Holiday reading that won't rot your brain

By contrast, the Bernard Madoff scandal has attracted a raft of writers, not the least of whom is Erin Arvedlund, whose Madoff: The Man Who Stole $65 Billion (Penguin paperback $30) has the benefit of first-hand experience going back to 2001, long before doubts were raised about his crooked outfit. Madoff’s gigantic scam touched many of the rich and famous, while eluding the regulators until he was finally exposed by his sons. While this account is thorough and detailed, it is likely to be only the first of many in a still unfolding drama.

The reason some countries are rich and others stay poor is not just an obsession for economists. Alan Beattie’s False Economy (Penguin paperback $37) is a brief sweep through history, covering most of the successes and disasters. The latter were all largely avoidable and usually resulted from bad decisions and a compliant population. He asks unsettling questions: Why do oil and diamonds lead to economic disaster more often than boom? (Political kleptomania.) Why doesn’t Africa grow cocaine? (Poor logistics.) Why might believing in God be good for your balance sheet? (Religion is not opposed to making money.)

Fact and fiction

Ben Goldacre is a practising doctor and medical researcher, who has become a media martyr in Britain for daring to suggest chiropractic is a scam. A professional organisation is suing him for defamation, and no doubt many other groups would like to as well after reading Bad Science (Fourth Estate paperback $27). He exposes an astonishing range of ‘health news’ — not just in the popular press but in academic journals as well — in chapters ranging from crackpot theories to ‘research’ by major drug companies.

When Jim Riordan went to Moscow as a fervent recently married communist in the 1960s, he says he left a boring and aimless existence in Britain. He had studied Russian at university and was keen to embrace Soviet life. His memoirs, Comrade Jim (Harper paperback $25), are lively and written after a lengthy period of retrospection. His memories of playing soccer for Spartak Moscow, a top soccer team, have been met with disbelief and ridicule by some Russian readers. While veracity may not be a strong point, the telling is entertaining and self-effacing, revealing an experience few others would have had at the time.

The media attract a lot of critical attention but seldom have the inner workings been reviled as much as in Flat Earth News (Vintage paperback $28). From pernicious public relations to major distortions of real events, Nick Davies leaves no page or screen untouched in this strident litany of lies. To a journalist not based in Britain it appears over the top. But local parallels come to mind on more than a few occasions. All the familiar signs are here — sensationalism that bends the truth, pandering to ignorant prejudice of readers or viewers, budgets that cut corners in the search for a story, and publicity masquerading as journalism. Despite this, great reporting survives, the politicians’ rorts scandal being an example, so you can still take heart after reading that all is not lost.