David Aaronovitch Bücher

For Mrs Janice Kelly and her family, the death of her husband David in woods near their Oxfordshire home in July 2003 was a personal tragedy. For the wider worlds of government, intelligence and the media it triggered a political earthquake. David Kelly, a weapons inspector in Iraq, was at the centre of the allegations that 10 Downing Street, seeking to justify the imminent war in Iraq to an unconvinced public, had exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.Lord Hutton's inquiry into the circumstances of Kelly's death became the most compelling piece of political theatre of modern times, as witnesses from the highest reaches of government, the Civil Service, the intelligence services and the BBC gave their versions of events, exposing the inner workings of their hitherto secret worlds. And the conclusions of his Report, published in January 2004, took most pundits by surprise.The Guardian's coverage of the Hutton inquiry was widely regarded as the best informed and most comprehensive of any newspaper, with its top reporters and analysts providing unrivalled reporting. In this specially commissioned book they give a comprehensive account of the inquiry, describing the evidence, analysing the ramifications and assessing the lasting effect it will have on the often stormy relationship between the government and the media.

Engaging with major conspiracy theories of the century, this book combines meticulous research and sharp reasoning to debunk various claims. Its robust arguments are complemented by a humorous tone, making the exploration of these theories both entertaining and enlightening. The author invites readers to critically examine the absurdities of conspiracy thinking while providing a thorough analysis of its cultural impact.

We see conspiracy everywhere from Pearl Harbor to 9/11, from the assassination of Kennedy to the death of Diana. This book carefully probes and explores 12 major conspiracy theories.

'An affectionate and insightful account of 20th-century history that also amounts to a manifesto for the power of words - and belonging.' Helen Davies, a Sunday Times Book of the Year In July 1961, just before David Aaronovitch's seventh birthday, Yuri Gagarin came to London. The Russian cosmonaut was everything the Aaronovitch family wished for - a popular and handsome embodiment of modern communism. But who were they, these ever hopeful, defiant and (had they but known it) historically doomed people? Like a non-magical version of the wizards of J. K. Rowling's world, they lived secretly with and parallel to the non-communist majority, sometimes persecuted, sometimes ignored, but carrying on their own ways and traditions. Where others went to church they went to Socialist Sunday School, society's up was their down and its heroes were their villains. Who wanted American TV when you could have Russian movies? A memoir of early life among communists, Party Animals first took David Aaronovitch back through his own memories of belief and action. But there was much more to it. He found himself studying the old secret service files, uncovering the unspoken shame and fears that provided the unconscious background to his own existence as a party animal. Only then did he begin to understand what had come before - both the obstinate heroism and the monstrous cowardice. And the elements that shape our fondest beliefs.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SLIGHTLY FOXED BEST FIRST BIOGRAPHY AWARDDavid Aaronovitch grew up in Communist Great Britain - a Britain hidden from view for most, but for those on the inside it was a life filled with picket lines, militant trade unions, solidarity rallies for foreign Communists, the Red Army Choir, copies of the Daily Worker, all underpinned by a quiet love of the Soviet Union. In this idiosyncratic blend of memoir, history and biography, David Aaronovitch uncovers the story of his family's life by picking through letters, diaries and secret service files, which in turn unleash vivid childhood memories of a lost and idealistic world. Party Animals is about personal life and political life becoming tragically intertwined, and one family's search for meaning in the twentieth century.