The Sovereign State of ITT

by Anthony Sampson

A splendid survey of Britain today, a swiftly moving account of the men and institutions running England. Sampson gives a picture of Britain today hardly available from any other source, and certainly not from the media in this country. Anyone with more than an intelligent tourist's curiosity will find this book both entertaining and extraordinarly informative. "the author's talent is undeniably impressive. The very complete index at the end of this volume makes it useful as a reference book, for there is undoubtedly much interesting information in it. As a casual and pleasantly written journalistic report on the present condition of Britain and the habits of the British it is excellent. h-1

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Conspiracy Theories

323 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Czarny Pies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on the involvement of the Nixon White House and Harold Geneen in the involvement of the 1973 coup that toppled the Marxist regime of Salvador Allende in Chile. Sampson was a journalist working only with documents of public record so an updated book is needed.

Sampson's allegations were widely believed at the time and no one has ever tried very hard to deny them. Judging from the recent books that I have read by the supporters of Nixon and Kissinger, the approach that has been adopted has been to simply ignore the allegations and allow them to be slowly forgotten.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful indictment of big business' and politicians' collusion with the Nazis while Allied soldiers and airmen died by the hundreds of thousands, all to save their capital and financial assets in occupied Europe in WW2. It makes Robert Ludlum's early novels look not so paranoid.

A recent example:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/08/...

[Joel Werley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reportage and analysis. I picked this up as a box set that had tempted me several times in the teeny English section of my local used books/games/manga/CDs store and finally couldn't resist that little cardboard box packed with three true pocketbook sized paperbacks. I started with this one because I knew little about ITT (which still exists!) as compared to the other two titles' topics: the seven big 70s oil companies (The Seven Sisters: The great oil companies & the world they shaped) and the arms trade (Arms Bazaar: From Lebanon to LockheedArms Bazaar: From Lebanon to Lockheed). In sum, as a history guy, it is really interesting to read contemporaneous reporting that was published around when I was still in diapers, and I look forward to the other two titles.

[Smiley III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good! Everybody should read it.

"It is tempting for any critic to depict multinational corporations as planned conspiracies, plotting to rebuild the world in their image, and there are parts of the ITT history that give credibility to this view—from Sosthenes Behn's secret bargains with the dictators to the memos of Dita Beard and Hal Hendrix, and Geneen's campaign to defeat the antitrust laws. Yet even in ITT's case the conspiratorial view cannot, I believe, be maintained: throughout its history ITT has been precariously balancing on tightropes, protecting its assets, and covering its risks; and its plots and campaigns have stemmed more from its continual sense of insecurity than from a grand master plan—an insecurity that helps to account for some of its crassest mistakes."

Word. ;) #yeah

[Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good summary from the founding of ITT to just prior to the 1973 Coup-de-Etat in Chile including the election of Dr Allende in 1970 and events from then until the summer of 1973. Makes it clear that that ITT was the creation of the two strong willed CEOs who led the company during this time (S. Behn 1920-1959, H. Geneen 1959-1979). ITT was always a step ahead of other companies due to its international outlook, ready access to market and political intelligence, push to 'move quickly', local staffing, thorough annual business reviews, and tightly centralized management. The enormous influence ITT wielded across the government is well dramatized by ITT's ability to bribe the RNC convention committee into holding the 1972 convention in San Diego, and then to escape any penalty once this became known as a quid-pro-quo to avoid any penalty for market concentration when it bought the Hartford Co.

[Mac Kie]

Kitabı Türkçe çevirisinden okudum. Çeviri o kadar kötüydü ki kitabın ne kadarını anladığımı bilmiyorum. Bu nedenle yıldız vermedim. Çeviriyi .Mine Ünel’in yaptığı yazılı fakat en son bölümün çevirisini kesinlikle başkası yapmış. İçeriği ne kadar aktardığımı bilemiyorum ama en azında Türkçe düzgün. Mine Ünel başka hangi kitapları çevirmiş acaba. Tehlikenin farkında mıyız?

[Ryan Nary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read a book published in 1973 that mentions Frank Church before the Church Committee hearings made him famous; Richard Helms and Chile before he was indicted for perjury; and William Casey when he was still SEC Chairman and not Director of Central Intelligence

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sampson revealed how corrupt most corporations are. They are basically amoral entities, guided by humans who love money. It's a wonder that they haven't already destroyed the planet. People these days want to blame the government for all of their woes; this is just ignorance on an epic scale.

[Ceci Delirious · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loooveeeeee anthony sampson😫😭 an incredible storyteller & his burns are HOT!!!!:D
currently 2 sections into the truthbusters,,,,,, im gagging every! other! line!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read many of Anthony Sampson's books back in the 1980s and gave me a great understanding of the oil industry (Seven Sisters), banks (The Money Lenders) and the military complex (The Arms Bazaar). I was aware of The Sovereign State, but thought a book about ITT was too old history. But it is a relevant read given the influence business has on politics. ITT had a role in the overthrow of the Salvador Allende government in Chile in 1973, and used its business power to influence politicians in the US for its benefit. Things don't seem to change and may get worse. But this book is a reminder that there is the way big business has been for a long time.