The Playbook

''This brilliantly subversive and witty book lays bare the techniques of manipulation and disinformation that keep the rich and powerful rich and powerful. . . A landmark book'' Brian Eno''Very funny as satire should be until you realise it''s deadly serious'' Adam Rutherford BBC Radio 4 Start the WeekKnowledge is power. Which is why the rich and powerful don''t want you to have it.The Playbook is an expos of the extraordinary lengths that corporations will go to in order to spread disinformation and deny the scientific facts - around climate change public health risks and worker safety - when they don''t suit their agenda.Written in the form of a corporate handbook for tobacco oil and pharmaceutical company executives it is a litany of obfuscation techniques denial delays and outright lies including: how to recruit an academic ''expert'' who is willing to compromise their integrity (or is just short of cash) how to massage the statistics how to use legal and even physical intimidation against reporters and activists and how just as in a casino to keep your customers comfortable unquestioning unthinking and playing along for as long as possible.Part satire part social history part guide to resistance The Playbook is a charge sheet against the powerful. It shows us how by understanding the methods and motives of disinformation campaigns we may be able to outwit them.