Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
31 used & new from £0.42
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Death of Spin
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

The Death of Spin (Hardcover)

by George Pitcher (Author) "Things could only get better in 1997, or so the triumphant supporters of the UK Labour Party believed as they celebrated their first election victory..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £16.99
Price: £14.44 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.55 (15%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, July 21? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
16 new from £9.75 15 used from £0.42
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (n.e.) Order it used
Unbound Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with PR!: A Social History of Spin by Stuart Ewen

The Death of Spin + PR!: A Social History of Spin
Price For Both: £26.43

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

PR!: A Social History of Spin

PR!: A Social History of Spin

by Stuart Ewen
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £11.99
The White Tiger

The White Tiger

by Aravind Adiga
3.7 out of 5 stars (108)  £3.84
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (29 Oct 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0470850485
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470850480
  • Product Dimensions: 22.3 x 14.5 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 532,669 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

  • See Complete Table of Contents

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
Death Records Online
   www.ancestry.co.uk/deaths    Complete Death Certificate records Subscribe Today & Start Searching 
Suicide Help?
   www.papyrus-uk.org    Know someone who might be suicidal? Call HOPELineUK 0800 068 41 41 
Spinoff Research
   www.SpinoffProfiles.com    Value-oriented corporate spinoff analysis, updated monthly. 
  
 

Product Description

Review
"…the prize for ponderous pap this week goes to George Pitcher, author of The Death of Spin…" (The Guardian (City Diary), 12 November 2002)

"…Pitcher writes knowledgably and persuasively on the financial and political dimensions of PR practice…reminiscent in its breadth of fellow former Observer journalist Anthony Sampson’s Anatomy of Britain, it also shares some of the moral questioning characteristic of the management writer Charles Handy…"(www.writeeffect.co.uk 22 November 2002)

"…The author of this incisive volume is a former spin doctor…his comments on vacuous Late review–style criticism are worth the cover price alone…" (Scotland on Sunday, 15 December 2002)

"…a fine book, from a man who has not only seen spin…but thought about it too…" (Management Today, January 2003)

"…this small book, big on ideas, is the best survey of our business I’ve read in years…" (Profile (Institute of Public Relations), February 2003)

"…Help, and an antidote, is at hand in the shape of George Pitcher’s important new book…lively, witty, and thoroughly entertaining…" (Accounting & Business, March 2003)

"…important book on public relations…" (The Write Effect, 23 June 2003)

"…a very interesting book on a fascinating subject…" (M2 Best Books, 25 March 2003)

Review
"…the prize for ponderous pap this week goes to George Pitcher, author of The Death of Spin…" (The Guardian (City Diary), 12 November 2002)

"…Pitcher writes knowledgably and persuasively on the financial and political dimensions of PR practice…reminiscent in its breadth of fellow former Observer journalist Anthony Sampson’s Anatomy of Britain, it also shares some of the moral questioning characteristic of the management writer Charles Handy…"(www.writeeffect.co.uk 22 November 2002)

"…The author of this incisive volume is a former spin doctor…his comments on vacuous Late review–style criticism are worth the cover price alone…" (Scotland on Sunday, 15 December 2002)

"…a fine book, from a man who has not only seen spin…but thought about it too…" (Management Today, January 2003)

"…this small book, big on ideas, is the best survey of our business I’ve read in years…" (Profile (Institute of Public Relations), February 2003)

"…Help, and an antidote, is at hand in the shape of George Pitcher’s important new book…lively, witty, and thoroughly entertaining…" (Accounting & Business, March 2003)

"…important book on public relations…" (The Write Effect, 23 June 2003)

"…a very interesting book on a fascinating subject…" (M2 Best Books, 25 March 2003)

 

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Things could only get better in 1997, or so the triumphant supporters of the UK Labour Party believed as they celebrated their first election victory for nearly 18 years. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below
textbook
political science

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Anatomy of spin, 7 Nov 2002
Spin has entered the lexicon in the last twenty years. This book is our guide to the trends in business, politics and society that have led to the culture of spin.

New Labour offers the author his best (and most obvious) examples, but he detects great changes in attitude to spin between the last two parliaments. Indeed, he views the year 2000 as the high water mark of the culture of spin.

At the height of the dot-com boom early that year, Martha Lane-Fox explained the high stock market valuation of her company Lastminute.com in these words. 'It's all hype'.

The author, a former industrial editor, is scornful of the dot-com boom that fuelled the culture of spin. But as a present PR practitioner, he is not about to undermine his business.

His point is that the spin culture has led to a lack of engagement in politics and a mistrust of big business. His way forward is to engage in debate on the issues that concern consumers, investors and the electorate.

The impending debate on Britain's entry into the single currency will be a defining one in this development, he argues. And companies need to demonstrate belief in coroporate community involvement (CSR), not just mouth platitudes.

It's not all good news for those in public relations. Many of their agency functions are disappearing in the internet age - but communicators who can understand and be understood by audiences as diverse as shareholders, politicians, customers, employees and activists ('Crusties' in his word) have an important part to play.

He conculdes that we're a bored generation. We lack belief. Spin played its part in this, but proper management of issues that matter can make a difference.

Perhaps the culture of spin will come to be seen as a moment of millennium madness. If so, this moment has found its chronicler in George Pitcher.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Boring Book, 6 April 2006
By A Customer
I bought this book in the hope of getting insight into the British PR business and the methodology of spin. Poorly structured, interceded with out of context excerpts, this book makes it hard even to the most dedicated reader to follow the yarn. Absolutely not worth the money.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars George Pitcher's Incisive look at the world of spin, 29 Aug 2004
By N. Evans "sassylad" (Notting Hill) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The death of spin is an excellent eulogy to the black art of spin, it's rise over the years and it's death in the early years of the 21st century as everything it stands for becomes an object of distrust and ridcule.

George Pitcher's narrative is fast paced and entertaining covering a subject that many have tried to tackle with wit and humour as well as great insight, and let's face it someone often called a spin doctor himself at London's strategic communications firm Luther Pendragon he should know all about the black art that is spin and where it's going in the 21st Century.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars It's prophetic!
When I first read this book, Iraq had its indefatigable leader, we had a seemingly impervious Prime Minister and the government had the constant 'benefit' of Alastair Campbell's... Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2006 by Jack Meadows

5.0 out of 5 stars great insider account
I loved this. Amusing anecdotes from someone who seems to have been there for most of the big developments in spin, combined with some deep thinking about what it all means... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2002

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Sultans Of Spin: Media and the...

Sultans Of Spin...

For Labour's spin doctors and image-makers, the transition from... Read more

›Find similar items

 

Make A Wish

Get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List Make sure you always get what you want with an Amazon.co.uk Wish List.

›More info on Wish Lists

  

Up to 50% off Dental Care

Braun Oral-B Professional Care 6000 Rechargeable Toothbrush - Pack of 2
Put a sparkle in your smile with up to 50% off selected Oral-B and Philips rechargeable toothbrushes.

›Up to 50% off power toothbrushes

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates