Modern society has regularly, in recent years, been gripped by a series of headline making "scares" - from mad cow disease to SARS -- which have become one of the most conspicuous and damaging features of our modern world. This book is the first to tell the inside story of each of the major scares of the past two decades, showing how they have followed a remarkably consistent pattern. It analyzes the crucial role played in each case by scientists how have misread or manipulated the evidence; by media and lobbyists who eagerly promote the scare without regard to the facts; and finally by the politicians and officials who come up with an absurdly disproportionate response, leaving us all to pay the price, which may run into billions of dollars. Scared to Death culminates in a chillingly detailed account of the story behind what the authors believe has become the greatest scare of them all: the belief that the world faces disaster through manmade global warming. In a final chapter, the authors take on its proponents such as Al Gore in a devastating critique of the consensus on global warming and its consequences.
Scared to Death
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Editorial Reviews
Review
'A very news-worthy subject, with Booker and North providing some much-needed common sense commentary.' - Publishing News
Title mention in Sue Baker's selection for April, May & June, 2007.
(Publishing News)'This is a huge book in size, scope and importance. Anyone who reads it will find it hard to disagree with the authors' conclusion.' - This England
'A highly valuable and much needed investigation into the 'crisis industry' in which pressure groups and journalists work together to keep us entertained with a succession of 'crises'.' - Contemporary Review
"The book is well researched and well written, as well as fascinating to read, with extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter. ... This book would be helpful for an academic library collection. It could be used to counterbalance the viewpoint of the media and other sources." —The Christian Librarian (Sallie J. Alger, Head of Bibliographic Services, James White Library, Andrews University)
"The book is well researched and well written, as well as fascinating to read, with extensive bibliographies at the end of each chapter. ... This book would be helpful for an academic library collection. It could be used to counterbalance the viewpoint of the media and other sources." —The Christian Librarian (Sanford Lakoff)
About the Author
As a noted commentator on the political, social and psychological history of our time, Christopher Booker has in recent years, through his weekly Sunday Telegraph column, become the most conspicuous 'global warming sceptic' in the British press. He has based his view on exhaustive research into the scientific evidence for and against the theory of 'man-made climate change'.
His professional interest in this issue grew out of research for his previous book Scared To Death, co-written with Dr Richard North, a study of the 'scare phenomenon' which has been such a prominent feature of Western life in recent decades. Booker's other recent books have included The Seven Basic Plots, a best-selling analysis of why we tell stories which has established itself as a standard text (also published by Continuum). He has been an author and journalist for nearly 50 years, and was the founding editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye.
Richard North is a political analyst who has been a research director in the European Parliament and was formerly a nationally-known consultant on public health and food safety. He has co-authored several books with Christopher Booker.
His professional interest in this issue grew out of research for his previous book Scared To Death, co-written with Dr Richard North, a study of the 'scare phenomenon' which has been such a prominent feature of Western life in recent decades. Booker's other recent books have included The Seven Basic Plots, a best-selling analysis of why we tell stories which has established itself as a standard text (also published by Continuum). He has been an author and journalist for nearly 50 years, and was the founding editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
75 of 79 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Journalist Christopher Booker and former food safety consultant Dr Richard North have written a fascinating book on the rash of scares in the last 20 years. They earlier worked together on a brilliant book on the European Union The great deception.
They study the food scares - salmonella in eggs (1988-9), listeria in cheese, BSE in beef (1996-9) and dioxins in Belgian poultry (1999). Other scares they discuss include the Millennium bug (1999), DDT, the satanic child abuse mania (1987-94), lead, passive smoking, asbestos, SARS, bird flu (2005) (which the World Health Organisation absurdly called `the greatest single health challenge'), organophosphorus, and global warming.
They note that banning DDT has killed two million people every year, because DDT had cut malaria deaths by 95%. The EU backed the ban on DDT.
Organophosphorus, used in sheep dip, was `MAFF-approved', and an HSE leaflet warned of its `cumulative toxicity' leading to `irreversible' damage to the nervous system, akin to ME and Gulf War Syndrome (which also never happened, according to the MoD). The government suppressed the whole story, because it was directly responsible.
A review in the Independent claimed that their chapter on global warming had scarcely any scientific references. It has 117, including important articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the Journal of Geophysical Research, Energy and Environment, the International Journal of Climatology, six from Nature and five from Science. The authors expose as exaggerated the claims of climate doom. They point out that historically rising CO2 levels are associated both with rising and falling temperatures and that the overall ice mass of the Antarctic, which has 89.5% of the world's ice, is increasing, as is Greenland's (10%).
They study the roles of scientists, the media, politicians, officials and non-governmental organisations, especially the `animal rights' groups. All these scares, and others from the witch craze to McCarthyism to the war scares over Iraq and Iran, always give the message - trust the government, pay the huge costs of protection. The real message of the scares for us must be - always look at the evidence not the spin, and seek the truth.
