'The war on terrorism is the first political growth industry of the new Millennium' - so begins Bovard's provocative and unrelenting examination of the Bush administration and its motives for prosecuting a war on Iraq that was wildly unpopular in the United States as well as throughout much of the world. Bovard is one of Washington's most controversial journalists, known for the searchlight he has shone on the trampling of civil liberties and privacy by successive US administrations. In this, his latest book, he tells a grisly story of the toll that the 'war on terrorism' is taking - from airport security follies that protect no one, to increased surveillance of individuals and skyrocketing numbers of detainees. In so doing, he reveals some fascinating insights into the US's coping mechanisms when under threat. His uncompromising and impassioned stance against a state that tramples personal freedoms and ignores the wishes of its citizens will strike a chord with many.