The Arms Bazaar
Anthony Sampson
340 pages
published in 1977
Anthony Sampson made his reputation through a series of books examining the realities of economic and political power in Britain and the world. His Seven Sisters for example describes the history of Big Oil, while his most famous work, The Anatomy of Britain, first published in 1962 and regularly updated, investigated the ruling classes in the UK. The Arms Bazaar
is a logical extension of this work, setting out the history and current practises of the international arms trade.
Now The Arms Bazaar was published in 1977, in a world very different from the one we currently live in. The Cold War was still more then a decade away from ending, the Soviet Union in fact seemed more strong then ever, while both Iran and Iraq were still ruled by friendly dictators and the Vietnam war was only two years in the past. At first glance then, The Arms Bazaar seems
to be only of historical interest, a current affairs book whose current affairs has long since become history.
That would be wrong however. The world may have changed a lot since 1977, but the realities of the arms trade have remained the same. A book like The Arms Bazaar, which explains the history of the arms trade, its inner workings and how it influences both the domestic politics and the foreign policy of countries like the UK, France and the US, is therefore still relevant. It helps that Anthony Sampson is able to explain complex issues in a way that makes them easy to understand, without simplifying them.