About
Richard Wilson lives in London. He is the author of “Titanic Express”, published in 2006 and the Icon book, “Don’t Get Fooled Again”, which came out in September 2008.
“Titanic Express” takes its title from the bizarre name of the bus that was ambushed by Burundian rebels in December 2000, close to the capital Bujumbura. One of the 21 victims of the attack was Richard Wilson’s elder sister Charlotte, who had been working as a teacher in neighbouring Rwanda. Her Burundian fiancé – another Richard – who was travelling with her, was also killed.
“Don’t Get Fooled Again” is a very different kind of book from “Titanic Express”, but there are some common elements. Both, in their own ways, centre around a search for the truth, personally and politically. Both also look at how we can distinguish what’s true from what isn’t – or at least how we can tell a reasonable assumption from a completely nonsensical one – and why it is that these things matter. And both look in some detail at the issue of conspiracy theories, and the damage that they can do.
But “Don’t Get Fooled Again” is also a much lighter book, aimed at a much more general audience. Scepticism seems in many ways to be a prevailing sentiment just at the moment. Many feel distrustful of much of what we read in the media and hear from politicians, yet are also tired of the baseless paranoia peddled by conspiracy theorists of various shades. “Don’t Get Fooled Again” explores the territory between naivety and paranoia, highlights the extent to which we are all vulnerable to deception and delusion, and tries to put forward some practical ‘rules of thumb’ to minimise the risk of being fooled in future.
Richard can be contacted via richardcameronwilson AT yahoo dot co dot UK
Richard Wilson's blog 
Good website but your Amazon listing seriously undersells your book, Titanic Express. Went there out of curiosity and found nothing at all but a couple of content-less (though positive) review quotes. A pity. I share your agent, by the way, and sceptical outlook. Await DGFA with interest.
Martin Plimmer
July 3, 2008 at 11:48 am
Thanks for pointing this out, Martin – I’ve done some digging, found a better link, and updated this page!
rcameronw
July 5, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Hi there, I have just posted a review of DGFA:
http://bookgeeks.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/simon-as-review-dont-get-fooled-again-the-sceptics-guide-to-life-by-richard-wilson/
Cheers, Simon
Simon Appleby
September 10, 2008 at 8:07 am
Simon – thanks so much for your generous review – I’m really pleased that you liked the book, and was interested to see which aspects would stand out for someone coming to it afresh. A very succinct summary, I thought – thanks again!
rcameronw
September 10, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Hello Richard
I’d like to exploit the title of your Amnesty blog. I know the notion of Article Eight’s not proprietary but in case you had any ideas for using it more widely I’d like to have a word with you first. Can you e-mail me?
Owen
September 23, 2008 at 10:51 am
That last message was a message to you – no need to publish it on the About Page.
Incidentally underneath the blog posts, the reference to the comments is rather lost, sandwiched between Tags and Pages. It might be more inviting if it was easier to spot.
Owen
September 23, 2008 at 10:52 am
Thought you might like to see my review of your book (which Icon sent to me)
http://www.acommonreader.org.uk
I’ll post it on Amazon too.
Great work and a fascinating blog. Tom
Tom Cunliffe
October 13, 2008 at 7:41 am
Many thanks, Tom! I’m really pleased that you liked the book – and the blog. I’ve set a post to go up tonight, reproducing the review and linking to your website.
Richard Wilson
October 13, 2008 at 7:47 pm
[…] Richard Wilson had a sister until she was cruelly murdered in Burundi. In September 2014 he was part of a panel convened by The Forgiveness Project for an event that asked this question: ‘Can you move on without forgiveness?’ The following is recounted by one of their staff writers: […]
FORGIVENESS – Part 2: The Functional Necessity of (True) Forgiveness | Alexander Douglas
July 5, 2015 at 11:49 am
Why is this blog ‘dead’?
I’m reading DGDA -charity shop gold! – and you seem to have vanished.
Otherwise, good luck,
Lez Watson
Reader
lezwatson
March 13, 2018 at 6:13 pm
Hullo Mr Wilson my name is Hakizimana Salim
I am the one who was driving the Titanic Express Bus on 28/12/2000 it will be 21 years on 28th this month I whould like to say something on that day Mr Wilson My contacts +256709592841/+25677608814
For more Information you can contact my fellow Titanic serviver Mr Christopher +32486467486
Hakizimana Salim
December 20, 2021 at 11:31 am