Description
Book SynopsisReveals the corruption endemic in Britain's biggest arms deals over the last fifty years.
Trade Review'A remarkable book that exposes the trickery, humbug, buck-passing, and cover-ups, by successive British governments as they turned a blind eye, and even encouraged, the payment of bribes to secure British arms contracts' -- Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian
'A devastating portrait of the UK government's complicity in arms deal corruption over many decades. This superbly researched must-read account allows the facts to speak for themselves.' -- Andrew Feinstein, author The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade and founding Director of Corruption Watch UK
'Drawing on a wealth of official documents, Gilby lays bare the subterranean realities of Britain's arms trade and its corrosive impact on the wider political culture. This is a hugely impressive piece of historical research and a fascinating story' -- Professor Mark Phythian, author of The Politics of British Arms Sales Since 1964
'Heroically dogged ... Gilby assiduously unveils past sins with contemporary consequences' -- New Statesman
'A rich history of a rotten business. Gilby's meticulous research shows us just how corruption in the arms trade, sustaining some of the world's most oppressive regimes, festered and grew. And after half a century of complicity and cover-up by the British government, his findings pose the most urgent question of all: why is it still allowed to go on?' -- Richard Brooks, Private Eye, author of The Great Tax Robbery: How Britain Became a Tax Haven for Fat Cats and Big Business
'Gilby produces some well-reasoned answers to the most commonly offered justifications for bribery' -- Susan Demuth, Middle East Eye
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. The Chancer: Negotiating BAE's First Saudi Deals (1963-66)
2. Hand in Glove: Whitehall’s Involvement in Bribery Schemes (1968-73)
3. The 'Deniable Fiddle': Dealing with the Saudi Arabian National Guard (1968-72)
4. The 'Special Relationship': Britain and the Shah of Iran (1970-78)
5. Parting Ways: British and American Corruption Scandals (1975-76)
6. At Arm’s Length: How the British Government Avoided Taking Action against Corruption (1976-78)
7. Thwarted: How International Action against Corruption was Stopped in its Tracks (1975-80)
8. 'Business as Usual' (1980-2001)
9. An Investigation Interrupted: The SFO and BAE Systems (2004-10)
Conclusion
Notes
Index
