Transatlantic spat over Gulf oil spill adds spice to the big match

Chris Ayres, Los Angeles

By all rights, it should be the grudge match to end all World Cup grudge matches.

In the white shirts: England, home to “British Petroleum” — as President Obama insists on calling it — which is dumping hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil on to the shoreline of Louisiana. And in the blue shirts: the United States, which, thanks to the aforementioned spill, has found itself in the unusual position of being the victim of a distant foreign power.

Nearly three years after its release, mainstream culture is still fascinated by our best-selling book, The Evil Empire: 101 Ways that England Ruined the World. And with the world in the in the shape it's in today, who could resist a controversial read that blames England for everything? Certainly not Newsweek! Recently, they published a curious article titled, "Did Britain Wreck the World?" The piece closely examines seven of the world's most infamous conflicts and reveals that England is behind every single one.

If it sounds like Newsweek lifted a page directly from The Evil Empire, that's because they most certainly did! That's what happens when you write a great book: you continuously influence mega news publications year after year.

Sometimes Flash animation just can't be beat! (The Evil Empire)

What can I say? This little movie is funny and executed perfectly! This is the perfect example of a very 'viral' book video. From the website to the downloadable wallpaper, American historian Steven Grasse's book The Evil Empire, which can be summed up as a cheeky diatribe on all things Anglo, is very well-marketed indeed. (Although the author is not a particularly articulate radio interviewee.)

Britain's Evil Empire - Spoof or Nutcase?

The excellent Englishman's castle has a press release blaming Britain for the Credit Crunch, because Adam Smith was British. I thought it must be a spoof, but then found that the International Coalition for British Reparations has a website and a full campaign.

Credit crisis diary: There'll be a writ in the post any day now.

More bad news for British taxpayers. The rest of the world is about to sue us for the not inconsiderable sum of $35trn. Steven Grasse, a member of something called the International Coalition for British Reparations, claims the credit crisis is all our fault. His argument seems to be that since Adam Smith invented capitalism and he was British, we're to blame. Oh, and apparently Margaret Thatcher's City reforms in the Eighties caused a financial deregulation arms race. "Once again, British hubris, greed and complete indifference towards other nations, races and cultures has landed the world with a catastrophic predicament," Grasse concludes. Someone sell that man a sub-prime mortgage"

It's all Britain and Adam Smith's Fault.

Global Financial Crisis Blame Lies with Britain

October 23, 2008-The last few months have seen the global financial system slide into the worst crisis since the Great Depression. While many ¡(r)pundits¡¯ have sought to place the blame for these unfortunate circumstances on excessive greed amongst Wall Street brokers and poor regulatory policy in America¡¯s capital, acclaimed people¡¯s historian, voice of the American people and critically acclaimed author of The Evil Empire, Steven Grasse believes the root causes of the crisis lie on the other side of the great Atlantic Ocean in Britain. One must look no further than the face of the ¡Ì20 note and the banks of the River Thames to find those responsible.