hoard trinkets taken from the dead bodies of Moroccan troops.

Thought provoking and eye opening. I look forward to, especially as someone with Colombian heritage, the next one in which he turns his gaze towards the Cola industry

Who said Politics was boring?, 21 Apr 2008
I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words.
The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here.
It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.



Startling, Informative, Hilarious, Essential Reading!, 31 Jan 2008
It's not often that "Arms Trade" and "Satirical Comedy" get mentioned in the same sentence, but those phrases would sit fine with this book. Mark Thomas has transformed from a stand-up comic that went on demonstrations into a political activist that does stand-up, and in a way this book documents that.

His C4 show, the Mark Thomas Comedy Product, used to poke fun at the police and his stand up shows would announce his great plan for getting junk mail reduced (get all the freebies sent to Michael Heseltine's address). As his ideas developed, they got wilder, until he had this idea of attending an arms fair as a PR man. And so the book begins.

Being able to describe such a subject matter with humour is an awesome achievement, and the description of the Penis of Peace is just one example of taking the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of a page.

The encounter with the man who sold Michael Ryan his gun is intrigiung, and the stand off with the Hindujas is engrossing.

If you like proper political satire, and you want the facts that BAE don't want you to know, then you need to read this book.

Brave, well-written, funny, important, a must-read, 03 Oct 2007
A well-written account of Mark Thomas' investigations into, and brave confrontations with, arms brokers up to 2006. It's important to note that this is arms brokering rather than arms use and so while there are guns and torture weapons on display, this book isn't set in a warzone- it is set in the bizarrely convoluted and loophole-ridden world of British politics, EU embargoes, Channel 4 exposes and large arms trade fairs at London's ExCeL centre.

It's more jaw-droppingly staggering than it is funny, but it is funny. The humour is mostly one long string of incredulousness ("can you believe that these schoolchildren were able to buy these grotesque sting sticks just from a few phone calls?"), as well as coming from some of the variety of characters Thomas meets- both arms brokers and activists- who Thomas will warmly laugh with, as well as laugh at. The sheer warmth and obvious importance of the subject is easily enough to get you through the occasional slightly dense paragraph of lists or regulations details.

Thomas throws in just a little introspection and self-depreciation for good measure, as he talks about trying to come to terms with this new position working for "the Man" instead of his previous absolutely anti-Government point of view.

Overall a brilliant book. Book readers and everybody else in Britain would be better off if there were far more people writing like, but most importantly behaving like, Mark Thomas.

Serious Comedy Product, 29 Sep 2007
A hearty recommendation. Thomas is a likeable narrator and his mix of anger, despair and hope at the world and the morals of its inhabitants is touching. The book chapters his (somewhat successful) attempts to change legislation on arms trading, weaving facts and figures with a narrative of his visits abroad, to parliament, to arms fairs and to police stations as he switches between posing as arms brokers and buyers and participating in direct action against them. Stand-out sections include his recruiting school-age 'arms dealers' to shame the Irish government and his accompaniment around an arms fair by an affable minder who is able to knowledgably and loudly describe the killing potential of various displayed weapons as Thomas films on his camcorder, much to the discomfort of the stallholders. Superb!

Some great answers in this short book, 02 Feb 2008
A good collection of stupid answers to quiz questions.

Occasionally the right answers are not obvious (and not provided) but mostly the howlers are very funny.

I was at school with Marcus but have not seen him since, but his books are always worth buying.

Disappointing, 27 Jan 2008
I have really enjoyed reading Marcus Berkmann's books, particularly Brain Men. I was expecting some laugh out loud wrong answers in this book but never really managed anything more than a smile.
Knowing that the author is a very knowledgable man, I suspect that wrong answers he finds funny are not quite so for the less educated of us.
Some are just basically wrong answers and mistakes that quite a few of us would make. Nevertheless its cheap and cheerful!

Great little book, 29 Dec 2007
I always think books like this are perfect for the bath or snuggling up with in an armchair. It is funny, inoffensive and relaxing. It pokes fun at people without being too sour.
There are some corking examples of stupidity here, some answers that defy belief and others that will have you roaring with laughter. And none have appeared in issues of Private Eye - so worry not about reading ones you may have read before.
Dumb Britain is a great idea and there will surely be sequels. Maybe it'll go on to rival the 'Colemanballs' books for longevity...

