Billionaires

(Paperback)

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The super-rich are often portrayed as self-made, as if their wealth was created entirely by their own efforts. But is this true In his latest book of graphic analysis, cartoonist Darryl Cunningham examines the evidence in his graphic biographies of media baron Rupert Murdoch, oil and gas tycoons Charles and David Koch, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Cunningham wanted to focus on their stories because 'the values of our society tend to be those of white males they are the ones who hold all the levers of power through ownership of the media, political influence and control of the economy'.

Cunningham makes comparisons with the 'Gilded Age' (1870s to 1900), the last period in America in which a few individuals gained colossal wealth. Carnegie, Rockefeller, JP Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt and others made fortunes, but also helped create the modern world of railroads, manufacturing, and finance. What essential elements have the modern equivalents brought us Despite the often reported disadvantages brought by the widening gulf between the poorest and the super rich, are such wealthy individuals necessary to finance technological progress Would we be poorer without them

'Darryl gives up the ammunition of information to help us decide how we live he is my Open University.' Robin Ince

'A beautifully drawn expos of the men who burnt the planet. Each picture is worth far more than a thousand complex academic words.' Danny Dorling

'A speedy and compulsive read. This is a brilliant way to convey complex tales full of intrigue and dirty deeds.' Patrick Allen

Reviews

'Darryl Cunningham's non-fiction work is undoubtedly some of the most crucially important practice to have emerged in UK comics in the last decade.' - Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier; 'It can take other authors whole books to say what Darryl can say in a single illustration.'- Jon Ronson; 'Like Darryl Cunningham's previous graphic novels, Billionaires displays his brilliant faculty for communicating serious and complex information in an accessible and entertaining way-something that the comic media can excel at. Immaculately researched and clearly told, this book should be required reading-by everyone!' - Bryan Talbot; 'Billionaires takes some very important and complex subjects and distils all of that huge amount of research into a clear, thoughtful narrative that delivers detail without overloading the reader, and does so in a hugely compelling and fascinating manner. At this rate I think Darryl Cunningham may be becoming the UK's equivalent to the great Larry Gonick, and our vibrant comics scene is all the richer for his work. Hugely recommended reading.' - Joe Gordon, Down The Tubes; 'It's often dark, it's often funny and it often exposes some very dirty deeds. It's just astonishingly good.' - Liz Green, BBC Radio Leeds; 'As a writer and illustrator, Cunningham excels and there's an irresistible symbiosis between the words and the minimalist drawings. The graphic characterisation of these betes noires are beautifully succinct, with the frame composition immaculate and the sparse use of flat colour adding clarity. This is a most timely book, particularly as rebellion against pollution of the environment ought to go hand in hand with the pollution of our minds.' - Morning Star; '(A) tremendously well researched comic book... I am a big fan. I'm always in awe of the amount of information that Darryl manages to pack in to every one of his comic books.' - Robin Ince, Book of the Day; 'Gripping and necessary...some of the best comics journalism I've ever read...made indelible by his low-key, acerbic cartooning. The drawings are remarkable, varied, and always on point.' - Jeet Heer, National Affairs Correspondent, The Nation; 'Cunningham's comics journalism skills are unassailable. He has a gift for making the grotesque and unpalatable weirdly pleasurable. I was appalled and riveted and even amused throughout. Get this book, but for god's sake get it from an independent bookstore. No One-Clicking, please.' - The Comics Journal, Robert Kirby; 'Comics has long been the most effective method of imparting information and eliciting reaction (that's why assorted governments and militaries have used them for hard and soft propaganda over the last century and a half), and with Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful we finally see that force being used against today's greatest threat to continued existence...' - Win Wiacek, Comics Review; 'Darryl Cunningham has created a beautiful piece of investigative graphic journalism. The amount of research that went into this book is enormous. The stories are fascinating and nauseating all the same. They are perfect examples of our failing democracy calling for the reform of capitalism.' - Foliovore, Bookstagrammer; 'Darryl Cunningham's piercing analysis of the One Per Cent is vital graphic reading, for how we got to now, and how we can reclaim the future.' - Paul Gravett; 'Put Cunningham's [Billionaires] on your Christmas list... It really is eye-widening reading and, if you're like me, it should give you pause about just how you spend your money.' - Cartoon Club Magazine; 'A beautifully drawn expose of the men who burnt the planet. Each picture is worth far more than a thousand complex academic words.' - Danny Dorling

Author Bio

Darryl Cunningham is the award-winning author of Psychiatric Tales, Science Tales, Supercrash: How to Hijack the Global Economy (a New York Times bestseller), Graphic Science and Billionaires, which won the Best Graphic Nonfiction category in the Broken Frontier Awards 2019. Darryl's books are sold in the USA and Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, China, India and Korea. He has given talks at the London School of Economics and the City of Arts and Lights, Valencia. In 2015 he was one of 30 world-renowned photographers, painters, sculptors, writers, filmmakers and musicians who were invited to contribute to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Art of Saving a Life project, to promote vaccination in the developing world. In 2018 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts from Leeds Arts University. He lives in Keighley, Yorkshire.