Scapegoat: A History of Blaming Other People

By Charlie Campbell

We may have come a long way from the days when a goat as a symbol was saddled with all the iniquities of the children of Israel and driven into the wilderness, but is our desperate need to find some organization or person to pin the blame on and absolve ourselves of responsibility really any more advanced?

Charlie Campbell highlights the plight of all those others who have found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, illustrating how God needs the Devil as Sherlock Holmes needs Professor Moriarty or James Bond needs "Goldfinger."

Scapegoat is a tale of human foolishness that exposes the anger and irrationality of blame-mongering while reminding readers of their own capacity for it. From medieval witch burning to reality TV, this is a brilliantly relevant and timely social history that looks at the obsession, mania, persecution and injustice of scapegoating.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Feb 2, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468300154

Charlie Campbell

Charlie Campbell is captain of the Authors Cricket Club and edited their book The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon. He has led his team in over a hundred consecutive games, facing the might of the Rajasthan Royals, the Vatican and the national team of Japan along the way. He is the author of Scapegoat: A History of Blaming Other People and has written for the Observer, Wisden India, The Nightwatchman, Big Issue, Time Out and Literary Review. He lives in London. @ScapegoatCC and @AuthorsCC