Stories about dead people = Fun, 10 Apr 2006
This is one of the funniest books that I have ever read! The way Vowell shares her morbid fascination for all things linked to presidents that have been killed is great, it even got me longing to go visit "Halloween Parks". And I now have a entirely new list of places I wanna go to if I should visit USA.
All toghetter a great book that not only makes you laugh, but also educates you.

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

Ozzie's Cocaine Breast Milk, 21 Sep 2008
The comedian and political activist takes on the gun trade in this book and shows how a good mind for Cluedo, a knowledge of legal loopholes and a telephone is all he needs to sell arms to Zimbabwe or any other dispicable regime. It's so easy in fact that as part of his experiment a bunch of school kids and a Catholic Nun also set themselves up as arms dealers and can ship mines and grenades across the world.

As one of the reviews on the back of the book says this is "John Pilger with jokes" and the book is laugh out loud funny, though it is laughter tinged with despair given the seriousness of the topic at hand and murky grey morals of the world Thomas manages to infiltrate.

In between chaining himself to buses or embarrasing politicians he manages to trick Indonesian generals into admitting to war crimes on camera or flog torture equipment and manacles with the tagline "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela". His righteous anger is suffused throughout and yet to his own surprise he grows fond of the minder sent to keep an eye on him at an Arms Fair, feels doubt about shopping a dealer (who lives in Brockley!) to the authorities as he believes the dealer has a young daughter and whilst out in Western Sahara he finds his own expectations confounded when he thinks he's supporting a noble and just cause against imperialism and foreign occupation but see's also that the rebels glorify in the deaths of their enemies and hoard trinkets taken from the dead bodies of Moroccan troops.

Thought provoking and eye opening. I look forward to, especially as someone with Colombian heritage, the next one in which he turns his gaze towards the Cola industry

Who said Politics was boring?, 21 Apr 2008
I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words.
The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here.
It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.



Startling, Informative, Hilarious, Essential Reading!, 31 Jan 2008
It's not often that "Arms Trade" and "Satirical Comedy" get mentioned in the same sentence, but those phrases would sit fine with this book. Mark Thomas has transformed from a stand-up comic that went on demonstrations into a political activist that does stand-up, and in a way this book documents that.

His C4 show, the Mark Thomas Comedy Product, used to poke fun at the police and his stand up shows would announce his great plan for getting junk mail reduced (get all the freebies sent to Michael Heseltine's address). As his ideas developed, they got wilder, until he had this idea of attending an arms fair as a PR man. And so the book begins.

Being able to describe such a subject matter with humour is an awesome achievement, and the description of the Penis of Peace is just one example of taking the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of a page.

The encounter with the man who sold Michael Ryan his gun is intrigiung, and the stand off with the Hindujas is engrossing.

If you like proper political satire, and you want the facts that BAE don't want you to know, then you need to read this book.

Brave, well-written, funny, important, a must-read, 03 Oct 2007
A well-written account of Mark Thomas' investigations into, and brave confrontations with, arms brokers up to 2006. It's important to note that this is arms brokering rather than arms use and so while there are guns and torture weapons on display, this book isn't set in a warzone- it is set in the bizarrely convoluted and loophole-ridden world of British politics, EU embargoes, Channel 4 exposes and large arms trade fairs at London's ExCeL centre.

It's more jaw-droppingly staggering than it is funny, but it is funny. The humour is mostly one long string of incredulousness ("can you believe that these schoolchildren were able to buy these grotesque sting sticks just from a few phone calls?"), as well as coming from some of the variety of characters Thomas meets- both arms brokers and activists- who Thomas will warmly laugh with, as well as laugh at. The sheer warmth and obvious importance of the subject is easily enough to get you through the occasional slightly dense paragraph of lists or regulations details.

Thomas throws in just a little introspection and self-depreciation for good measure, as he talks about trying to come to terms with this new position working for "the Man" instead of his previous absolutely anti-Government point of view.

Overall a brilliant book. Book readers and everybody else in Britain would be better off if there were far more people writing like, but most importantly behaving like, Mark Thomas.

