As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela
Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade

Mark Thomas is one of the UK's most effective and best-known political activists, as well as being a highly successful stand-up comedian. His show, The Mark Thomas Product, ran for six highly acclaimed series on Channel Four. Amazingly, this is his first book.

As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela is a deeply funny, deeply disturbing account of Mark's rampage through the arms trade. Under a fairly flimsy disguise and with the use of some worryingly poor accents, Mark set off on a journey of discovery in the company of arms dealers, torture victims, politicians, cops, crusties and geeks.

His account of his encounters, adventures and discoveries as he attempted to change the law provide a shockingly entertaining read. Embedded within the sharpness of his humour is the truth of an industry fraught with loopholes, complacency and greed; that allows corrupt regimes to kill, maim and displace, but whose deals are often subsidised by the British taxpayer.

Hard-hitting, laugh-out-loud funny and extremely unsettling, As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela is never anything less than compulsive.

Format: Paperback, 215 mm x 135 mm, 352 pages

About the Author
Mark Thomas has worked as a comedian for over twenty years. His activist, campaigning brand of comedy has been a thorn in the side of many politicians and corporations. However, recently he has been invited to give evidence at various government select committees. He is one of a limited number of people to be awarded a UN Global Human Rights Defender Award and has also been awarded a Kurdish National Congress Medal of Honour amongst other citations. His three-year campaign to stop the building of the Ilisu damn in Turkey was ultimately successful and saved 78,000 Kurds from being displaced.

"John Pilger with laughs"
The Guardian

"..courageous book... It's a humorous yet heartfelt polemic... Thomas' revelations are rivetting"
The Independent

"It works! Stand-up comic writes book and it's as fast-paced and rivetting as anything he does on stage. Thomas is angry... but he's also warm, humane, surprising."
New Internationalist magazine, 5 stars