A devastating new exposé from the bestselling authors of The Bankers and Wasters.In March 2011, the Irish people elected a new government. But how much had really changed? In The Untouchables, Shane Ross and Nick Webb shine a light into dark corners of official Ireland to show that the blame for running the country into the ground goes well beyond Fianna Fáil, and that a dismaying number of the people who should share the blame are still ...

During the years when all seemed well with the Irish economy, a scandal bloomed in front of our faces but went mostly unnoticed: the scandal of public waste. Vast overspending on infrastructure (including a number of white elephants), extravagant use of overpriced consultants, the creation of dozens of quangos whose primary purpose seemed to be jobs for the boys, the culture of junketry that took hold in the semi-state sector and the Oireachtas - these and other dubious practices flourishe...

As recently as 2007, the Irish economy was still booming and the state coffers overflowing; by the end of 2008, the state faces an unprecedented crisis. The story of the Irish banking collapse is a tawdry tale of collusion, back-scratching and denial among bankers, developers, regulators and politicians.This is the story Shane Ross - independent Senator, long-time champion of citizens against misbehaving corporations, and Journalist of the Year 2009 - tells in The Bankers,...

The story of the elite who led Ireland from bust to boom ... and back to bust againHaving money and not having it; making it and losing it; using it and misusing it; giving it and taking it ... this is the story of Ireland during the boom, described in jaw-dropping detail in Who Really Runs Ireland?Leading journalist Matt Cooper identifies the most influential people in Ireland during the Celtic Tiger era, describes how they interacted with each ot...

The definitive account of the tumultuous events that led to Ireland going broke in 2010From the night the Irish government guaranteed the debts of Irish banks in September 2008 Ireland was on a one-way road to ruin.In How Ireland Really Went Bust Matt Cooper, journalist, broadcaster and No 1 bestselling author of Who Really Runs Ireland?, describes the events that climaxed with the arrival of the heavy hitters from the IMF and the ECB in G...

'Likely to become the essential short work on modern Australia' Don Watson'Megalogenis is Australia's best explainer … A brilliant read' Annabel CrabbWinner of the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award, 2012 Walkley Book Award, and Australia's bestselling political book of 2012There's no better place to be during economic turbulence than Australia. Brilliant in a bust, we've learnt to use our brains in a boom....

In September 2005, corporate South Africa was rocked by the violent murder of mining maverick Brett Kebble. In life, he was known as a billionaire patron of the arts, compassionate philanthropist, champion of black economic empowerment, urbane raconteur and generous host. But within six months of his death, Kebble was exposed as the architect of one of the biggest and most convoluted frauds seen by any stock exchange in the world, a flawed genius who lied and cheated and stole so cunningly...

How Labor lost the race -- how Bill Shorten could save the party - and why it matters.In the 2007 election, led by Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard they smashed the Howard government and made the country look fresh and optimistic again. But under the sunny exterior lurked unchecked tensions, corrupt members, factional warlords, leadership woes. Now, Labor's pains have become the Abbott-led Coalition's gain. For journalist and former Young Laborite, Aaron Patrick, Labor at its best is a ...

This is the definitive account of the Royal Bank of Scotland scandal.For a few brief months in 2007 and 2009, the Royal Bank of Scotland was the largest bank in the world. Then the Edinburgh-based giant - having rapidly grown its footprint to 55 countries and stretched its assets to £2.4 trillion under its hubristic and delinquent former boss Fred Goodwin - crashed to earth.In Shredded, Ian Fraser explores the series of cataclysmic misjudgments, ...

A successful property developer in England, the Sligo-born Tom Gilmartin had ambitious plans for major retail developments in Dublin in the late 1980s. Little did he know that in order to do business in the city, senior politicians and public officials would want a slice of the action … in the form of large amounts of cash. Gilmartin blew the whistle on corruption at the heart of government and the city's planning system, and the fallout from his claims ultimately led to the resignation of...

Britain's rail privatisation was one of the greatest political failures of recent history. A well-functioning industry was torn apart to satisfy political dogma and privatised in a way that not only compromised safety and wrecked performance but also resulted in financial melt-down.In this acclaimed book, an update to his earlier work Broken Rails, Christian Wolmar reveals the causes of the collapse of the railway system, following the Hatfield accident, barely five years after Joh...

Based on unparalleled access to those involved, and told with compelling pace and drama, The Bank that Lived a Little describes three decades of boardroom intrigue at one of Britain's biggest financial institutions. In a tale of feuds, grandiose dreams and a struggle for supremacy between rival strategies and their adherents, Philip Augar gives a riveting account of Barclays' journey from an old Quaker bank to a full-throttle capitalist machine. The disagreement between those ambi...