Adam Macqueen

Private Eye is a wonderful publication that so often proves the old adage, "You just couldn't make it up". The true bits are so often more ridiculous than the jokes. This book is, in equal part, a history of the Eye and a review of the more famous (infamous?) stories that have appeared over 50 years.

There is, perhaps, nothing more delightful than a group of public school boys (and yes, they are almost exclusively boys) who reject the elitism that is expected of there breed. Ingrams and show more Hislop have, for 50 years pricked the bubble of assured arrogance that surrounds so many of these "chaps". I have always admired the way that, hidden amongst the jokes is some of the most cutting edge reportage available to the reader. Eye regularly exposes scandals to which the hard nosed reporters of the press have turned a blind eye, for fear of upsetting an advertiser.

This book does explain the nascent germ of many of the characters found in the Eye over the years and has a descent biography of all the main players: above all, it retains the anarchic humour for which the magazine is rightly famed. If you claim an interest in humour, or politics, and you have not purchased this book, then your claim is erroneous. show less

I saw this new book advertised in Private Eye and after reading a sample on ebook I bought the rest of it and enjoyed being reminded of the various lies, mainly in British politics, told by politicians. I was familiar with most of the examples given although there were things I'd missed and things I had failed to get completely clear on in the past. Macqueen's final word argues against the cynicism that this sort of book is likely to fuel and makes some suggestions for reform. I'm not so show more sure they would make that much difference. It is important to remember that most people are willing to lie in a tight corner and sometimes do. It is a reminder to pray for pur ploitical leaders. It is not easy to keep it straight. Nicely written, although the earlier chapters read better than later ones, probably due to the subject matter. show less

This handsome volume was given to me as a present, which baffled me slightly, as I've never been a Private Eye reader, but I loved it. The magazine's history is a history of British news and satire since the 1960s and includes intriguing and interesting characters such as Peter Cook, Willie Rushton, Richard Ingrams and Auberon Waugh. There's a fascinating insight into less well-known or flamboyant characters, including the editor Ian Hislop. I started off reading it in the non-linear fashion show more for which it was designed (although cross-references are cleverly used to tell stories) and ended up going through alphabetically to make sure I hadn't missed anything. As you might (or perhaps might not) expect, it's also very funny! show less