Peter Oborne

The defining calamity of the post-cold war era', in Peter Oborne's words, took place in 2003. The invasion of Iraq led to the collapse of the state system in the Middle East. Iraq is shattered, Syria will never be put back together again, and Lebanon hasn't functioned as a unified state for a long time. And the great wave of refugees unleashed by this breakdown is threatening what is left of democracy in Turkey and the very existence of the European Union. Oborne provides a forensic examination of the way evidence was doctored and the law manipulated in 2002 and 2003 in order to justify a war for regime change. The government bent facts to fit its determination to join the US invasion, Parliament failed to scrutinise evidence, the intelligence service was perverted, and the media lost its head. This is a masterly account of the making of a disaster, written by a passionate British democrat.

Not the Chilcot Report

As the Cold War faded into history, it appeared to have been replaced by a new conflict - between Islam and the West. Or so we are told. After the events of 9/11 and the advent of the 'war on terror', this narrative seemed prophetic. But, as Peter Oborne reveals in this masterful new analysis, the concept of an existential clash between the two is a dangerous and destructive fantasy. Based on rigorous historical research and forensic contemporary journalism that leads him frequently into war-torn states and bloody conflict zones, Oborne explains the myths, fabrications and downright lies that have contributed to this pernicious state of affairs. He shows how various falsehoods run deep, reaching back as far as the birth of Islam, and have then been repurposed for the modern day. Many in senior positions in governments across the West have suggested that Islam is trying to overturn our liberal values and even that certain Muslims are conspiring to take over the state, while Douglas Murray claims in his new book that we face a 'War on the West'. But in reality, these fears merely echo past debates, as we continue to repeat the pattern of seemingly wilful ignorance. With murderous attacks on Muslims taking place from Bosnia in 1995 to China today, Oborne dismantles the falsehoods that lie behind them, and he opens the way to a clearer and more truthful mutual understanding that will benefit us all in the long run.

Why the West is Wrong about Islam

The Fate of Abraham

A devastating new critique of government in twenty-first-century Britain, by one of our most insightful political commentators.

The Triumph of the Political Class

Tracing the history of political falsehood back to its earliest days but focusing specifically on the exponential rise of the phenomenon during the Major and Blair governments, the author demonstrates that the truth has become an increasingly slippery concept in recent years.

The Rise of Political Lying

Alastair Campbell sits in the Cabinet, has an overview of government denied to ministers with control over the flow of information. Here is chronicled his Rabelaisian early years as a busker, porn-merchant and hard-drinking Fleet Street pugilist until a nervous breakdown in mid 1980s led to his conversion to focused political animal.

New Labour and the Rise of the Media Class

Alastair Campbell

There have been innumerable biographies of cricketers. Peter Oborne's outstanding biography of Basil D'Oliveira is something else. It brings together sport, politics and race. It is the story of how a black South African defied incredible odds and came to play cricket for England, of how a single man escaped from apartheid and came to fulfil his prodigious sporting potential. It is a story of the conquest of racial prejudice, both in South Africa and in the heart of the English sporting establishment. The story comes to its climax in the so-called D'Oliveira Affair of 1968, when John Vorster, the South African Prime Minister, banned the touring MCC side because of the inclusion of a black man. This episode marked the start of the twenty-year sporting isolation of South Africa that ended only with the collapse of apartheid itself.

Cricket and Conspiracy - The Untold Story

Basil D'Oliveira

Simon Walters

With Alastair Campbell's career as the Prime Minster's press spokesman coming to a close amid the huge controversy of the Hutton Inquiry, the debate over Weapons of Mass Destruction and the waging of the war in Iraq, this biography has been completely revised and rewritten with a substantial section of new material to bring the story of Alastair Campbell right up to date as of the end of 2003. politics, whose combative approach to his job in 2003 has precipitated the most serious row in years between the government and the BBC, occasioned the extraordinary spectacle of an incandescent Campbell walking into Channel 4 News to deliver a live diatribe to Jon Snow, and who, if his many critics are to be believed, was involved, unprecedentedly, at the highest level in the presentation of the intelligence dossier on Weapons of Mass Destruction that made the government's case for war. This portrait of Tony Blair's right-hand man who has himself become the media story, is written by one of Britain's best political journalists.

