Private Island

Praise

“This is the definitive account of how so much has gone and continue to go wrong with Britain’s institutions. Don’t read it all at once – it’s too depressing.”
—Joan Bakewell, New Statesman Books of the Year

“James Meek’s brilliant book, bracing in its detail and sweeping in its scope, makes it clear just how central privatisation is to the story of contemporary Britain: some of it will make you sad, some of it will make you furious, but you are guaranteed to be left feeling that you understand this country much better.”
—John Lanchester, author of Capital and Whoops!

“One of the most powerful critiques of the mess that is Britain’s economy.”
—Aditya Chakrabotty

“Do yourself a favour: read Private Island and find out what has really happened in Britain over the past 20 years.”
—John Gray, Guardian

“An energetic and colourfully told polemic against privatisation.”
—Financial Times

“You don’t have to be … excessively sentimental about the public service ethos to find the story Meek tells here genuinely shocking.”
—Jonathan Derbyshire, Prospect

“[A] devastating account of the privatisation dogma of the past 25 years… As demolition jobs go, this can hardly be bettered.”
—John Kampfner, Observer

“If you have a taste for historical irony & absurdity, you’ll love this book.”
—Francis Wheen, Mail on Sunday

“Entertaining, vastly intelligent.”
—New Yorker