author

Thomas Whiteside

1918–1997

A sharp investigative journalist with a gift for making complex industries readable, he wrote memorable books on everything from computing to chemical pollution. His work combined deep reporting with a clear, steady style that helped general readers grasp big modern systems.

1 Audiobook

The Tunnel Under the Channel

The Tunnel Under the Channel

by Thomas Whiteside

About the author

Born in Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1918, Thomas Whiteside became an American journalist whose work appeared in Newsweek, The New Republic, and especially The New Yorker. During World War II, he reportedly worked in wartime propaganda analysis before building a long career in magazine journalism.

Whiteside was known for patient, deeply researched reporting on science, technology, business, and the environment. His books include The Blockbuster Complex, about the computer industry, and The Monsanto Papers, an examination of the chemical company and the environmental questions surrounding it.

He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1986, a sign of the respect his reporting earned. Thomas Whiteside died in 1997.