Serious Comedy Product, 29 Sep 2007
A hearty recommendation. Thomas is a likeable narrator and his mix of anger, despair and hope at the world and the morals of its inhabitants is touching. The book chapters his (somewhat successful) attempts to change legislation on arms trading, weaving facts and figures with a narrative of his visits abroad, to parliament, to arms fairs and to police stations as he switches between posing as arms brokers and buyers and participating in direct action against them. Stand-out sections include his recruiting school-age 'arms dealers' to shame the Irish government and his accompaniment around an arms fair by an affable minder who is able to knowledgably and loudly describe the killing potential of various displayed weapons as Thomas films on his camcorder, much to the discomfort of the stallholders. Superb!

Some great answers in this short book, 02 Feb 2008
A good collection of stupid answers to quiz questions.

Occasionally the right answers are not obvious (and not provided) but mostly the howlers are very funny.

I was at school with Marcus but have not seen him since, but his books are always worth buying.

Disappointing, 27 Jan 2008
I have really enjoyed reading Marcus Berkmann's books, particularly Brain Men. I was expecting some laugh out loud wrong answers in this book but never really managed anything more than a smile.
Knowing that the author is a very knowledgable man, I suspect that wrong answers he finds funny are not quite so for the less educated of us.
Some are just basically wrong answers and mistakes that quite a few of us would make. Nevertheless its cheap and cheerful!

Great little book, 29 Dec 2007
I always think books like this are perfect for the bath or snuggling up with in an armchair. It is funny, inoffensive and relaxing. It pokes fun at people without being too sour.
There are some corking examples of stupidity here, some answers that defy belief and others that will have you roaring with laughter. And none have appeared in issues of Private Eye - so worry not about reading ones you may have read before.
Dumb Britain is a great idea and there will surely be sequels. Maybe it'll go on to rival the 'Colemanballs' books for longevity...

Stories about dead people = Fun, 10 Apr 2006
This is one of the funniest books that I have ever read! The way Vowell shares her morbid fascination for all things linked to presidents that have been killed is great, it even got me longing to go visit "Halloween Parks". And I now have a entirely new list of places I wanna go to if I should visit USA.
All toghetter a great book that not only makes you laugh, but also educates you.

Quirky, 08 Jul 2008
You should definitely read this book, it is an essential slice of the madness that is Britain today. But when I had finished it I felt a little underwhelmed, a little unsure, as if it somehow didn't fully explain something. Odd, but there you go.

The more people that read this the better!, 08 Jul 2008
Having been concerned about the erosion of civil liberties, particularly in the light of the recent 42-day detention issue, I saw this and couldn't resist: and the situation is worse than I feared!

This book is funny, but it's also scary; it shows us how we're sleepwalking in (not into, in: we're already there) a situation where anyone can be stopped and searched for no reason (the Government enacted legislation enabling the police to stop and search anyone for no reason under exceptional circumstances for a month at a time: that legislation has been renewed every month in Greater London since 2002!)

He also lists the ten most ridiculous laws, not saying that they are rdiculous per se, but that the heavy-handed and ill-thought-out laws have unintended and ridiculous consequences:

Sex Offences Act 2003... Section 9 prohibits sexual contact with a child (obviously not ridiculous) 'but when applied with Section 13... it actually makes it a criminal offence for two teenagers to snog'. This was bad enough, but when I mentioned it in passing to a solicitor friend, she said that she had personally dealt with people actually prosecuted for, basically, a teenage snog in the park.

It's a real eye-opener. Anyone who has given any thought at all to the disregarding of 800 years of legal rights as enshrined in the Magna Carta will read this and realise that it's much worse than they thought.

Fantastic look at the erosion of civil liberties, 15 Jun 2008
An excellent read, made me laugh, angry and cry with despair at some of the laws we've now got.

Not just a funny story, 13 Jun 2007
When I read "From cake-eating protests to roof-clambering OAPs..." I thought this book was a just collection of humourous stories about eccentric Brits but I was wrong - don't dismiss it as a book of funny tales. Yes, there's lots of humour - I've laughed out loud several times already (and I'm only half-way through it) - but it's so much more. Finally, someone dares to use that rarely-heard word: commonsense!

