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The Arms Bazaar
In this book, Anthony Sampson describes the development of the giant arms companies, beginning with Vickers, Armstrong and Krupp, and traces the recent origins of the boom in arm sales, culminating in the Middle East. He tells how the industrial arms trade proliferated in the late nineteenth century, with such inventors as Hiram Maxim and Alfred Nobel, who blew up his own brother with dynamite; how the debate about "Merchants of Death" raged through the nineteen-thirties; how during the Second World War the tiny Californian companies grew into vast but insecure corporations, uneasily married to the Pentagon, led by Lockheed, the biggest of them all; and how in the last four years, after the end of the Vietnam war and the energy crisis, a new wave of arms exports has provided jobs and foreign earnings for the Western countries. It has been at the price of a dangerous and cynical building up of weapons in the Gulf, while the Lockheed and Northop scandals have uncovered of corruption from Holland to Japan.
This is a book, not about the technicalities or strategy, but about the character and motivations of the companies and the men who run them, and the problems of those trying to control them. Anthony Sampson has gone through the mass of new evidence; he has talked to company officials in California, New York, London and Tokyo, to statesman and diplomats in the Western capitals, and to Middle Eastern customers from the Shah of Iran to Adnan Khashoggi. He has pieced together the jigsaw of evidence to produce a narrative which shows the interplay of companies and government, of arms sellers and dealers, with the stakes and tension constantly increasing, and the issue of bribery always in the background. Throughout the narrative he tries to answer the recurring questions and problems of the arms trade, in the light of the contemporary crisis. Are the companies really out of control? Must Western economies still depend on arms sales for their prosperity? Is bribery inseparable from arms sales, and have bribes seriously affected the pattern of the trade? Can the secrecy of the British arms trade be justified? Can President Carter restrict the export of weapons, and persuade Britain and France to join in international agreements?
Sampson sees the problems not in terms of villains and dark forces, but in terms of dynamic and resourceful men who have been caught up in situations of desperate competition, and who have unwittingly made a Faustian pact to ignore the moral problems. He likens the current problems of the aerospace industry to the end of the railway boom in the last century, which likewise turned companies to exporting arms; and he concludes with constructive suggestions as to how the headlong competition can be restrained.
This is a book, not about the technicalities or strategy, but about the character and motivations of the companies and the men who run them, and the problems of those trying to control them. Anthony Sampson has gone through the mass of new evidence; he has talked to company officials in California, New York, London and Tokyo, to statesman and diplomats in the Western capitals, and to Middle Eastern customers from the Shah of Iran to Adnan Khashoggi. He has pieced together the jigsaw of evidence to produce a narrative which shows the interplay of companies and government, of arms sellers and dealers, with the stakes and tension constantly increasing, and the issue of bribery always in the background. Throughout the narrative he tries to answer the recurring questions and problems of the arms trade, in the light of the contemporary crisis. Are the companies really out of control? Must Western economies still depend on arms sales for their prosperity? Is bribery inseparable from arms sales, and have bribes seriously affected the pattern of the trade? Can the secrecy of the British arms trade be justified? Can President Carter restrict the export of weapons, and persuade Britain and France to join in international agreements?
Sampson sees the problems not in terms of villains and dark forces, but in terms of dynamic and resourceful men who have been caught up in situations of desperate competition, and who have unwittingly made a Faustian pact to ignore the moral problems. He likens the current problems of the aerospace industry to the end of the railway boom in the last century, which likewise turned companies to exporting arms; and he concludes with constructive suggestions as to how the headlong competition can be restrained.
340 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 5, 2016
War is hell, but so is the marketing of its tools of the trade.
July 1, 2021
I picked up this book in a second hand shop in Albi (southwest of France) and wasn't disappointed. The arms industry is a completely new topic for me, I've never worked or interacted in this industry, but the author and this book has really opened my mind. The practices of arms dealing was indeed a dirty business, I don't know if the levels of corruption, bribes and underhand tactics still exist today, but back in what arms dealers would call 'the good old days', it was literally a case of anything goes.
Absolutely fascinating, the history of Dassault, Vickers, Lockheed, etc are indeed steeped in corruption, greed and blood.
A real eye opener and kind of a side subject for history lovers, because with every conflict, there's a buyer and a seller, but sometimes those lines become very muddled.
Absolutely fascinating, the history of Dassault, Vickers, Lockheed, etc are indeed steeped in corruption, greed and blood.
A real eye opener and kind of a side subject for history lovers, because with every conflict, there's a buyer and a seller, but sometimes those lines become very muddled.
December 22, 2018
Reportage with little contemporary relevance, lacks substance.
March 28, 2019
I believe that this book is still very valid. Perhaps the actors have changed but all the hidden truths in this book still exist.
October 4, 2016
I thought this a very fun book to read due to the sheer amount of skullduggery and nonsense it depicts. The style is a little dry, but the subject matter is amazing and Sampson knows what he's talking about. It's also very interesting to read a book written before the revolution in Iran, which discusses the outrageous arms purchases the Shah was making.
Sampson discusses historical arms dealers (Zaharoff, for instance, is very interesting and I had never heard a peep about him until I read the book) and the industrial lead-up to the modern era, but saves most of his book for analyses of United States aerospace companies. All of your favorites factor in, and some details are related that might surprise you. I won't spoil the surprises.
You certainly have to give a bit of a damn about international politics to really get much out of it. I suppose if you are morbid this book could be good for a laugh as well. It's highly interesting - a solid read that I would recommend to most of my friends- even if it is outdated at this time.
Sampson discusses historical arms dealers (Zaharoff, for instance, is very interesting and I had never heard a peep about him until I read the book) and the industrial lead-up to the modern era, but saves most of his book for analyses of United States aerospace companies. All of your favorites factor in, and some details are related that might surprise you. I won't spoil the surprises.
You certainly have to give a bit of a damn about international politics to really get much out of it. I suppose if you are morbid this book could be good for a laugh as well. It's highly interesting - a solid read that I would recommend to most of my friends- even if it is outdated at this time.
August 10, 2016
A very interesting book which covers the industry of arms and trade in weaponry. It addresses the politics of procurement nicely and is a definite page turner with a very well written narrative. My only criticism of this book is that it left me wanting more from this author and the subject.
Though I read this book as a young boy I found even then that it was complimented by such movies as 'Deal of the Century' in a round about way.
88 %
Though I read this book as a young boy I found even then that it was complimented by such movies as 'Deal of the Century' in a round about way.
88 %
January 15, 2011
Really enjoyed this book. I worked along the road from the then Vickers Armstrong on the famous Scotswood rd in Newcastle they were in the worst end where they belong looking out to one of the worst areas in the UK. Its a disgusting evil trade and this book does a good job exposing it. More people should read this.
November 7, 2012
A mildly interesting book that is less about the global arms trade and more about how aerospace companies ran amok in the 60s and 70s. The book today is quite dated and is perhaps more a historical artifact than anything else. I would not recommend this book unless one is specifically interested in various the levels of intrigue and bribery aerospace companies operated under in the 60s and 70s.
August 16, 2007
Exactly what Eisenhower warned us about as he retired from the presidency: The rise of the military Industrial complex
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February 10, 2011informing history of the arms trade
August 10, 2013
Exactly as Eisenhower warned us.The Book is well-described and it`s complexity shows Anthony`s Power of Writing,really great,I suggest it`s for you Historical Guys..I suggest it :D
June 14, 2016
More of a dissertation on the corruption of the aerospace industry in selling it's warplanes than an actual book on arms dealing, but worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews