Good, but very dense

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This is a very complex book, which is difficult to follow from beginning to end in the Audiobook format. The upshot is that you can dip in and out of it with to great effect, in order to really dig into the details of one of the several themes. The author is strongly biased against arms dealing of any kind, but that is fine, as long as you approach the book with critical sense.

I would recommend this book in the form of an "Audio Encyclopedia" of arms dealing.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

No real "ending" as such. The author's conclusion is pretty clear from the beginning.

What about Gildart Jackson’s performance did you like?

Good rhythm and tone. Nothing to complain about!

Could you see The Shadow World being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Not really.

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Good - but too long and anti western

It is too long by about 5 hours. Whilst Andrew has an obvious grasp of the subject and has researched this extensively. You still cannot feel that he is hitting the easy targets first. Europe and America, he covers them extremely well but misses the irony that all the so called, 'shadow' deals, are all too in the public sphere and are so sensitive that they can be published in a book and he not be sued. He starts to cover the other main areas but it reads more like a history book than a serious look at this world. He misses our secrecy jurisdictions and aged Russian plans and why the West seems unable to act and then suddenly does. Whislt I would recommend it, it is at best a second rate book.

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1 person found this helpful

Superbly written and absolutely fascinating.

A very well researched and superbly narrated expose on what is a very murky industry. The author's first hand experience is clear to see and adds authenticity to his findings.

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Very informative

At times long winded and hard to follow but very insightful. Gives a good broad overview. I want to applaud the author for taking on such a convoluted and I'm sure at times dangerous topic.

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Sickening

We all know it goes on but the staggering arrogance of the individuals involved is truly sickening.

The narration is quite dry, which probably suits the subject matter.

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Academic and long

I learned a lot about arms trade - not surprising.
I was shocked regarding the enormous volumes. Very interesting to learn about the powers of arms trade, the wide spread corruption on all involved parts.

But for a layman I found it far too long. Sometimes like listening to an academic paper or a court judgement. Names, numbers, references... but hard to understand actual content or meaning.

As a Swede I now understand why SAAB cooperated with BAE Systems to sell the Gripen fighter...

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3 people found this helpful

Devastating, detailed expose of the Arms Trade

This is an amazing listen, but not for the faint-hearted. It's a long and detailed book about the Arms Trade showing how the murky world of the illegal industry and the supposedly respectable arms industry - involving governments and major corporations - intersect. In particular, it exposes the corruption behind the market world leaders in this world - Lockheed-Martin and BAE systems. At every turn, attempts to bring these corporations to book have been thwarted, often by world leaders. One reviewer calls the book "academic". It isn't, it is long and detailed, however, and there's probably a shorter, harder hitting book in there somewhere. I'm glad, therefor, to see that this job will be done by a film due out in 2016.While his reading is not hugely expressive, hats off to Gildart Jackson for his clarity and stamina!

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2 people found this helpful

A fantastic listen.

Really well researched by an author that is very passionate about the subject. First class work

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Face the truth about the world we live in.

Organised crime, AKA, world business practice. Don't feel that the arms industry is all bad, so are most businesses when you dig deep enough! The business world doesn't revolve with smiles and hand shakes alone, they all need their cut to make it feel worthwhile.

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Very informative

I liked the book and learnt allot about the greed and hypocrisy by states and other non state actors that continue to cause mayhem across the world. The narrator is so good that he is even able to pronounce African names correctly which most people find difficult. So everything is five stars for me.

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