Dan Kieren looks at real problems and talks to the people who are trying to do something about them. Not the politicians, the professionals or anyone in power, but the people who are standing up for what they believe in - despite having no real voice and despite being at odds with a government whose current thinking labels them as crackpots and troublemakers.

If you're despairing at the current state of the UK, if you have even an inkling of a doubt that the government has its citizens' best interests at heart or if you've ever wondered at the sheer crassness of the legal system, then read this book.

It's refreshingly truthful, funny, warm and full of commonsense.

required reading, 04 Jun 2007
This book provides a crucial insight into the insidious erosion of our civil liberties which should worry every citizen of this country interested in actually living in a democracy. Dan explores this serious subject with humour and humanity - a must read!

It's America's most popular newspaper, but there may be a few people out there who are sadly unaware of The Onion's mighty journalistic legacy. To combat this cultural illiteracy, Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers and his writing staff have assembled this collection of great front pages from the last one hundred years. Here is just a sampling of the headlines: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Boasts: "No Man Can Stop Me"; AWESOME! Nation Wowed by Tremendous Hindenburg Explosion; Martin Luther King: "I Had a Really Weird Dream Last Night"; Clinton Denies Lewinsky Allegations: "We Did Not Have Sex, We Made Love." And those are just the headlines; the stories themselves are all masterpieces of the journalist's trade. Of course, readers with delicate sensibilities may find some of these accounts a bit too risqué, and perhaps even tasteless. (Among the potential offenders: Rosa Parks's decision to "screw this bus shit" and take a cab.) But if you're looking for an antidote to all the 20th-century hoopla promulgated by stuffed shirts like Peter Jennings and Harold Evans--not to mention the best history book since 1066 and All That--then Our Dumb Century is the one for you. --Ron Hogan

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

Ozzie's Cocaine Breast Milk, 21 Sep 2008
The comedian and political activist takes on the gun trade in this book and shows how a good mind for Cluedo, a knowledge of legal loopholes and a telephone is all he needs to sell arms to Zimbabwe or any other dispicable regime. It's so easy in fact that as part of his experiment a bunch of school kids and a Catholic Nun also set themselves up as arms dealers and can ship mines and grenades across the world.

As one of the reviews on the back of the book says this is "John Pilger with jokes" and the book is laugh out loud funny, though it is laughter tinged with despair given the seriousness of the topic at hand and murky grey morals of the world Thomas manages to infiltrate.

In between chaining himself to buses or embarrasing politicians he manages to trick Indonesian generals into admitting to war crimes on camera or flog torture equipment and manacles with the tagline "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela". His righteous anger is suffused throughout and yet to his own surprise he grows fond of the minder sent to keep an eye on him at an Arms Fair, feels doubt about shopping a dealer (who lives in Brockley!) to the authorities as he believes the dealer has a young daughter and whilst out in Western Sahara he finds his own expectations confounded when he thinks he's supporting a noble and just cause against imperialism and foreign occupation but see's also that the rebels glorify in the deaths of their enemies and hoard trinkets taken from the dead bodies of Moroccan troops.

Thought provoking and eye opening. I look forward to, especially as someone with Colombian heritage, the next one in which he turns his gaze towards the Cola industry

Who said Politics was boring?, 21 Apr 2008
I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words.
The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here.
It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.



Startling, Informative, Hilarious, Essential Reading!, 31 Jan 2008
It's not often that "Arms Trade" and "Satirical Comedy" get mentioned in the same sentence, but those phrases would sit fine with this book. Mark Thomas has transformed from a stand-up comic that went on demonstrations into a political activist that does stand-up, and in a way this book documents that.

His C4 show, the Mark Thomas Comedy Product, used to poke fun at the police and his stand up shows would announce his great plan for getting junk mail reduced (get all the freebies sent to Michael Heseltine's address). As his ideas developed, they got wilder, until he had this idea of attending an arms fair as a PR man. And so the book begins.

Being able to describe such a subject matter with humour is an awesome achievement, and the description of the Penis of Peace is just one example of taking the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of a page.

