The book
Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: A History of Anti-Smoking is now on sale.
Published by Little Dice; 415 pages - £12.99/$25.00
Read the review from The Economist.
Read the review from Spiked Review of Books.
Read all reviews...
..."thoroughly deserves a place in the bestseller lists"..."Fascinating"..."Extensive research, and extremely well-written"..."an important book"..."consistently entertaining"..."one of the most important books I have ever read"..."nothing short of remarkable"..."Essential reading"..."I've read many books on smoking and this is the best by far"..."Simply stunning"..."a superb read"..."a fully deserved five stars"..."a damn good read"..."Magnificent"...
Order a signed copy direct from the author including free postage.
So what's new?
Velvet Glove, Iron Fist blog launched
The author is belatedly joining the blogosphere with the Velvet Glove blog which will cover issues of health and liberty with a particular focus on smoking, alcohol and food.
BBC and Department of Health accused of "gross exaggeration"
Tobacco expert scoffs at BBC's 'shisha worse than cigarettes' story.
The Dark Market
E-mails released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal how the Department of Health and ASH co-operated to swing the Lords debate on the tobacco display ban.
'Hateful, arrogant vindictiveness'
After 21 years in the anti-smoking movement, David Goerlitz speaks out against the extremism and corruption he sees all around him.
Listen to this remarkable interview here.
Read the author's article about Goerlitz at Spiked.
But he seemed so reasonable!
John Banzhaf formed ASH in 1968 to monitor anti-smoking ads on television. His descent into extremism over the last 41 years provides a classic illustration of the 'slippery slope.'
A global prison?
An exclusive with the tobacco expert Kamal Chaouachi on the subject of hookah smoking.
"I was slow to understand another poster advertised by the World Health Organisation. At first, I did not react because I believed it represented a bubble (of oxygen, of course). Then, one day, I realised that it clearly shows the Earth with not a single spot left on it for smoking. I wondered: Is this what they are eventually aiming for, a global prison?"
'The Anti-Smoking Movement'
The author spoke at the TICAP conference in Brussels on the 27th January.
Read the transcript of the speech here.
A report on the whole event can be read here.
As two journals publish articles which compare sceptics of the Scottish heart miracle to Holocaust deniers, the author looks at the anti-scientific concept of denialism.
A version of this article appeared in Sp!ked.
Second-hand science
Velvet Glove is pleased to present Robert Wagner's interesting take on the Scottish heart miracle.
Nuns, prostitutes, witches and toads
The strange case of cervical cancer. For over 200 years researchers were led up blind alleys in search of the cause of this disease. Time and again, association was mistaken for causation. We now know the truth and yet tall tales continue to be told about smoking causing cervical cancer.
Scottish heart attack study - the final verdict
Official statistics from NHS Scotland show that heart-related admissions did not fall by 17% - or anything close to 17% - after the smoking ban.
Cartman takes on the anti-smokers
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone talk about why they wrote an episode attacking the anti-smoking movement.
What would the great libertarian John Stuart Mill have made of the modern anti-smoking crusade?
In October 2007, the anti-smoking pressure group Action on Smoking and Health released a press release which dismissed claims that pubs and bingo halls would see a drop in trade as a result of the smoking ban as 'myths'. This article examines how credible ASH's position is six months on. This topic is revisited here.
Publish and Be Damned looks at the claim that heart attacks fell dramatically in Scotland following the smoking ban. Updated here: Scottish Heart Miracle Unspun.
For those who might be interested, I have compiled a full, annotated list of every passive smoking study ever conducted involving women married to smokers. 64 studies are assessed in total, most of which can be downloaded in full here or here
Although parts of this book have been made available free of charge, all material on this website is subject to copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any party without prior written permission of Christopher Snowdon.
You can contact the author by e-mail at author@velvetgloveironfist.com
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