They study the food scares - salmonella in eggs (1988-9), listeria in cheese, BSE in beef (1996-9) and dioxins in Belgian poultry (1999). Other scares they discuss include the Millennium bug (1999), DDT, the satanic child abuse mania (1987-94), lead, passive smoking, asbestos, SARS, bird flu (2005) (which the World Health Organisation absurdly called `the greatest single health challenge'), organophosphorus, and global warming.
They note that banning DDT has killed two million people every year, because DDT had cut malaria deaths by 95%. The EU backed the ban on DDT.
Organophosphorus, used in sheep dip, was `MAFF-approved', and an HSE leaflet warned of its `cumulative toxicity' leading to `irreversible' damage to the nervous system, akin to ME and Gulf War Syndrome (which also never happened, according to the MoD). The government suppressed the whole story, because it was directly responsible.
A review in the Independent claimed that their chapter on global warming had scarcely any scientific references. It has 117, including important articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the Journal of Geophysical Research, Energy and Environment, the International Journal of Climatology, six from Nature and five from Science. The authors expose as exaggerated the claims of climate doom. They point out that historically rising CO2 levels are associated both with rising and falling temperatures and that the overall ice mass of the Antarctic, which has 89.5% of the world's ice, is increasing, as is Greenland's (10%).
They study the roles of scientists, the media, politicians, officials and non-governmental organisations, especially the `animal rights' groups. All these scares, and others from the witch craze to McCarthyism to the war scares over Iraq and Iran, always give the message - trust the government, pay the huge costs of protection. The real message of the scares for us must be - always look at the evidence not the spin, and seek the truth.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Paul W
Format:Hardcover
"Scared to Death" does a very good job of describing past scares: Salmonella in eggs, Listeria in cheese, Mad Cow Disease, Dioxins in poultry feed, anti-malarial DDT, SARS and bird flu, The Milennium Bug, Ritualized Child Abuse, Auto Speed Limits, Lead in gasoline, Passive Smoking, organophosphorus in pesticides, and The Great Asbestos Scam. This book also summarizes the misinformation and misconceptions surrounding the Global Warming Scare and explains why the Kyoto Protocol is a futile and economically disastrous policy.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By S. Johnson
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very informative and well written. The illnesses and food scares became a bit tedious after a while, however the chapters on Global Warming, lead, asbestos, and second hand smoke were facinating and very well documented. The author provides details most have never heard behind the suppression and discrediting of dissenting studies, which are abandoned after they fail to support the politically correct position. I've watched since the 60s as passive smoking went from a stinky habit which was impolite to do in the company of non-smokers, to the 2000's when near panic would errupt by the fanatical anti-smoking lobby if a single whiff entered their nostrils on a beach. Truly silly stuff. Its always surprised me that Americans would buy into that nonsense. This book really details how deceived we've been - and still are.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, Very Necessary
I found more relevance in this book regarding the USA than some of my fellow reviewers given the fact that the powers of any government usually manifest themselves universally and... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Frank D. V.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book review
An excellent compilation of the many silly but expensive scares the public falls for. We're still a nation of sheep who are terrified the sky is falling.
Published on May 3, 2011 by Colorado Book Lover
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential read
It is past time that we looked more carefully at this "Group Think" hysteria which captures the media and public every so often. Read more
Published on May 18, 2010 by Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding
A well-researched and superb selection of the sort of madness and mass delusions that have always gripped mankind. Read more
Published on February 3, 2010 by T. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
All should read!
I found this book interesting from beginning to end. It was well documented. The content was sobering and I found it amazing that the entire world could be duped by government... Read more
Published on November 21, 2009 by PJ
5.0 out of 5 stars
A skeptics guide
The mystery to me is why this book hasn't been widely heralded or attacked. It's been out almost 2 years now and contains what appear to be unassailable arguments and... Read more
Published on March 8, 2009 by Bill Bradshaw
3.0 out of 5 stars
we should be so worried
Looking for a light dissection of the idiocies perpetrated by the army of cranks, headline seekers and gulls that govern us? I was. But this book is not it. Read more
Published on January 23, 2009 by James-philip Harries
5.0 out of 5 stars
terrific book
Provides the history and the facts about many of the overblown crises scaring the public and causing tremendous wasts
Published on September 17, 2008 by Sceptical but not Cynical
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
This book is very revealing.
Not just about us as a species and how we tend to except negative over positive.... Read more
Not just about us as a species and how we tend to except negative over positive.... Read more
Published on August 31, 2008 by Cw Holland
5.0 out of 5 stars
A GREAT, well-documented recitation of recent historical Scares
This book describes and documents (thoroughly) a series of historically recent hysteria incidents in Britain and America, usually caused by "real" events which were immediately... Read more
Published on July 16, 2008 by Sadie Bearden
