Mark Curtis
Mark Curtis is an independent author, journalist and consultant. He is a former Research Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and was until recently Director of the World Development Movement. He has worked in the field of international development for 14 years, including as Head of Global Advocacy and Policy at Christian Aid and Head of Policy at ActionAid.
He has written five books and numerous articles on British and US foreign policies and international development and trade issues. His most recent books are: Unpeople: Britain’s Secret Human Rights Abuses (Vintage, London, 2004); Web of Deceit: Britain’s Real Role in the World, (Vintage, London, 2003); Trade for Life: Making Trade Work for Poor People (Christian Aid, London, 2001); The Great Deception: Anglo-American Power and World Order (Pluto, London, 1998); and The Ambiguities of Power: British Foreign Policy since 1945 (Zed, London, 1995).
He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Strathclyde and has been Visiting Research Fellow at the Institut Francais des Relations Internationales, Paris and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Auswaertige Politik, Bonn. He is a graduate of Goldsmiths’ College, University of London and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He does numerous public talks and is a regular commentator in the media.
His latest book, Secret Affairs: Britain’s Collusion with Radical Islam was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2010. Other projects include travel to various African countries to investigate why hunger is deepening among poor farmers and investigations into the harsh impact of British mining and energy companies overseas – as well as the continuing hopeless task of interesting a mainstream media broadcaster in films on the reality of British foreign policy.
Praise for Mark Curtis:
“Mark Curtis is, in my opinion, this country’s best popular historian… Curtis’ brilliant, exciting and deeply disturbing book unwraps the whole package, layer by layer, piece by piece. Not since Noam Chomsky’s Deterring Democracy has there been such a disclosure.” – John Pilger
“Scrupulously, relentlessly, Mark Curtis rescues the historical and documentary record from a web of distortion and self-serving illusion. The range of his inquiries is as impressive as the care and diligence with which they are conducted. The picture of British policies that Curtis reveals should serve as a call to action for those who hope to understand the world that has been shaped by Western power, and to overcome the injustice and suffering that is, in no small measure, its cruel legacy” – Noam Chomsky
