Shock Doctrine
 

The Shock Doctrine

[Back cover]

"Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and scary as hell."--John le Carré

"Bold and brilliantly conceived . . . Klein may well have revealed the master narrative of our time."--William S. Kowinski, San Francisco Chronicle

"This is a brilliant book, one of the most important I have read in a long time."--Howard Zinn

"Klein provides a rich description of the political machinations required to force unsavory economic policies on resisting countries and of the human toll. She paints a disturbing portrait of hubris, not only on the part of Friedman but also of those who adopted his doctrines, sometimes to pursue more corporatist objectives."--Joseph E. Stiglitz, The New York Times Book Review

"A brilliant, brave, and terrifying book. It's nothing less than the secret history of what we call the 'free market.' It should be compulsory reading."--Arundhati Roy

"Pulls the curtain back on free-market myths and exposes the forces that are really driving our economy . . . Klein's book is powerful and prophetic. . . . A brilliant dissection."--Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post

"Naomi Klein is one of the most important new voices in American journalism today."--Seymour M. Hersh

"The Shock Doctrine is the defining, covert history of our era."--Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

Additional Praise for
The Shock Doctrine

A New York Times and International Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, San Francisco Chronicle Bestseller, Boston Globe Best¬seller, USA Today Bestseller, and BookSense Bestseller.

A San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of the Year, One of The Seattle Times' Favorite Books of the Year, One of The Village Voice's 20 Best Books of the Year, One of The Kansas City Star's Top 100 Books of the Year, A Chicago Sun-Times Favorite Book of the Year, A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Book of the Year, An Amazon Top 10 Editors' Pick "Current Events" Book of the Year (#7), An Amazon Top 10 Editors' Pick "Business Narrative" of the Year (#9), A National Book Critics Circle Monthly Best Recommended List Selection.

"A valuable addition to the corpus of popular books that have attempted to rethink the big ideas of our post—Cold War age ... Thomas Friedman's celebration of the flatness of the globalized world is now countered by Klein's argument that when disasters flatten societies, capitalists see opportunities to profit and spread their influence.... For the vigor and accessibility for which Klein marshals her argument, Naomi Klein is well worth reading."
—Shashi Tharoor, The Washington Post

"Anyone who wishes to know what our children will believe should read The Shock Doctrine. In many ways it is an old-fashioned book, al¬most nineteenth century in its scope and weight, but this is surely its strength. Naomi Klein brings a grand narrative sweep to the most troubling events of the past sixty years, placing them within a single epic drama.... Klein is a dramatic writer and a gifted political player. The Shock Doctrine anticipates the widespread disquiet—nay, rage—at the state of the world as successfully as her previous bestseller, No Logo."
—Nicholas Blincoe, The Telegraph(UK)

"Klein's history begins in Chile in 1973 and ends in Sri Lanka after the 2005 tsunami. Some of the material—like the grisly details of the '70s South American dictatorships' dirty wars on unionists, dissidents, and leftists—will be familiar to lefty readers. But even on familiar terrain Klein has a remarkable eye for the revealing detail or the telling quote.... The force and permanence of a book like this can change outlooks and systems."
—Christopher Hayes, In These Times

"The Shock Doctrine is, simply put, a book without peer, an epic and riveting work whose message must be heard. With the persistence of a journalist, in the best sense of the word, and the rigor of a scholar, in its truest incarnation, Naomi Klein offers nothing short of a new paradigm for understanding politics.... Her book is honest, urgent, and necessary to read. The Shock Doctrine is an essential book; only Klein could write it."
—Anthony Shadid

"Naomi Klein is in the best tradition of I. F. Stone and Upton Sinclair, a muckraker who digs in where others accept the surface. I love her stuff and as a twentieth-century man, I salute a twenty-first-century woman."
— Studs Terkel

"A compelling study of the dark heart of contemporary capitalism ... From post-Communist Russia and Poland to post-apartheid South Africa, the democratic aspirations of liberated people were thwarted by Chicago Boys, often working out of the IMF and the World Bank."
— Stephen Amidon, The New York Observer

"A fierce writer whose prose has the metaphorical gusto of Susan Sontag's in its best moments, Klein manages to weave a narrative out of a large variety of historical events that is equal parts cultural commentary and investigative journalism."
—John Freeman, The Star-Ledger (Newark)

