With his acclaimed biography of Karl Marx, his contributions to radio and television and his outstanding journalism, Francis Wheen has established himself as one of the most brilliant and admired commentators in Britain. This book brings together the best of his collected writings from the Guardian, Observer and magazines such as the Modern Review. Ranging from the follies of think-tanks to the future of swearing, the hypocrisy of New Labour to the madness of retired prime ministers, all via shady business deals and scabrous gossip, this is a book that none of Wheen's legion of admirers will want to miss.

What characterizes our era? Cults, quacks, gurus, irrational panics, moral confusion and an epidemic of mumbo-jumbo, that's what. In How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World, Francis Wheen brilliantly laments the extraordinary rise of superstition, relativism and emotional hysteria. From Middle Eastern fundamentalism to the rise of lotteries, astrology to mysticism, poststructuralism to the Third Way, Wheen shows that there has been a pervasive erosion of Enlightenment values, which have been displaced by nonsense. And no country has a more vivid parade of the bogus and bizarre than the one founded to embody Enlightenment values: the USA. In turn comic, indignant, outraged, and just plain baffled by the idiocy of it all, How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World is a masterful depiction of the absurdity of our times and a plea that we might just think a little more and believe a little less.

In vivid detail, Wheens captivating, accessible book shows that, far from being a dry economic treatise, "Das Kapital" is like a vast Gothic novel whose heroes are enslaved by the monster they created: capitalism.

Looks at the life of the father of Communism focusing primarily on the human side of the man rather than his works.

Strange Days Indeed tells the story of how the paranoia exemplified by Nixon and Wilson became the defining characteristic of western politics and culture in the 1970s.

Hennessy's classic text tells you everything you need to know about writing successful features. You will learn how to formulate and develop ideas and how to shape them to fit different markets. Now in its fourth edition, Writing Feature Articles has been fully revised and updated to take into account the changing requirements of journalism and media courses. You will also discover how to exploit new technology for both researching and writing online. Learn step-by-step how to plan, research and write articles for a wide variety of 'popular', 'quality' and specialist publications. Discover more and make the advice stick by completing the tasks and reading the keen analysis of extracts from the best of today's writing. Packed with inspirational advice in a friendly, highly readable style, this guide is a must-have for practising and aspiring journalists and writers.

A “brief and vital account” of humanity’s long history of playing the blame game, from Adam and Eve to modern politics—“a relevant and timely subject” (The Daily Telegraph). We may have come a long way from the days when a goat was symbolically saddled with all the iniquities of the children of Israel and driven into the wilderness, but has our desperate need to absolve ourselves by pinning the blame on someone else really changed all that much? Charlie Campbell highlights the plight of all those others who have found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, illustrating how God needs the Devil as Sherlock Holmes needs Professor Moriarty or James Bond needs “Goldfinger.” Scapegoat is a tale of human foolishness that exposes the anger and irrationality of blame-mongering while reminding readers of their own capacity for it. From medieval witch burning to reality TV, this is a brilliantly relevant and timely social history that looks at the obsession, mania, persecution, and injustice of scapegoating. “A wry, entertaining study of the history of blame . . . Trenchantly sardonic.” —Kirkus Reviews