Product Description

Why is it that so many people around the world appear willing to give up freedoms in return for either security or prosperity? For the past 60 years it had been assumed that capitalism was intertwined with liberal democracy, that the two not just thrived together but needed each other to survive. But what happens when both are undermined? Governments around the world -- whether they fall into the authoritarian or the democratic camp -- have drawn up a new pact with their peoples. These are its terms: repression is selective, confined to those who openly challenge the status quo, who publicly go out of their way to 'cause trouble'. The number of people who fall into that category is actually very few. The rest of the population can enjoy freedom to travel, to live more or less as they wish, and to make and spend their money. This is the difference between public freedoms and private freedoms. We choose different freedoms we are prepared to cede. We all do it. Freedom for Sale will set a new agenda. Mixing narrative from different countries around the world, it breaks new ground in revealing the extent to which the old assumptions and securities have died. It will crucially ask why so many intelligent and ambitious citizens around the world, particularly among the young, seemed prepared to sacrifice freedom of the press and freedom of speech in their quest for wealth. A new world order may well be upon us, and in this gripping and devastating book John Kampfner reveals how it may just be too late to stop it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26745 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
'A wake-up call for the Dr Faust in all of us' --Rory Bremner

'Liberty has never felt so threatened. Read this book if you want to know just how much is at stake' --Misha Glenny

'A stimulating, provocative and important book' --John Humphrys

`Kampfner's book is original, persuasive and disquieting, and fills a gap in our understanding of the post-cold-war world' --Sunday Times

'A pungent thesis, argued with verve and an abundance of telling detail . . . posed with a clarity that makes you wince'
--Observer

'Kampfner traces how economic prosperity has bribed populations around the world . . . engrossing'
--Metro

'A timely and penetrating audit of authoritarianism around the world' --Andrew Rawnsley, Observer Books of the Year

'Impressive . . . The bargain accepted by increasing numbers of people around the world is reminiscent of the deal Mephistopheles put before Faust'
--Michael Burleigh, Evening Standard Books of the Year

Review
'Liberty has never felt so threatened. This is the big question which Kampfner rightly identifies and dissects with the precision of a master surgeon. Read this book if you want to know just how much is at stake'

Review
'In this timely book John Kampfner challenges the easy assumption that freedom and democracy inevitably go hand in hand with security and prosperity. This is a stimulating, provocative and important book'

Customer Reviews

Fascinating and frightening
I am a great fan of BLAIR'S WARS and so I had high expectations for this book, and I am happy to say I was not disappointed. This is a comprehensive and often very alarming survey of the state of democracy in the world today. The whole book has been immaculately researched and Kampfner makes his case clearly and persuasively. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in global politics at what is such an extraordinary time in world history.

Terrifying and illuminating
An intriguing book that examines how democracy and capitalism have been undermined by unscrupulous governments across the world - most notably our own. Kampfner raises tough questions that, luckily, he's deft enough to answer, and the resounding silence after the book is finished is enough to raise even scarier prospects: such as, if we're willing to disregard civil liberties in pursuit of wealth, how long many can be taken before we no longer have the right to choose?

A fascinating, insightful and intelligent argument. Well worth a purchase.

Provocative and deeply felt
John Kampfner has written an insightful book about the perennial political issue of how the powerful threaten personal liberty, and not just by traditional methods of coercion. These days, he suggests, we have traded our liberties in return for permission to get stinking rich. And if some must suffer the consequences it will be surprisingly few, to encourage the others, and certainly not us. He explores the buy-in culture in Singapore, where it is just not done to criticize those in authority, and the way in which almost universal CCTV surveillance has become a silent fact of life for a seemingly anaesthetized British public. His survey also takes in countries as diverse as China and the USA. As a Russia buff, his Moscow chapter is particularly well-researched and deeply felt, showing Putin in particular as ruthless power-grabber, sustained by lackeys growing rich on his patronage. Kampfner is a born radical and his book is an impassioned plea to us to keep tight hold of our liberties or lose them by default.