out now!
An insight into the secretive, lucrative world of international arms trade fairs.
Looking at first glance like a catalogue of party favours for small children - toy soldiers, chewy fighter jets, squashy tanks and a teddy bear - this is a book of promotional giveaways from international arms fairs. Under a new name and fabricated identity, Jill Gibbon has surreptitiously attended military trade shows for two decades and Gifts from the Arms Trade documents her undercover reporting from this secretive world. Presenting a natural history of necrocapitalist marketing in an economy of continuous warfare, the toys and sweets are giveaways in two senses of the word: freebies, as well as items that reveal more than they intend.
Photography by Ricky Adam.
Published by iam.