"This masterful book is a measured but furious call to arms. Naomi Klein is Antigone before the king, the antidote to the feeling of inevitability that says that we must accept murder as a legitimate economic policy. A spectacular triumph."
—John Cusack

"To more fully grasp this new economy, you must read what may be the most important book on economics in the twenty-first century.... The Shock Doctrine is one of the best economic books of the twenty-first century because it reveals in one place the confluence of cultural forces, the restructuring of a world economy as growing populations fight over depleting natural resources, and the drifting away of America from representative democracy to a government controlled by multiple, competing, well-financed, and shadowy special interests."
—Paul B. Farrell, Dow Jones Business News

"Naomi Klein's expose of neoliberal economics is certain to be sensational. She rips away the 'free trade' and globalization ideologies that disguise a conspiracy to privatize war and disaster and grab public property for the rich few. Klein's is a long-needed analysis of our headlong flight back to feudalism under the guise of social science and 'freedom.'"
—Chalmers Johnson

"Stunning ... Her research is massive, meticulously documented, and laid out in fluid, accessible, and intriguing stories.... The Shock Doctrine is serious and exhilarating." — Katherine Dunn, The Oregonian

"Even skeptics will be impressed by the weight of statistics, documentation, and first-hand quotes she assembles to make her case."
— Howard Goldenthal, NOW magazine (Canada)

"Persuasive ... A withering account of the way free-market ideologues have exploited natural disasters and warfare ... [A] gripping story of this new world order run amok."
—Sean Kennedy, Time Out New York

"Klein is sharp-tongued and blunt, often funny, always serious. And she knows her stuff... This might be as important a book as has been written this year."
—Dan Smith, Blue Ridge Business Journal

"A revelation! With unparalleled courage and clarity Naomi Klein has written the most important and necessary book of her generation...so important and so revelatory a book that it could very well prove a catalyst, a watershed, a tipping point in the movement for economic and social justice."
—Tim Robbins

"Brace yourself And while you do, read this book, which confirms Naomi Klein's status as one of the most important intellectuals of our times."
—Michael Byers, The Vancouver Sun

"Naomi Klein as a writer is an accusing angel. This lifesaving book, packed with thinking dynamite, reveals a striking parallel between CIA prisoner interrogation technique and the blackmailing technique of the World Bank and IMF for imposing disaster capitalism across the world. A book to be read everywhere."
—John Berger

"The Shock Doctrine is a massive, courageous undertaking, and Klein's impassioned critique of the violence that accompanies American economic imperialism is not merely necessary but urgent."
—Eric Klinenberg, Bookforum

"This beautifully written, very readable book will change the disgusting history it so calmly chronicles."
—Peter Carey, author of Oscar and Lucinda and Theft: A Love Story

"Required reading for anyone trying to pierce the complexities of globalization."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Klein's account of this 'disaster capitalism' is written with a perfectly distilled anger, channeled through hard fact. She has indeed surpassed No Logo. Today, this brilliant book should stir a tsunami of shame—and of political action by us to finally stop the shock 'therapy.'"
New Statesman (UK)

"A work of extraordinary synthesis, The Shock Doctrine is required reading for anyone who wants to know the roots of our current political and economic landscape and prepare for the shocks that await us."
Ms. Magazine

"Klein traces the history of several intertwined phenomena (free market ideology, artificially induced social and economic crises, torture, privatization, and enhanced inequality) from the Second World War until now, and her argument is well-documented, logical, riveting, and convincing."
— Jane Smiley, author of A Thousand Acres and Ten Days in the Hills

"A painstakingly detailed analysis of how corporations manipulate natural and manmade disasters to line their pockets and further their privatizing agenda ... It is a book that has the potential to become a lightning rod of controversy and debate."
—Vit Wagner, Toronto Star

"Klein's work is taking a generational pulse, -and possibly lifting the veil on a perilous post-Bush future."
—Julie Wheelwright, The Independent (UK)

"An ambitious, persuasive, and damning critique ... Her prose packs a punch, but it's also measured.... Klein uses first-person testimony and historical documentation to illustrate her claims, and in doing so she allows us to form a more challenging understanding of the events unfolding around us."
--Claire Black, The Scotsman