Despite the fact that arms manufacturing in most Western nations ultimately represents vast fortunes of public funds flowing into private coffers for products that deal in injury or death, the industry is usually represented as a source of national pride. So pervasive is its influence that when it comes to matters of spending on arms, the tail often wags the dog, with the requirements of the industry being put before effective strategy. In this easy-to-read mini eBook, Dinyar Godrej presents the New Internationalist guide to the Arms Trade. The arms industry tends to have government's ear. Why, wonders Dinyar, when it is so counter-productive?