The encounter with the man who sold Michael Ryan his gun is intrigiung, and the stand off with the Hindujas is engrossing.

If you like proper political satire, and you want the facts that BAE don't want you to know, then you need to read this book.

Brave, well-written, funny, important, a must-read, 03 Oct 2007
A well-written account of Mark Thomas' investigations into, and brave confrontations with, arms brokers up to 2006. It's important to note that this is arms brokering rather than arms use and so while there are guns and torture weapons on display, this book isn't set in a warzone- it is set in the bizarrely convoluted and loophole-ridden world of British politics, EU embargoes, Channel 4 exposes and large arms trade fairs at London's ExCeL centre.

It's more jaw-droppingly staggering than it is funny, but it is funny. The humour is mostly one long string of incredulousness ("can you believe that these schoolchildren were able to buy these grotesque sting sticks just from a few phone calls?"), as well as coming from some of the variety of characters Thomas meets- both arms brokers and activists- who Thomas will warmly laugh with, as well as laugh at. The sheer warmth and obvious importance of the subject is easily enough to get you through the occasional slightly dense paragraph of lists or regulations details.

Thomas throws in just a little introspection and self-depreciation for good measure, as he talks about trying to come to terms with this new position working for "the Man" instead of his previous absolutely anti-Government point of view.

Overall a brilliant book. Book readers and everybody else in Britain would be better off if there were far more people writing like, but most importantly behaving like, Mark Thomas.

Serious Comedy Product, 29 Sep 2007
A hearty recommendation. Thomas is a likeable narrator and his mix of anger, despair and hope at the world and the morals of its inhabitants is touching. The book chapters his (somewhat successful) attempts to change legislation on arms trading, weaving facts and figures with a narrative of his visits abroad, to parliament, to arms fairs and to police stations as he switches between posing as arms brokers and buyers and participating in direct action against them. Stand-out sections include his recruiting school-age 'arms dealers' to shame the Irish government and his accompaniment around an arms fair by an affable minder who is able to knowledgably and loudly describe the killing potential of various displayed weapons as Thomas films on his camcorder, much to the discomfort of the stallholders. Superb!

Some great answers in this short book, 02 Feb 2008
A good collection of stupid answers to quiz questions.

Occasionally the right answers are not obvious (and not provided) but mostly the howlers are very funny.

I was at school with Marcus but have not seen him since, but his books are always worth buying.

Disappointing, 27 Jan 2008
I have really enjoyed reading Marcus Berkmann's books, particularly Brain Men. I was expecting some laugh out loud wrong answers in this book but never really managed anything more than a smile.
Knowing that the author is a very knowledgable man, I suspect that wrong answers he finds funny are not quite so for the less educated of us.
Some are just basically wrong answers and mistakes that quite a few of us would make. Nevertheless its cheap and cheerful!

Great little book, 29 Dec 2007
I always think books like this are perfect for the bath or snuggling up with in an armchair. It is funny, inoffensive and relaxing. It pokes fun at people without being too sour.
There are some corking examples of stupidity here, some answers that defy belief and others that will have you roaring with laughter. And none have appeared in issues of Private Eye - so worry not about reading ones you may have read before.
Dumb Britain is a great idea and there will surely be sequels. Maybe it'll go on to rival the 'Colemanballs' books for longevity...

Stories about dead people = Fun, 10 Apr 2006
This is one of the funniest books that I have ever read! The way Vowell shares her morbid fascination for all things linked to presidents that have been killed is great, it even got me longing to go visit "Halloween Parks". And I now have a entirely new list of places I wanna go to if I should visit USA.
All toghetter a great book that not only makes you laugh, but also educates you.

Quirky, 08 Jul 2008
You should definitely read this book, it is an essential slice of the madness that is Britain today. But when I had finished it I felt a little underwhelmed, a little unsure, as if it somehow didn't fully explain something. Odd, but there you go.

The more people that read this the better!, 08 Jul 2008
Having been concerned about the erosion of civil liberties, particularly in the light of the recent 42-day detention issue, I saw this and couldn't resist: and the situation is worse than I feared!