Tom Roberts

The most unusual feature of Donald Trump's nationalist and populist campaign for the presidency was his obsessive use of Twitter. Like other social media, this form of communication has often been assumed to encourage the dissemination of liberal values and the circulation of facts. Trump's tweets, by contrast, formed a constant stream of provocations, insults, conspiracy theories, "alternative facts," and outright lies. And they helped him win power. This book analyzes Trump's incendiary mendacity in all its bewildering guises, and shows how this fusion of entertainment and cunningly-crafted propaganda has destabilized the world's most powerful democracy.

His Tweets and the Birth of a New Political Language

How Trump Thinks

When Peter Oborne wrote The Rise of Political Lying, looking at the growth of political falsehood during the governments of John Major and Tony Blair, he believed things had got as bad as they could be. But then on 23 July 2019, with the arrival of Boris Johnson at No 10, began a new and unprecedented epidemic of deceit. In The Death of Truth, a short and powerful new polemic, Oborne shows how Boris Johnson lied again and again in order to secure victory so he could force through Brexit in the face of parliamentary opposition. Johnson and his ministers then lied repeatedly to win the general election in December 2019. The government's woeful response to the coronavirus pandemic has generated another wave of falsehoods, misrepresentations and fabrications. The scale and shamelessness of the lying of the Johnson administration far exceeds the lying about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and other issues under Tony Blair. This book argues that the ruthless use of political deceit under the Johnson government is part of a wider attack on civilised values and traditional institutions across the Western world, especially by Donald Trump in the USA. The Johnson and Trump methodology of deceit is about securing power for its own ends - even when they get exposed for lying, they shrug it off as a matter of no consequence. It matters because all Western institutions are built around the idea of integrity and accountability. This means that an assault on truth is an assault on the rule of law, state institutions and the fundamental idea of fairness, and even democracy itself.

Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism

The Death of Truth

* THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER * 'A clinical and merciless account of Johnson's mendacity... gripping' Guardian When Peter Oborne wrote The Rise of Political Lying, looking at the growth of political falsehood under John Major and Tony Blair, he believed things had got as bad as they could be. With the arrival of Boris Johnson at No 10 in 2019 began a new and unprecedented epidemic of deceit. In The Assault on Truth, a short and powerful new polemic, Oborne shows how Boris Johnson lied again and again in order to secure victory so he could force through Brexit in the face of parliamentary opposition. Johnson and his ministers then lied repeatedly to win the general election in December 2019. The government’s woeful response to the coronavirus pandemic has generated another wave of falsehoods, misrepresentations and fabrications. The scale and shamelessness of the lying of the Johnson administration far exceeds the lying about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and other issues under Tony Blair. This book argues that the ruthless use of political deceit under the Johnson government is part of a wider attack on civilised values and traditional institutions across the Western world, especially by Donald Trump in the USA. The Johnson and Trump methodology of deceit is about securing power for its own ends - even when they get exposed for lying, they shrug it off as a matter of no consequence. It matters because all Western institutions are built around the idea of integrity and accountability. This means that an assault on truth is an assault on the rule of law, state institutions and the fundamental idea of fairness, and even democracy itself.

