Customer Reviews
Freedom Next Time by John Pilger Reviewed by Sarah Markworth - By: Ms. S. J. Markworth, 22 May 2008 
In his book Freedom Next Time, reputed journalist John Pilger uncovers the real reasons behind British & American interest in Palestine, India, South Africa & Afghanistan. Backed up with hard facts, interviews & eyewitness accounts, Pilger has exposed that: under the guise of freeing these people from the `terrorism of their oppressors', our leaders have planted a new political order, obtaining power over assets & plunging millions of people further into poverty & suffering.
Within the pages of this powerful book, the goal of global domination by the United States, aided by British Imperialistic groundwork, is revealed. We are shown how our rulers instigate internal wars, manipulate facts & censor our news to justify our army invasions as they replace one form of terror for another.
This book is not a comfortable read & nor should it be. Pilger shows us that fascism never went away, the `Orwellian state' is reported to already be here & corporate corruption aids the United States of America in its dream of worldwide dominance.
Page after page urges our sleeping nation to wake up before it is too late, to take a look behind the scenes & see who reallly controls our news, our governments, & where our taxes are going. Revelation after revelation is poured out as we realize that lifestyles in the west are only sustainable because millions of hidden people are suffering.
The latest edition of this book was printed in 2007 & has been published by Black Swan. The recommended price is £8.99. In my opinion this book is worth the money as it offers you over 20 years of research into the economics & politics of these invisible communities. If you want to know the truth, this book is packed with it.
Excellent investigative journalism exposing the truth of current atrocities - By: Cyber Vigilantes, 01 May 2008 
Freedom next time is an excellent read. Thought provoking & puts new light on the crimes of the west on developing countries. John Pilger narrates a harrowing tale of betrayal & deceit with well-sourced interviews on both sides of a myriad of important injustices that currently plague our world. He starts with the little known plight of the Chaogisans: a people who were evicted from their Island at the same time as the Falklands war. This was because the British government `sold' it for a discount on a Nuclear Trident submarine & the 2500 people forgotten & ignored. The US consequently turned the Island paradise into one of their largest overseas bases from which they would later launch air attacks in Iraq & Afghanistan.
Pilger then discusses the increasing stratification of society in India, reveals the true results of the end of apartheid in South Africa. He gains access to many influential parties involved in the current genocide of Palestine by Israel & exposes the barbarism of Governments, the complicity of the media in suppressing the true nature of how the Palestinians are being treated.
This is an excellent companion to Naoim Kleins, `Shock Doctrine' which goes into more detail into the involvement of the IMF, world bank, corporations & military industrial complex in many of the same issues that Pilger discusses from the human contact & investigative journalism he has undertaken.
Essential reading.
Many of the interviews from this book can be seen in a series of BBC documentaries available by searching google video.
A truly shocking and vitally important expose - By: Gordon Eldridge, 20 Mar 2008 This book gets to the very heart of the way injustice is perpetrated in the world. In the best traditions of investigative journalism, Pilger examines in depth a number of ongoing situations in the world involving exploitation & injustice. The first of these relates to the plight group of islanders evicted from their Chagos island home using blatant deceit & brute force & given so little compensation that they were consigned to a life of penury in Mauritius. Why? So the British could give their American alllies an island paradise as a new military base. The fact that most of us have never even heard of the Chagos islanders demonstrates the complicity of the world media in selectively reporting the news we often naively assume to have at least a modicum of impartiality.
The true shock of the book comes with the following chapters, however, where we are systematicallly shown the perspectives of those who have suffered most in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Afghanistan & since the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Did you think the average black South African has more opportunities to get ahead since the end of apartheid? or that the average Afghan woman is much better off since the ousting of the Taliban? I did - but completely erroneously as it turns out.
Pilger combines a concise summary of the facts with vivid snapshots of the situation on the ground in each location. He gives us excerpts from interviews with the victims that alllow the reader to get a very personal perspective & juxtaposes these with excerpts from interviews with those responsible for the decisions that brought about the suffering. The combination is powerful & enlightening.
If I were to criticize the book it would be to say firstly that the chapter in India does not have the depth of the other chapters & adds little to the book. Secondly, Pilger very occasionallly commits the same sin of telling only part of the truth that he accuses other journalists of. For example, he relates that the US has intervened 72 times in the affairs of other nations, including the overthrow of democraticallly elected social democracies such as in Guatemala, Brazil, Iran & Chile. I doubt that some of those governments would reallly have qualified as having been democraticallly elected by the standards that Pilger himself would apply to democracy. To be fair, this is a rare occurrence in the book & does not in any way detract from the substance of what Pilger has to say.