This book is funny, but it's also scary; it shows us how we're sleepwalking in (not into, in: we're already there) a situation where anyone can be stopped and searched for no reason (the Government enacted legislation enabling the police to stop and search anyone for no reason under exceptional circumstances for a month at a time: that legislation has been renewed every month in Greater London since 2002!)

He also lists the ten most ridiculous laws, not saying that they are rdiculous per se, but that the heavy-handed and ill-thought-out laws have unintended and ridiculous consequences:

Sex Offences Act 2003... Section 9 prohibits sexual contact with a child (obviously not ridiculous) 'but when applied with Section 13... it actually makes it a criminal offence for two teenagers to snog'. This was bad enough, but when I mentioned it in passing to a solicitor friend, she said that she had personally dealt with people actually prosecuted for, basically, a teenage snog in the park.

It's a real eye-opener. Anyone who has given any thought at all to the disregarding of 800 years of legal rights as enshrined in the Magna Carta will read this and realise that it's much worse than they thought.

Fantastic look at the erosion of civil liberties, 15 Jun 2008
An excellent read, made me laugh, angry and cry with despair at some of the laws we've now got.

Not just a funny story, 13 Jun 2007
When I read "From cake-eating protests to roof-clambering OAPs..." I thought this book was a just collection of humourous stories about eccentric Brits but I was wrong - don't dismiss it as a book of funny tales. Yes, there's lots of humour - I've laughed out loud several times already (and I'm only half-way through it) - but it's so much more. Finally, someone dares to use that rarely-heard word: commonsense!

Dan Kieren looks at real problems and talks to the people who are trying to do something about them. Not the politicians, the professionals or anyone in power, but the people who are standing up for what they believe in - despite having no real voice and despite being at odds with a government whose current thinking labels them as crackpots and troublemakers.

If you're despairing at the current state of the UK, if you have even an inkling of a doubt that the government has its citizens' best interests at heart or if you've ever wondered at the sheer crassness of the legal system, then read this book.

It's refreshingly truthful, funny, warm and full of commonsense.

required reading, 04 Jun 2007
This book provides a crucial insight into the insidious erosion of our civil liberties which should worry every citizen of this country interested in actually living in a democracy. Dan explores this serious subject with humour and humanity - a must read!

This is why satire was invented, 12 Feb 2004
Satire is used to perfection in this book, a ficticious recounting of the headlines of the 20th Century. As the editor of this newspaper calls it, this is "funny fake news."

The great thing about this book is that the stories are often related with the utter indifference one suspects reporters must develop after years on the job, packaged for the short attention span the public often has. These articles take the folly and "real" stories behind the stories, the ones that were never talked about in their day, and prints them as front page and headline news. Try, for example: "Eleanor Roosevelt, Nation Hails our First Lesbian President." Or regarding Pearl Harbor, "Dastardly Japs Bomb Colonially Occupied US Non-State." Or how about terming Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio's magical appeal as, "Nation Captived by Fairytale Wedding of Sullen Loner, Depressed Pill-Popper." Or the optimistic, "Drugs Win Drug War" alongside a picture of a bong-smoking man in tie-dye approaching the presidential podium. Page after page of "reprinted" front pages (a joke in itself, because there certainly was no Onion in 1904) makes this a great read which literally brought tears to my eyes.

Life ain't always pretty, but with the Onion it is always funny.

Andrew Parodi

Tu Superbus Es, 20 May 2001
Move over "The (Deeper) Meaning of Liff," there's a new contender in town for the title of Best Value Humorous Book Ever Written. And, with all respect to the late DNA, The Onion wins by an American mile.

The earlier stuff, where the editors have wider opportunity to make stories up entirely, is much better than the more recent material, which by necessity has to rely largely on satirical views of news events we've already seen lampooned to death.

As one commentator lower down in the pack realised, it is important to ignore the comments of those reviewers who say "Don't buy it if you're politically correct." They're the idiots who think jokes about "China-men" are *about* the Chinese, and would presumably fail too to see the real butt of the story "Christopher Reeve Placed Atop Washington Monument" in the companion volume "Finest News Reporting Vol. 1." In truth of course, The Onion is impeccably politically correct (in the real sense of the term), aiming as it does to "accelerate" the evolution of commonsense and decency by highlighting the absurdities of our previous views and forcing them to be cast aside.

