PanThe Guardian (UK)Das doesn’t even open or close with Gates, but bookends the volume with the complementary chapters Why We Love Billionaires and Why We Hate Billionaires, which set out America’s centuries-long obsession with wealth and how it’s ruining the republic. It’s hard to disagree with this stuff, but it’s very generic ... Das has found no new smoking gun, and her summation of him... is overblown. The penultimate chapter is titled Cancel Bill, and that’s what the whole book feels like: an appeal to public opinion to write Gates off.
Phil Elwood
PositiveThe Guardian (UK)Romping ... Elwood is an egotist, that much is clear, a bragger who has screwed the world and now comes looking for redemption in the form of this exposé. But as the last chapters reveal, he’s also a little more complicated than that.
Simon Parkin
RaveThe Guardian (UK)Excellent ... Parkin has told his story with energy and flair. The book is not without minor flaws: the cast of characters is dizzyingly large, and at times the narrative is obscured by extraneous information, but these do not detract from Parkin’s achievement. The Island of Extraordinary Captives is a powerful tribute to the wartime internees, and a timely reminder of how much Britain gained from their presence.
