Britain’s pirate radio stations
of the 1960s broadcast bands like the Who and the Rolling Stones to
teenagers across the U.K. But when Oliver Smedley helped
launch the offshore radio revolution, he didn’t have music on his
mind. A classical liberal—he preferred the word
radical—influenced by F.A. Hayek and Ronald Coase, Smedley
was on a mission to break up the British Broadcasting Corporation’s
monopoly of the airwaves.
Adrian Johns tells Smedley’s story capably in Death of a Pirate (Norton). Johns is both a sharp intellectual historian and a talented storyteller, a man who can lucidly explain libertarian critiques of copyright laws and central planning but is also at home spinning tales of aquatic raids and double agents. Not just a compelling history of the BBC and its foes, Johns’ book is an engrossing true-crime tale: Smedley ended up on trial for manslaughter after shooting an angry partner. The edge of the law turns out to be a risky place to do business.
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