We may have come a long way from the days when a goat as a symbol was saddled with all the iniquities of the children of Israel and driven into the wilderness, but is our desperate need to find some organization or person to pin the blame on and absolve ourselves of responsibility really any more advanced?Charlie Campbell highlights the plight of all those others who have found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, illustrating how God needs the Devil as Sherlock Holmes needs Professor Moriarty or James Bond needs "Goldfinger."

Scapegoat is a tale of human foolishness that exposes the anger and irrationality of blame-mongering while reminding readers of their own capacity for it. From medieval witch burning to reality TV, this is a brilliantly relevant and timely social history that looks at the obsession, mania, persecution and injustice of scapegoating.