Matt Potter

Author, journalist, broadcaster (ex-BBC, Telegraph, writer of BBC books) Matt's first book tracked post-Soviet pilots running arms, drugs and worse from Afghanistan to Somalia. Hailed as a "dazzling" book of history and first-person reportage, 'Outlaws Inc: Flying with the World's Most Dangerous Smugglers' became a Top 10 WHSmith bestseller, now published in 29 languages through Bloomsbury, Pan MacMillan, Ullstein, Einaudi, Reader's Digest and others. 'Outlaws Inc' is now in production as a Hollywood movie through Thunder Road Studios, the team behind 'The Expendables'.

Matt's story tracking these merchants of death became part of the 2014 Sundance Festival Award-winning documentary feature film 'The Notorious Mr Bout', by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin. The film won acclaim, and became part of the BBC 2 Storyville 2015 season, 'Arms Dealer: The Notorious Mr Bout'. Matt now works consulting with monitoring and investigative groups tracking arms and crime across borders.

His second book, an alternate history of the world as it has been shaped by entropy and the force of quitting, was published in 2015, entitled 'F**k You & Goodbye: The Dark & Hilarious History of the Resignation'. In it, Matt examined the phenomenon of quitting as a historical force, from the Berlin Wall and the American Civil War to Iraq, Thatcher and neoliberalism. It became a Waterstone's bestseller, and was republished in expanded format, with new material as 'The Last Goodbye: A History of the World in Resignations', in the UK, Commonwealth, USA and internationally.

Praise for 'F**k You & Goodbye': "There is a poetry to the best resignation letters that comes from having nothing to lose" - The Independent. "Breathless and brilliant; one of my favourite writers" – Eddy Temple Morris. "Beautifully written. These are the bitterest, most bittersweet stories you might ever read" – William Sitwell.

Praise for 'Outlaws Inc':

"Riveting" - John Sweeney, Literary Review. "Fascinating" - Washington Post. "Great writing" - Seattle Times. "Thrilling yet disturbing journey through the global underworld" - Baltimore Sun. "We await the Hollywood take" - ABC News. "Amazing" - Fox News.

"It's James Bond meets Jason Bourne, only it's happening, and it's happening now" - Andy Ross, America Today

"Not just a fascinating tale of cratered runways and no-questions drops, this book tells us something about the modern world: for all our efforts to regulate society, there will always be those who thrive by finding ways to use, abuse, and ignore the rules." - Dr Mark Galeotti, NYU Center for Global Affairs.

"An explosive read, full of heart-thumping excitement and brilliant detective work which shines a light into the darkest corners of the world. All the more terrifying for being true" - Sean Rayment, Sunday Telegraph.

Journalism: Independent, BBC, Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Esquire, Buzzfeed (Top 10 Contributor 2014)