The Assault on Truth

THE WISDEN BOOK OF THE YEAR and THE CROSS SPORTS BOOK AWARDS CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR. The nation of Pakistan was born out of the trauma of Partition from India in 1947. Its cricket team evolved in the chaotic aftermath. Initially unrecognised, underfunded and weak, Pakistan's team grew to become a major force in world cricket. Since the early days of the Raj, cricket has been entwined with national identity and Pakistan's successes helped to define its status in the world. Defiant in defence, irresistible in attack, players such as A.H.Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan awed their contemporaries and inspired their successors. The story of Pakistan cricket is filled with triumph and tragedy. In recent years, it has been threatened by the same problems affecting Pakistan itself: fallout from the 'war on terror', sectarian violence, corruption, crises in health and education, and a shortage of effective leaders. For twenty years, Pakistan cricket has been stained by the scandalous behaviour of the players involved in match-fixing. Since 2009, the fear of violence has driven Pakistan's international cricket into exile. No one knows when it will return home. But Peter Oborne's narrative is also full of hope. For all its troubles, cricket gives all Pakistanis a chance to excel and express themselves, a sense of identity and a cause for pride in their country. Packed with first-hand recollections, and digging deep into political, social and cultural history, Wounded Tiger is a major study of sport and nationhood.

A History of Cricket in Pakistan

Wounded Tiger

David Morrison

The definitive case against military action in Iran, passionately argued and meticulously researched In 2013 it is possible that Israel, backed by the United States, will launch an attack on Iran. This would be a catastrophic event, risking war, bloodshed, and global economic collapse. In this passionate but rationally argued essay, the authors attempt to avert a potential global catastrophe by showing that the grounds for war do not exist, that there are no Iranian nuclear weapons, and that Iran would happily come to a table and strike a deal. They argue that the military threats aimed by the West against Iran contravene international law, and argue that Iran is a civilized country and legitimate power across the Middle East. For years Peter Oborne and David Morrison have, in their respective fields, examined the actions of our political classes and found them wanting. Now they have joined forces to make a powerful case against military action. In the wake of the Iraq war, will the politicians listen?

Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran

A Dangerous Delusion

Richard Heller

Following Peter Oborne's award-winning global success with Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan comes a new volume, written with Richard Heller, to celebrate the extraordinary story of Pakistan cricket. In White on Green, we discover a rich tapestry of stories about cricket in all its forms that will fascinate all who want to understand more about that country. We hear from the players of Dera Ismail Khan, who appeared when their side lost by a world-record margin of an innings and 851 runs; and from the Khan sisters, who helped develop the women's game in Pakistan, despite the threats from those who believed their actions to be immoral. But we also hear from the greats of Pakistan cricket, past and present, who provide a revealing picture of the special challenges they have faced, both at home and abroad. Written with great warmth, affection and insight, White on Green is an evocative portrait of a country that is too often condemned and too little understood by outsiders. It shows how the spirit of cricket can help overcome the most difficult environments and bring people together.

A Portrait of Pakistan Cricket

White on Green

The nation of Pakistan was born out of the trauma of Partition from India in 1947. Its cricket team evolved in the chaotic aftermath. Initially unrecognised, underfunded and weak, Pakistan's team grew to become a major force in world cricket. Since the early days of the Raj, cricket has been entwined with national identity and Pakistan's successes helped to define its status in the world. Defiant in defence, irresistible in attack, players such as A.H.Kardar, Fazal Mahmood, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan awed their contemporaries and inspired their successors. The story of Pakistan cricket is filled with triumph and tragedy. In recent years, it has been threatened by the same problems affecting Pakistan itself: fallout from the 'war on terror', sectarian violence, corruption, crises in health and education, and a shortage of effective leaders. For twenty years, Pakistan cricket has been stained by the scandalous behaviour of the players involved in match-fixing. Since 2009, the fear of violence has driven Pakistan's international cricket into exile. No one knows when it will return home. But Peter Oborne's narrative is also full of hope. For all its troubles, cricket gives all Pakistanis a chance to excel and express themselves, a sense of identity and a cause for pride in their country. Packed with first-hand recollections, and digging deep into political, social and cultural history, Wounded Tiger is a major study of sport and nationhood.

Peter Oborne

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