The Dark Net

A fascinating and disturbing journey through the furthest recesses of the Internet. Jamie Bartlett is an expert guide... he shines an invaluable light on a world that remains determinedly opaque. -- Ian Burrell Independent A hell of an achievement... Buy it and read it. -- Hugo Rifkind The Times Eye-opening ... Bartlett is an informal yet informed guide ... As befits a cross-party intellectual, he minimizes binary distinctions, conveying instead a mixture of conservative disquiet and liberal tolerance. The tales he tells are exemplary, titillating and sometimes frightening Times Literary Supplement Bartlett anatomises the usual bogeymen and demonstrates that they're real.The Dark Net is, for anyone engaged with the web and the effects it is having on our culture, necessary reading... a flashlight in a dark, dark cellar. -- Michael Bywater Spectator A fascinating and disturbing exploration of the outer edges of the internet and the human mind. -- Josh Cohen [A] thorough and assiduously researched account of the deviantly erotic, subversive and criminal aspects of web life. -- Bryan Appleyard Sunday Times A confident and well-informed guide... By meeting the people behind the online activity, Bartlett humanises it. -- Douglas Heaven New Scientist The Dark Net offers smart, provoking reportage from the crooked crannies of digital culture, married to a quietly impressive analysis of how technology is amplifying both the best and the worst of us. Required reading for anyone looking to escape media hysteria and get to grips with the 21st century's most compelling, discomforting complexities. -- Tom Chatfield A picturesque tour of this disquieting netherworld... the darkest recesses of the internet, for better and for worse, and being illuminated. -- Sue Halpern The New York Review of Books A judgement-free look at the mechanics of trolling and other internet bad behaviour and generates more light than heat. -- Helen Lewis New Statesman, Books of the Year Reveals a hidden, seedy world where people lurk behind pseudonyms and dupe others into revealing their bodies on camera to be used against them in public shaming. If you're shocked to discover that last year approximately 20 per cent of drug users bought their stash online, you'll find this fascinating. Bartlett is an able guide on a journey through the margins of the web. -- Max Wallis Independent, Books of the Year A well-researched book, studded with enlightening interviews Mail on Sunday A gripping read, more thrilling and chilling than many a fictional tale of the digital could ever be. Sciencebase The book's great contribution is non-sensationalist reporting about very touchy subjects. If we're going to keep making laws about this stuff, we need this kind of sanity. ZDNet This book ticks all of my boxes: fascinating subcultural studies, a brave nosedive into often scary worlds, and a pacey writing style that makes you think you're reading a good thriller. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what the depths of human depravity look like, but can't get the time off work to find out for themselves. Left Foot Forward