Customer Reviews

As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade

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Mark Thomas is a very funny, and super sardonic comedian. As an analyst of contemporary politics and world affairs, he is hard-hitting, acerbic, and joyously goofy as well. I saw him do a 45 minute comic analysis of the "War on Terror" last fall at the Kings Head in North London that was brilliantly funny and at the same time, decidedly good political analysis.
Mark has had a number of comedy/political shows on British Channel 4 where he regularly skewered, exposed and debunked politicians, institutions, and purveyors of injustice. He is part Michael Moore and part Joe Strummer, with a lot of Monty Python and a fair dose of silly knucklehead thrown in.
His book "As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela" is politically astute and achingly funny, mostly at the same time. I laughed really hard at the sting operations of third world generals and arms brokers, was decidely torn by the story of the war in the western Sahara, and educated on contemporary British politics, EU trade laws, and the international arms trade for 300+ pages.
The book is selling really well in the UK, and would make great reading for US audiences, especially those with interests beyond those of Fox News. You will be blown out at the gaps in EU arms laws and sit in open mouthed wonder at what gets through their--ostensibly sensible--customs untouched. And the US is of course, much worse. When mainstream politicians talk of stopping the War on Terror, they evidently don't mean the arms trade. That would hurt their natural constituency, a point Mark Thomas shows us in a genuinely funny and entertaining way.
I wish Mark would come to this country and write a book hammering our political bosses. He has written a most engaging and educative expose. I couldn't put it down. Well except to eat now and then. Otherwise, I couldn't put it down.

Mark Thomas is a very funny man, who coined the phrase I used for the heading of this review. Bribe Fairies are the ones who pay bribes to corrupt officials, not multinational companies of course. Thomas does political stand up, and can make the Revolution of 1688 sound hilarious. This book is not as funny as his comic monologues, but that's partly to do the nature of the subject, which is the sale of arms and instruments of torture and 'restraint'. The funniest sections are probably those where Thomas pretends to be a public relations consultant and interviews arms buyers and dealers, getting them to admit to corrupt practices and outright torture. He makes exposing these people seem quite easy, especially when he combines with school pupils who set up mock companies and buy all sorts of awful things, including a machine which is described by its producer as a nonlethal anti riot weapon, which rapidly throws hundreds of large stones about 300 m. 'Yeah right.' as they say. The difficulty is getting someone to do something about it. This book should be compulsory reading for every government official and politician in any country that claims to be a democracy. They won't of course, and that's the tragedy.

If you have ever wondered how rogue nations obtain weapons, read this book.
For European countries it is forbidden to trade with nations which come under the title 'rogue'. Mark explains that the way round this obstacle is for the arms companies to open a factory/company in a country which doesn't come under European law. Then that company is basically free to trade with nations that we, Europe, class as 'rogue'.
Whilst our prime Minister stands in front of a camera and bad mouths African nations for attrocities inflicted on civlilians and other nations, he is all too aware of the practice of European overseas companies selling the very weapons used to commit the crimes in question.
Mark puts all this interesting and unbelieveable info together with well placed humour.
I loved it.
Educate yourself about your not so squeeky clean Government.

Mr Thomas is a very funny writer. He is also, unlike many of the characters we meet in his book, congenitally incapable of ignoring his conscience.

Thomas details various ambushes that he and his colleagues spring on politicians and members of the arms trade; his chutzpah in these is nothing less than inspiring.

Thomas' book was a real eye-opener, taking this reader into the shadowy and immoral world of international arms dealing, and revealing in great detail the myriad ways that embargoes and rules can be easily subverted by the trades' ethically barren players.

This book is one indication that, despite what you'd gather from much of the mainstream press, the Left is very much alive and kicking; humane and brimming with ideas.