We're doomed. But at least it's funny, 06 Feb 2001
Absolutely brilliant; sometimes the humour cuts a little dangerous (mostly involving the Jews; stories there are on dodgy ground). But its lampooning of everyone and everything, of the madness of the twentieth century is brilliant. We are on the verge of catastrophe, our leaders are imbeciles (Reagan's campaign policy: "Kill the bastards!"). And this book can help us to laugh at it; we are at the gallows, our heads are on the block, but we can see the funny side of it. The best comedy is born ot of tragedy; this is truly great.

NEW ONION BOOK: PUBLISHERS, BOOKSTORES, AUTHORS HAPPY, 07 Jan 2001
I shall never see the Moon Landing in the same light again.

This is one funny book. (It could hardly be two funny books - unless you use a hacksaw)

Buy it. Laugh.

Very funny book., 06 Jun 2000
Genuinely one of the funniest books I've read. Intelligent satire but also some good old puerile, infantile stuff, which is laugh-out-loud funny. Some references to American TV stars/shows etc, are meaningless to the British reader, but don't let that put you off - overall this is a fantastic book.

A satirical swipe from the masters of m (That's enough. -Ed), 04 Jan 2001
As the sun sets on the old millennium (or is it just the first year of the new millennium? I'm too old to remember) the Private Eye team, headed by editor Ian Hislop, show once and for all that they are far superior to Mohammed Al-Fugger's millions of unsold copies of the humorous magazine 'Punch'. That glossy rag is only one of the Eye's favourite targets, along with countless others that are guaranteed to make your in-jokes unintelligible to dinner-party guests. Buy two and give one to your partner - so there's someone else who'll understand your references. Private Eye mocks so many areas of society and political views that one has to wonder whether contributors have any beliefs at all. Lookalikes, E.J. Thribb poems, I-Spy and newspaper cuttings all appear regularly, as do columnists Glenda Slagg, Polly Filler and the ubiquitous Phil Space, who sets about the daunting task of churning out thousands of words on any current news item (from 'Man On TV Splits Up With Blonde Wife' to 'Woman Who Used To Be On TV But Isn't Any More Isn't As Fat Now As She Was Before') to fill up the pages of such papers as the Sexpress, the Grauniad, the Indescribablyboring and the Spectacularlystupid. The Eye takes no prisoners whilst satirising, so after coverage of a major tragedy you can expect to see four or five letters from disgusted, sensitive souls from Tunbridge Wells saying how they're sympathetically cancelling their subscriptions. But Private Eye also has a serious side. It regularly exposes major cant and corruption, and gives serious criticism of anything worth commenting upon; sadly, only the articles and cartoons find their way into the annual. This is still a good enough reason for buying the book: at best, Private Eye is a hilarious work of genius; at worst, only very, very funny. (Will this do? -O.L.)

Wheres Bin Laden, 08 Jan 2008
A very good wheres wally take on Bin Laden. Follow Bin laden on his journey of terror around the world. A rather easy book and should not take more than a few mins to complete each page but still very commical. I loved bill gates punching a man in a apple costume, there is alot to look for in each page which does add more fun and lifetime to the book. probably the funniest page is the alqaeda pajama party which seems to add a more innocence and playfulness to this terror group =/ All in all, an entertaining book to give to friends. I gave it as a secret santa

Couldn't wait 4 weeks for it to arrive, 13 Jan 2007
Right so it appears to take the stance that the US & co can't find Bin Laden due to a lack of intelligence. So its now up to you to find him and a variety of cartoon cia agents, well known faces and strange goings on.

Basically its good for the effect, the cover along would make anyone chuckle and the puzzles inside have the chance to find Bin Laden as well as the likes of Jamie Oliver cooking Nigella Lawson. I was intrigued as to whether this could upset anyone and other than Mr Bin Laden not getting any money for using his name, the US for being mocked for not finding him or the people of amsterdam being primarily a bit pervy then we should not see anyone protesting. I will check up on here to see if anyone reviews it differently.

As for finding the things you are supposed to its a five minute book to take in the idea of the game, it could be a lot longer to find everything and everyone suggested. I found Bin Laden very quickly once I'd got passed the disguises and can now travel the world in the hope of a substantial reward from the CIA???

