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Ross Clark
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The Road to Southend Pier: One Man's Struggle Against the Surveillance Society Hardcover – 29 Oct. 2007

by Ross Clark (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
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A chance encounter with a talking lamp-post got Ross Clark thinking: is there any escape from Britain's growing surveillance society? He set himself a challenge: could he get to Southend without Big Brother knowing where he had gone? In this entertaining and highly revealing account of his attempt to dodge Britain's 4.2 million CCTV cameras and other forms of surveillance, Ross Clark lays bare the astonishing amount of data which is kept on us by the state and by commercial organisations, and asks whom should we fear most: the government agencies who are spying on us - or the criminals who seem to prosper in the swirling fog of excessive data-collection.Among his discoveries are: an information company in Nottingham seemed to know he has cherry trees in his garden; if he flies to New York, the FBI will keep a record of what he had for lunch; 2,700 people are wrongly recorded as criminals on Britain's Police National Computer; 70 Americans have been implanted with microchips to help identify them if they become lost and confused; British companies are routinely vetting potential employees by searching MySpace for evidence of drunken antics and sexual perversion; and it will take 905 man-years to issue every British citizen with an ID card.
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  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harriman House Publishing
  4. Publication date
    29 Oct. 2007
  5. Dimensions
    14.88 x 1.85 x 21.49 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1905641443
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1905641444
  8. See all details
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Product description

About the Author

Ross Clark is a journalist who has written extensively for The Times, The Sunday Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday. He is the author of 'How to Label a Goat" The Silly Rules and Regulations that are Strangling Britain', also published by Harriman House, and 'The Great Before', a satire on the anti-globalisation movement - www.greatbefore.com As for his private life, he isn't giving anything away because he can't be sure the book won't fall into the hands of the narks at some nosey government agency.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harriman House Publishing (29 Oct. 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1905641443
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1905641444
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.88 x 1.85 x 21.49 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Ross Clark

Ross Clark

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
9 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Callum Poppleton
5.0 out of 5 stars really enjoyed this and the style of writing is superb both ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2014
Verified Purchase
Although the books facts are slightly outdated it is still a really interesting insight to the UK through the eyes of a wannabe Winston Smith, really enjoyed this and the style of writing is superb both factual and funny.
3 people found this helpful
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cartoisb
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining analysis of the surveillance society
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2023
Verified Purchase
Ross Clark’s The Road to Southend Pier is a non-fiction book which covers all aspects of today’s surveillance society, with a focus on the UK and the US. It is well-written in an entertaining style. It is not a polemic. Instead he takes a balanced view, not only highlighting the concerns and fears about the increasing level of technological surveillance in society but also noting its benefits as well as showing how it is not particularly effective. The book was published in 2007 but is still relevant despite developments over the past 15 years.
One person found this helpful
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Marlene
5.0 out of 5 stars Opened my eyes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2007
As an American living in London I have long wondered about the cameras and all the security checks in Britain. The book answered the question I most wanted to ask: if all these cameras stop crime, how come I have to watch my step from the British 'hoodie' every time I walk back from the subway to my apartment? Mr Clark sets out on a mission to see whether he can duck the cameras -- and comes to the conclusion that while he can't escape being caught, the cameras are pretty useless anyway. This book is very funny in places, which endeared me to a subject which could otherwise be very dry
6 people found this helpful
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Eagle Fly Free
3.0 out of 5 stars OK, but not quite what it first appears to be
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 August 2008
Verified Purchase
A cursory glance at this little book and you might understandably be expecting a sort of subversive travelogue in which the protagonist attempts to make his way around the country - to Southend pier in fact - whilst evading the ever encroaching eyes and ears of the much-vaunted surveillance society. In reality, the author's account of his stealth journey is dealt with early on across just a handful of pages and in very little detail. The rest of the book is a category by category overview of the increase in surveillance and data collecting which is currently making almost daily headlines and bogging the state down in reams of mostly useless information. Chapters on transport, computers, banking, policing, the workplace, the NHS and shopping form a lineup that'll be already familiar to anyone who regularly reads around this subject and adds nothing new to the debate. It is, however, an easy and fairly enjoyable read that can be digested in one sitting.
9 people found this helpful
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Brian
5.0 out of 5 stars wry -- and highly apt
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2007
I didn't know whether to laugh or look over my shoulder. Ross Clark is a wry and brilliant and commentator on the absurdities of the state. I've always been a bit agnostic on the issue of CCTV cameras and the like, but after reading this I wanted to through a blanket over the camera at the end of my street. Mr Clark is no nutty extremist, and is even supportive of surveillance in some cases -- watching terrorists in their besits for example -- but he cleverly makes the case that while the majority of us have our liberty compromised -- the real criminals somehow seem to get lost in the fog of data.
3 people found this helpful
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