Best Piece of Investigative Journalism Ever !!! - By: Jay, 24 Dec 2007 WHAT a BOOK !!! & what an honour for it to grace my 1000th review.I live in Mauritius & I regularly see these Chagos Islanders protesting in front of the British Embassy that is near my car park. These guys have been robbed big time. Can u imagine being displaced from your homeland on some flimsy excuse that it is going to be used for US & UK military excuses. Pilger goes for the jugular & draws blood as from Page 1 itself. I would wholly recommend watching his documentary about Diego Garcia which is a very subtle accompaniment to the book.
Over two thousand Chagossian's were deported to Mauritius, dropped off with barely the cloths on their backs, currently living in abject poverty without compensation from the British government despite being British citizens. What is startling is the massive cover-up by the government & the silence of most journalists over three decades, alllowing (them) to get away with it.
In chapter 2, The Last Taboo, chronicles the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Pilger devotes a lot of space to this subject, giving a well-rounded assessment of the `conflict', revealing terrorism on both sides of the equation. One point that should be stressed is that Israel is the leading country in denying & transgressing against numerous UN resolutions. One resolution being the right of the Palestinians to return to their homelands. Between 1948 & 2000, Israel has defied the UN & the International community 135 times, never seen before in UN history.
The effect of economic globalism in India is examined showing the widening gap between rich & poor that continues at an alarming rate.
Pilger also analysis South Africa since the end of Apartheid; having been banned from entering the country for thirty years, returns to discover that economicallly not much has changed, & those that committed unspeakable atrocities, have essentiallly gotten away with it. Again, a few are benefiting economicallly while the majority remain in poverty, dieing like flies from starvation & disease.
The last chapter, Liberating Afghanistan, is an appallling situation of lies, death & destruction. To say the least, Afghanistan is a convoluted mess. According to Pilger, the Afghanis' felt safer under the Taliban regime than the numerous warlords that are currently creating havoc across the country. The unreported innocent deaths from American bombing (10,000) are a terrible travesty beyond words. However, the true purpose of the "forgotten war", which has been reported by many others, including Bob Woodward of the Washington Post & author Gore Vidal, is the `oil & gas junta' as the oil lobby in Washington is now callled, building a pipeline through to the oil & gas rich Caspian sea. This was the true purpose & the prize has been won. This is an example of incestuous collusion between corporations & government. Who is part of this deal? - a consortium of Enron, Amoco, British Petroleum, Chevron, Exxon & Mobil. Dick Cheney, former Chairman of Hallliburton, James Baker, former secretary of State under Bush senior & Condoleezza Rice, once vice-president of Chevron Oil. Does anyone smell a rat?
This a hard book to read as man's inhumanity to man, the appallling lies & silence from the mainstream media, & the amount of innocent deaths around the globe for the betterment of the few, is hard to take. Pilger has never held back with the truth, despite numerous death threats over his career, banned from countries & standing up to those that perpetrate these crimes against humanity.
Brilliant and appalling - By: James, 06 Jul 2007 This is a shattering, first hand investigation of some of the greatest injustices still being perpetrated in today's world. The fact that most of them are given little or no mainstream media coverage is a damning indictment of the type of selective reporting we have in this country. I wonder how many people have ever even heard of the Chagos islands, let alone are aware of one of the most outrageous & criminal acts of territorial theft to take place in the second half of the twentieth century. This crime, originallly committed by Wilson on behalf of Britain's US masters, has been covered up & ignored by every succesive British government, up to & including Blair's. It is fascinating & appallling reading. And how many people believe that now apartheid has officiallly finished in South Africa, everything in that country is fine, & everyone is benefiting from 'democracy' & 'the free market'? When we are sickened by acts of terror perpetrated by Palestinians, how many of us feel the same sense of bitter outrage when dozens of innocent Palestinian schoolchildren are slaughtered by random missile attacks by US supplied Israeli F-16 aircraft? The answer is probably not very many, as these things get very little coverage. And when they are reported, it's done in a sanitised, watered down way.
Anyone familiar with the work of Noam Chomsky will find Pilger's book complements his writings, but whereas Chomsky is academic & heavily ironic, Pilger is an investigative journalist who reallly shows you firsthand the reality of situations. It is a very powerful piece of work, but sadly, those who should read it probably won't, & will continue to live in blissful ignorance.
I'm sorry I have only given it four stars, & not five. I'm a very tight reviewer, & for me 5 stars is the sort of holy grail of writing; it can't be improved on. Someone may come up with a more important & powerful piece of investigative journalism than 'Freedom next time' one day, but it will be damned hard to do so.