Ozzie's Cocaine Breast Milk, 21 Sep 2008
The comedian and political activist takes on the gun trade in this book and shows how a good mind for Cluedo, a knowledge of legal loopholes and a telephone is all he needs to sell arms to Zimbabwe or any other dispicable regime. It's so easy in fact that as part of his experiment a bunch of school kids and a Catholic Nun also set themselves up as arms dealers and can ship mines and grenades across the world.

As one of the reviews on the back of the book says this is "John Pilger with jokes" and the book is laugh out loud funny, though it is laughter tinged with despair given the seriousness of the topic at hand and murky grey morals of the world Thomas manages to infiltrate.

In between chaining himself to buses or embarrasing politicians he manages to trick Indonesian generals into admitting to war crimes on camera or flog torture equipment and manacles with the tagline "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela". His righteous anger is suffused throughout and yet to his own surprise he grows fond of the minder sent to keep an eye on him at an Arms Fair, feels doubt about shopping a dealer (who lives in Brockley!) to the authorities as he believes the dealer has a young daughter and whilst out in Western Sahara he finds his own expectations confounded when he thinks he's supporting a noble and just cause against imperialism and foreign occupation but see's also that the rebels glorify in the deaths of their enemies and hoard trinkets taken from the dead bodies of Moroccan troops.

Thought provoking and eye opening. I look forward to, especially as someone with Colombian heritage, the next one in which he turns his gaze towards the Cola industry

Who said Politics was boring?, 21 Apr 2008
I have watched Mark Thomas on television for years now and have always thought he was brilliant. This is his first book and his writing style is very like his stand up routine. As I read the book I could almost see him standing up on stage reciting the words.
The book charts Mark investigates Britain involvement in the armaments industry and how much influence the arms companies have over the government here.
It is a brilliant read very informative the only thing I would say is that it would be good if he had an action plan for people to get involved.



Startling, Informative, Hilarious, Essential Reading!, 31 Jan 2008
It's not often that "Arms Trade" and "Satirical Comedy" get mentioned in the same sentence, but those phrases would sit fine with this book. Mark Thomas has transformed from a stand-up comic that went on demonstrations into a political activist that does stand-up, and in a way this book documents that.

His C4 show, the Mark Thomas Comedy Product, used to poke fun at the police and his stand up shows would announce his great plan for getting junk mail reduced (get all the freebies sent to Michael Heseltine's address). As his ideas developed, they got wilder, until he had this idea of attending an arms fair as a PR man. And so the book begins.

Being able to describe such a subject matter with humour is an awesome achievement, and the description of the Penis of Peace is just one example of taking the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of a page.

The encounter with the man who sold Michael Ryan his gun is intrigiung, and the stand off with the Hindujas is engrossing.

If you like proper political satire, and you want the facts that BAE don't want you to know, then you need to read this book.

Brave, well-written, funny, important, a must-read, 03 Oct 2007
A well-written account of Mark Thomas' investigations into, and brave confrontations with, arms brokers up to 2006. It's important to note that this is arms brokering rather than arms use and so while there are guns and torture weapons on display, this book isn't set in a warzone- it is set in the bizarrely convoluted and loophole-ridden world of British politics, EU embargoes, Channel 4 exposes and large arms trade fairs at London's ExCeL centre.

It's more jaw-droppingly staggering than it is funny, but it is funny. The humour is mostly one long string of incredulousness ("can you believe that these schoolchildren were able to buy these grotesque sting sticks just from a few phone calls?"), as well as coming from some of the variety of characters Thomas meets- both arms brokers and activists- who Thomas will warmly laugh with, as well as laugh at. The sheer warmth and obvious importance of the subject is easily enough to get you through the occasional slightly dense paragraph of lists or regulations details.

Thomas throws in just a little introspection and self-depreciation for good measure, as he talks about trying to come to terms with this new position working for "the Man" instead of his previous absolutely anti-Government point of view.

Overall a brilliant book. Book readers and everybody else in Britain would be better off if there were far more people writing like, but most importantly behaving like, Mark Thomas.

Serious Comedy Product, 29 Sep 2007