I'm not sure when I first started to read Private Eye. It was a long time ago but certainly during the Ian Hislop era. I think I initially enjoyed the cartoons although I probably didn't really understand very much else in the magazine. I haven't always bought every issue but I buy as many as I can. I've very much enjoyed a lot of the output this year, especially the downfall of the News of the World.
This book by Adam MacQueen is a high quality history arranged in alphabetical order. The bad things that Private Eye has been guilty of over the years are presented in as much details as the good. Homophobia, sexism and public schoolboy-ism are presented as much as crusading investigative journalism and good jokes. The in-fighting amongst the staff is also described in unflinching detail. Hislop appears to have sorted things out and got rid of some of the more unsavoury aspects of the magazine.
Private Eye as a magazine is both anti-establishment and of the establishment. The UK is a better country because of Private Eye and I hope it keeps going for another 50 years.
Private Eye Website - you still need to buy the magazine for the good stuff
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